Abstract
Across North America, incentive programs have assisted landholders with the construction of fences, often considered “wildlife friendly,” to assist in grazing management, which has resulted in a proliferation of fencing on the landscape. Many suggested “wildlife-friendly” fence modifications have not been evaluated for their effectiveness on the targeted species or evaluated to assess consequences for nontarget species. We evaluated the effects of 2 modifications aimed to increase fence visibility (sage-grouse [SAGR] reflectors and white polyvinyl chloride [PVC]) on the fence-crossing behavior of 3 sympatric ungulates in the Northern Great Plains. We used trail cameras from 2016 to 2018 to capture images of pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and white-tailed deer (O. virginianus) at sites before and after fence sections were modified and compared crossing success by the 3 ungulates with that achieved at unchanged control sites. We used generalized linear modeling and a time-to-event approach to test the effect of fence modifications on ungulate crossing behavior. Our results showed that both SAGR reflectors and white PVC pipe did not impede fence-crossing behaviors for either pronghorn or deer, nor was there a time lag in use of sites observed after modifications were deployed. Though we did not alter the height of the bottom wire, there was enough variability in bottom wire height between sites that our results indicate a greater probability of successful crossing by all 3 ungulates as bottom wire height increased. We recommend implementation of both SAGR reflectors and white PVC pipe because our results demonstrate no substantial unintended consequences on the crossing behavior of pronghorn and deer.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 130-141 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Wildlife Society Bulletin |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 1 2020 |
Funding
We thank the following for their assistance in Alberta: J. Baker and A. Olson; and in Montana: C. Messerly and J. Messerly. A thank you to B. Taylor at Canadian Forces Base Suffield for coordinating our access to the sites and putting up with our comings and goings. We thank J. Hasbani for the development of our custom database and continued technical support and C. Schwarz for assistance with the statistical analysis. Financial and in‐kind support for this project was provided by Alberta Conservation Association, Montana Department of Transportation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Safari Club International—Northern Alberta and Billings Chapters, Sagebrush Science Initiative (a collaboration between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies) and The Nature Conservancy. Lastly, we thank Associate Editor A. Rodgers and 2 anonymous reviewers for their comments and insights on an earlier draft, which greatly improved our paper.
| Funders |
|---|
| Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies |
| Alberta Conservation Association |
Keywords
- Antilocapra americana
- Northern Great Plains
- Odocoileus hemionus
- Odocoileus virginianus
- PVC pipe
- fence modification
- mule deer
- pronghorn
- sage grouse reflectors
- white-tailed deer