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Dryad

Migration statistics and animal biometrics for mule deer that migrated long-distances (2011–2020), Wyoming, USA

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Mar 24, 2023 version files 21.31 KB

Abstract

Billions of animals migrate to track seasonal pulses in resources. Optimally timing migration is a key strategy, yet the ability of animals to compensate for phenological mismatches en route is largely unknown. We studied a population of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in Wyoming that lack reliable cues on their desert winter range, causing them to start migration 70 days ahead to 52 days behind the wave of spring green-up. By adjusting movement speed and stopover use, however, individual deer arrive at the summer range within an average 6-day window. Late migrants move 2.5 times faster and spend 72% less time on stopovers than early migrants, which allows them to catch the green wave. Ungulates, and potentially other migratory species, possess cognitive abilities to recognize where they are in space and time relative to key resources. Such behavioral capacity may allow migratory taxa to maintain foraging benefits amid rapidly changing phenology.