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UPLAND WILDLIFE ECOLOGY 



Much of the resident game of the United States, 

 both birds and mammals, is produced on privately 

 owned land, where wildlife management respon- 

 sibilities are primarily those of State game and 

 fish departments. The Bureau has clear respon- 

 sibility for research on public lands leading to 

 improved management of upland wildlife. An- 

 other segment of the Bureau's responsibility in 

 the upland area deals with wildlife affecting forest 

 regeneration and range condition. The primary 

 approach in this country-wide Bureau program is 

 close cooperation with Forest and Range Experi- 

 ment Station personnel of the U.S. Forest Service. 

 Bureau research on farm game species is carried 

 on principally through the Cooperative Wildlife 

 Research Units working directly with the States. 



Reindeer. — A study of the reindeer herd on St. 

 Matthew Island, in the Bering Sea, is being con- 

 ducted by the Alaska Unit. The reindeer in- 

 creased from 29 animals introduced in 1944 to 

 1,350 animals in 1957 and now number approxi- 

 mately 6,000, an average annual increase of over 

 30 percent. There are now many indications of 

 excessive stocking of the range. Yearlings de- 

 creased from 21 percent of the population in 1957 

 to 14 percent in 1963. Fawn weights averaged 

 36 percent less than in 1957, and adults were cor- 

 respondingly lighter. Subcutaneous fat was ab- 

 sent in most animals examined. Lichens have 

 been nearly eliminated from the winter range, and 

 willows have died in some areas. Grasses and 

 sedges showed an increase in density on winter- 

 range study plots, at the expense of the lichens, 

 the main winter reindeer food. A drastic reduc- 

 tion of the population is imperative if the herd 

 and range are to be saved. 



Hunter access and deer kill distribution. — The 

 Bureau, in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Serv- 

 ice and the North Carolina Natural Resources 

 Commission, has completed a detailed analysis of 

 the relation between access roads and the white- 

 tailed deer kill in North Carolina. Assigned 



biologists worked on the Uwharrie Wildlife Man- 

 agement Area in the Piedmont region and on 13 

 game-management areas in mountainous country. 



Of 3,633 kills on the Uwharrie over a 3-year 

 period, and 4,132 kills in the mountain areas over 

 a 4-year period, the following distance-to-road 

 data were obtained: On the Uwharrie, 40 percent 

 of the kills were within 300 feet from the nearest 

 road or trail; 81 percent were within 600 feet, and 

 99 percent were within 1,200 feet. None of the 

 deer were killed beyond 1,800 feet from a road 

 or trail. Of the total area 99 percent lies within 

 2,400 feet of driveways of some sort. 



In the 13 mountain areas, hunters shot 25 per- 

 cent of the deer within 300 feet of a road, 54 per- 

 cent within 600 feet, 83 percent within 1,200 feet, 

 93 percent within 1,800 feet, and 98 percent within 

 half a mile of a road or trail. Of the total area, 

 98 percent lies within 2,400 feet of a roadway or 

 trail. 



The Uwharrie was hunted by urban sportsmen, 

 who were not prone to enter remote areas. In 

 the mountains, most of the hunters were local resi- 

 dents, more likely to work back-country range. 



Ecologiced characteristics of a mule deer winter 

 range. — The ecological characteristics of a selected 

 mule deer range in north-central Colorado was 

 studied by the Colorado Unit during a 2-year per- 

 iod from 1960 to 1962. The investigation was 

 conducted in cooperation with the Colorado De- 

 partment, of Game, Fish, and Parks, the Atomic 

 Energy Commission, and the Bureau of Sport 

 Fisheries and Wildlife. 



The uncorrected map acreage of the Sevenmile 

 area is about 600 acres but when topographic con- 

 figuration is accounted for the actual surface area 

 is 960 acres. Shrubs and coniferous trees cover 

 about 90 percent of the tract, and are about equally 

 divided between the two types. About 75 percent 

 of the surface lies between gradients of 41 and 60 

 percent ; 45 percent of the slopes are south facing, 

 and 45 percent are north facing. 



In the winter, the mean radiation index for 

 south-facing exposures was 37, and for north- 

 facing exposures was 19. South-facing slopes 

 received approximately nine times as much direct 

 sunlight in the winter as other aspects, and were 

 generally warmer, had less ground-surface snow, 

 more total annual precipitation, lower relative hu- 

 midity, and much more wind. North-facing con- 

 iferous timber types, contrastingly, had signifi- 

 cantly lower minimum and mean air temperatures, 



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