Analysis of the Père David’s deer population mortality in Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve

doi:10.16829/j.slxb.150631

Abstract

Abstract:

From 2009 to 2020, we systematically investigated the population, mortality, and death factors of Père David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus) in the Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve, Jiangsu, China. The result showed the annual growth rate of the population was 13.09% ± 5.96%, which continuously increased in the 12 years. The annual mortality rate was 3.53% ± 2.27%, with an obvious fluctuation every 2 years. There was no significant difference in mortality of adults and sub-adults in different seasons, but significant in juveniles.Significant differences in mortality among different age groups were observed. The adults died most in summer and autumn, while the juveniles died most in winter and spring. 48.77% of subjects tend to choose the underbrush for dying. The death factors among different age groups were significantly different. The elders and the juveniles mainly died of epidemic diseases, including viral, bacterial, and parasitic. While the sub-adults died in accidents. We suggested that it is necessary to strengthen the daily monitoring and epidemic disease prevention in wildlife management. Our data provided important information for the protection of Père David’s deer in Dafeng Reserve.

Key words: Père David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus), Wildlife, Mortality, Population management, Epidemic disease

关键词: 麋鹿, 野生动物, 死亡率, 种群管理, 疫病

CLC Number:

Q958

Yijun REN, Daming SUN, Junai ZHEN, Libo WANG, Yumeng ZHAO, Hua SHEN, Bin LIU, Yuqing CHEN. Analysis of the Père David’s deer population mortality in Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve[J]. ACTA THERIOLOGICA SINICA, 2022, 42(6): 741-748.

任义军, 孙大明, 甄军爱, 王立波, 赵雨梦, 沈华, 刘彬, 陈玉清. 江苏大丰麋鹿国家级自然保护区麋鹿死亡分析[J]. 兽类学报, 2022, 42(6): 741-748.

Figures/Tables 7

Fig.1 The distribution of the Père David’s deer in Dafeng Reserve

Fig.2 Changes of the growth rate and the mortality rate of Père David’s deer in Dafeng Reserve from 2009 to 2020

Fig.3 Changes of the population size and the number of deaths of Père David’s deer in Dafeng Reserve from 2009 to 2020

Fig.4 Seasonal and age distribution of mortality rate of Père David’s deer in Dafeng Reserve.A: Overall distribution of mortality in season and age group; B: Seasonal mortality distribution by age group; C: Mortality Distribution of age group by season. * P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ns P > 0.05

Fig.5 Distribution of different type of habitats for death individuals in Dafeng Reserve.* P < 0.05, ***P < 0.001

Fig.6 Comparison of the death causes of Père David’s deer in Dafeng Reserve.*** P < 0.001

Table 1 The effect of season and age on the causes of death of Père David’s deer (* P < 0.05)

因变量 Dependent variable	固定因素 Fixed factors	df	F	P
疫病因素 Epidemic disease	季节 Season	3	2.279	0.180
	年龄 Age	2	1.058	0.404
	季节 + 年龄 Season and age	5	2.399	0.156
自然因素 Natural causes	季节 Season	3	1.433	0.323
	年龄 Age	2	5.411	0.045^*
	季节 + 年龄 Season and age	5	5.698	0.026^*
意外因素 Accidental factor	季节 Season	3	2.125	0.198
	年龄 Age	2	5.184	0.049^*
	季节 + 年龄 Season and age	5	5.214	0.032^*

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