Enumerating White‐Tailed Deer Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. (18th March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Preston, Todd M.; Wildhaber, Mark L.; Green, Nicholas S.; Albers, Janice L.; Debenedetto, Geoffrey P.
• Is Part Of: Wildlife Society bulletin. Volume 45:Number 1(2021)
• Page Start: 97
• Page End: 108
• Publication Date: 2021-03-18
• Subjects: density estimate -- distance sampling -- Odocoileus virginianus -- population estimate -- spotlight survey -- thermal imaging -- UAV -- white‐tailed deer; Wildlife management -- Periodicals; Wildlife conservation -- Periodicals; 333.9540973
• DOI: 10.1002/wsb.1149
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0091-7648

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The white‐tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) is an ecologically important species in forests of North America. Effective management of forests requires accurate, precise estimates of deer population abundance to plan and justify management actions. Spotlight surveys in combination with distance sampling are a common method of estimating deer population abundance; however, spotlight surveys are known to have serious drawbacks such as high costs and sampling biases. Therefore, we tested the effectiveness of enumerating deer from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flights, conducted 1 and 6 March 2018, to develop population and density estimates in 2 United States National Parks: Harpers Ferry National Historic Park (HAFE) and Monocacy National Battlefield (MONO). Concurrent spotlight surveys at MONO enabled us to compare estimates obtained by the 2 methods. Deer density estimates by 4 observers of UAV‐obtained thermal imagery from HAFE were 94.5 ± 3.9 deer/km 2 . Concurrent UAV and spotlight surveys at MONO found 19.7 ± 0.5 deer/km 2 and 6.4 ± 4.9 deer/km 2, respectively; suggesting that spotlight surveys may significantly underestimate deer densities. Despite the logistical challenges to UAV operation, our findings demonstrate that UAVs will become an invaluable tool for wildlife management as technology improves. © 2021 The Wildlife Society. This article has been contributed to by US Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA. Abstract : Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are a promising technology for estimating white‐tail deer density and abundance without many biases common with spotlight surveys and distance sampling methods. White‐tailed deer density estimates from UAV surveys were approximately 3 times larger than concurrent spotlight surveys, indicating that spotlight surveys could significantly underestimate white‐tailed deer populations in some situations.