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Connectivity of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) populations in a highly fragmented urban landscape

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Abstract

Context

Urbanization is a substantial force shaping the genetic and demographic structure of natural populations. Urban development and major highways can limit animal movements, and thus gene flow, even in highly mobile species. Characterizing varying species responses to human activity and fragmentation is important for maintaining genetic continuity in wild animals and for preserving biodiversity. As one of the only common and wide-ranging large wild herbivores in much of urban North America, deer play an important ecological role in urban ecosystems, yet the genetic impacts of development on deer are not well known.

Objectives

We assessed genetic connectivity for mule deer to understand their genetic response to habitat fragmentation, due to development and highway barriers, in an increasingly urbanized landscape.

Methods

Using non-invasive sampling across a broad region of southern California, we investigated genetic structure among several natural areas that were separated by major highways and applied least-cost path modelling to determine if landscape context and highway attributes influence genetic distance for mule deer.

Results

We observed significant yet variable differentiation between subregions. We show that genetic structure corresponds with highway boundaries in certain habitat patches, and that particular landscape configurations more greatly limit gene flow between patches.

Conclusions

As a large and highly mobile species generally considered to be well adapted to human activity, mule deer nonetheless showed genetic impacts of intensive urbanization. Because of this potential vulnerability, mule deer and other ungulates may require further consideration for effective habitat management and maintenance of landscape connectivity in human-dominated landscapes.

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Acknowledgements

Several organizations provided volunteer and staff assistance in collecting samples and accessing lands, including Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area National Park Service, Irvine Ranch Conservancy, OC Parks, California State Parks, Orange County Trackers, and Ventura County Wildlife Trackers. We thank M.B. Bourne, C. Shew, and J. Curti for their diligent work in the lab. We thank A. Vandergast and A. Mitelberg for consultation on laboratory protocol and analysis. We thank M. Peters for his excellent computer programming and GIS skills that aided the computation of least-cost paths. We also thank L. Lyren and A. Vandergast for conceptual input, and additionally thank L. Lyren for excellent field work and organization launching this project. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Funding

This work was supported by Army Corps of Engineers, United States Geological Survey Ecosystems Mission Area, and the UC Catalyst Grant Program (#CA-16-376437).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 4140 TLSB, 610 Charles E Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Devaughn L. Fraser & Robert K. Wayne

  2. U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, 2255 North Gemini Drive, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, USA

    Kirsten Ironside

  3. U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, 401 West Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA, 91360, USA

    Erin E. Boydston

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  1. Devaughn L. Fraser
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Correspondence to Devaughn L. Fraser.

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Fraser, D.L., Ironside, K., Wayne, R.K. et al. Connectivity of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) populations in a highly fragmented urban landscape. Landscape Ecol 34, 1097–1115 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-019-00824-9

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