MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR ENDANGERED FLORIDA KEY DEER A Thesis by MARKUS NILS PETERSON Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE August 2003 Major Subject: Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR ENDANGERED FLORIDA KEY DEER A Thesis by MARKUS NILS PETERSON Submitted to Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Approved as to style and content by: Nova J. Silvy Roel R. Lopez (Co-Chair of Committee) (Co-Chair of Committee) Donald S. Davis Robert D. Brown (Member) (Head of Department) August 2003 Major Subject: Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences iii ABSTRACT Management Strategies for Endangered Florida Key Deer. (August 2003) Markus Nils Peterson, B.S., Texas A&M University Co-Chairs of Advisory Committee: Dr. Nova J. Silvy Dr. Roel R. Lopez Urban development is of particular concern in the management of endangered Key deer (Odocoileous virginianus clavium) because highway mortality is the greatest single cause of deer mortality (≈ 50%), and the rural community of Big Pine Key, Florida constitutes the majority of Key deer habitat. Study objectives were to provide and synthesize management strategies useful in the recovery of Key deer. Specifically, I (1) used simulation modeling to evaluate effects of fetal sex ratios (FSR) on Key deer population structure, (2) evaluated the most efficient and socially acceptable urban deer capture methods, (3) evaluated changes in fawn survival, mortality agents, and range size between 1968-2002, and (4) conducted an ethnography of the human population on Big Pine Key to ascertain cultural dynamics within the community and provide guidelines for community based management of Key deer. Key deer were radio-collared (n = 335) as part of 2 separate field studies (1968- 1972, 1998-2002), and mortality and survey estimates were collected throughout the entire period (1966-2002). During 1990-2002, I used an ethnographic approach to iv analyze the conflict surrounding Key deer management and explored how conflict and moral culture applied to this endangered species. These data were used to address my study objectives. I found the most commonly cited FSR (2.67:1, male:female) for Florida Key deer to be inaccurate. A male biased FSR of 1.45:1 was more probable. Modified drop and drive nets were appropriate methods for urban deer capture because they are passive, silent, fast, generally accepted by the public, and yielded low mortality and injury rates. Between 1968-2002 Key deer fawn survival increased in tandem with human development while range sizes decreased. This suggests a positive, but not sustainable, relationship between fawn survival and development. I found disputants on Big Pine Key divided into 2 moral cultures, 1 grounded in stewardship and the other in private property rights. Successful management strategies for the Key deer require understanding and addressing issues at several levels including: Key deer demographics, community perspectives, and cultural norms. Collectively this information can be used by wildlife managers to improve the management and recovery of Key deer. v DEDICATION For Shannon vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank the Big Pine Key, Florida community for sharing the insights they have gained through decades of wrestling with Key deer management. Without their generous assistance, this effort would have been impossible. I thank National Key Deer Refuge personnel for access to their press archive. In particular I thank Phil Frank for his candid evaluation of the conflict. I thank W. Becker, of WWUS radio, for giving me access to the only verbatim records of the public meetings associated with our research. Thanks to Brad Porter for his hard work and dedication as a student intern helping me conduct research. I also would like to thank my committee Roel Lopez, Nova Silvy, and Donald Davis for providing guidance and support throughout my tenure at Texas A&M University. I thank Roel Lopez and Nova Silvy in particular for being mentors and for helping me work through endless ideas, drafts, manuscripts, and applications. Thanks to Bill Grant and Jorge Zalles for inspiring many of those ideas with their insights. I thank Texas A&M University, the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, and the National Key Deer Refuge for technical and financial support. I also thank the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences at Texas A&M University for its support, particularly Janice Crenshaw and Ann Williams for helping me graduate. Finally, I thank my family. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for giving me a love of wild things and wild places, a belief that they can be saved, and helping me to express it in writing. Special thanks to you, Shannon, for your infectious love of wildlife, your patience with my eccentricities, your encouragement, and your assistance with field work and writing. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION .................................................................................................. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................................................................. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................. vii LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................ x CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 1 Background............................................................................. 1 Study Area.............................................................................. 3 Objectives ............................................................................... 4 II IMPLICATIONS OF FETAL SEX RATIO HYPOTHESES ............ 5 Synopsis.................................................................................. 5 Introduction............................................................................. 6 Basic Structure of the Models................................................. 9 Quantitative Description of the Models.................................. 9 Evaluation of Models.............................................................. 19 Possible Alternative Causes.................................................... 24 Discussion............................................................................... 24 III CAPTURE METHODS FOR URBAN WHITE-TAILED DEER ..... 29 Synopsis.................................................................................. 29 Introduction............................................................................. 30 Methods .................................................................................. 34 Results..................................................................................... 40 Discussion............................................................................... 47 Conclusions............................................................................. 54 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) CHAPTER Page IV KEY DEER FAWN RESPONSE TO URBANIZATION.................. 57 Synopsis.................................................................................. 57 Introduction............................................................................. 57 Methods .................................................................................. 60 Results..................................................................................... 61 Discussion............................................................................... 65 Management Implications....................................................... 67 V MORAL CULTURES IN CONFLICT............................................... 69 Synopsis.................................................................................. 69 Introduction............................................................................. 70 Methods .................................................................................. 76 Ethnographic Analysis............................................................ 83 Discussion............................................................................... 106 Management Implications....................................................... 117 VI CONCLUSIONS................................................................................ 123 LITERATURE CITED................................................................................ 126 VITA............................................................................................................ 144 ix LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE Page 2.1 Basic structure of the simulation models.….................................... 8 2.2 Graphs representing the relationship between density and proportion male %m for the 9 models simulating FSRs (fetal sex ratios).…………………………………………………………….. 14 2.3 Graph comparing Key deer population trend data to kidney fat indexes 1986-1997………………………………………………... 17 2.4 Comparison of population trends predicted by each of 9 models (predicted deer numbers) to population trends observed by USFWS (average deer seen on annual census) from 1976-2000 (USFWS unpublished data).…………………................................ 20 2.5 Comparison of annual Key deer mortality