Diurnal behavior and seasonal migration characteristics of vegetation utilization by Yezo sika deer inhabiting the Sarobetsu Mire and its surroundings

Abstract

The characteristics of daily and seasonal vegetation utilization and behaviors of sika deer （Crevus nippon yezoensis） were clarified from the GPS collar location data of nine hinds acquired by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan in the Sarobetsu Region, Northern Hokkaido.　Daily maximum snow depth data and 1/25000 vegetation map were used for this analysis.　Except for the one resident type （non-migratory） hind, all the sika deer seasonally migrate, and they wintered in a coniferous forest （partly a mixed forest of conifers and broad-leaved trees） on the coastal dunes, and were active in and around the sand dune forest from January to March.　In January and February, they mostly stayed in coniferous forests and mixed forests all day.　In April, when the snow depth was less than 10 cm, the sika deer immediately began to move from their wintering area to their summer habitats and arrived within three weeks.　Only one of them used the Maruyama area adjacent to the Sarobetsu Mire as her summer habitat, and the remaining seven had summer habitats away from the Mire.　And sika deer were mainly using broad-leaved forests and reed swamps during daytime, and pasture during nighttime.　From mid-October to December, sika deer gradually moved from their summer habitats to their wintering area, and the distance traveled sharply increased when there was snow on the ground.　By overlapping and re-analyzing the GPS collar positioning data acquired by some government agencies with various environmental information data, it may be possible to further clarify the sika deer’s behavior, predatory plants, vegetation types used, and other characteristics.