Habitat use, bed-site selection and mortality rate in neonate fallow deer Dama dama

摘要: An understanding of mortality patterns, and especially the variation in juvenile mortality, is an important component vertebrate population dynamics. Our study investigates, for first time, neonate two levels spatial behaviour, a free-ranging fallow deer Dama dama southwestern Sweden. In summers 2008 2009, 36 fawns were marked with radio-collars. Neonate calculated by Kaplan-Meier method was 23.6%. Mortality caused predation low, since only one eight non-surviving died from predation, probably red fox Vulpes vulpes. The behaviour neonates examined habitat selection at home-range level, which fact made mother, bed-site level within that habitat. Compositional analysis revealed significant preference arable land, pasture coniferous forest between 5-15 m high, compared to young forest. Selected bed sites showed significantly lower visibility higher amount canopy cover than random sites. Surprisingly, we did not find any relationship selected while it negative We interpret this finding as high low covary seem select these variables independently, perhaps thermoregulatory reasons. Since there are few predators our area pressure connected actual survival rates area, but would rather be support hypothesis ‘pleiotropy’ reasons might most contemporary force absence large predators.