Interactive effects of wildfires, season, and predator activity shape mule deer movements

Wildfires are increasing in size, frequency, and severity due to climate change and fire suppression, but the direct and indirect effects on wildlife remain largely unresolved. Fire removes forest canopy, which can improve forage for ungulates but also reduce snow interception, leading to a deeper snowpack and potentially increased vulnerability to predation in winter. If ungulates exhibit predator-mediated foraging, burns should generally be selected for in summer to access high-quality forage and avoided in winter to reduce predation risk in deep snow. Fires also typically increase the amount of deadfall and initiate growth of dense understory vegetation, creating obstacles that may confer a hunting advantage to stalking predators and a disadvantage to coursing predators. To minimize risk, ungulates may therefore avoid burns when and where stalking predators are most active, and use burns when and where coursing predators are most active. We used telemetry data from GPS-collared mule ...受气候变化与野火抑制措施影响，野火的规模、发生频率与严重程度均呈上升趋势，但其对野生动物的直接及间接影响在很大程度上仍未明确。野火会清除林冠层：一方面可提升有蹄类动物（ungulates）的觅食资源供给，另一方面会减少积雪截留，导致积雪厚度增加，进而可能提升冬季有蹄类动物的被捕食风险。若有蹄类动物的觅食活动受捕食者调控，则它们通常应在夏季选择火烧区域以获取优质觅食资源，而在冬季避开此类区域以降低深雪中的被捕食风险。野火通常还会增加枯倒木总量，并促使茂密的林下植被快速生长，形成阻碍物：这类障碍物可能为伏击型捕食者（stalking predators）带来狩猎优势，却对追击型捕食者（coursing predators）不利。因此，为最大限度降低风险，有蹄类动物会在伏击型捕食者活动最频繁的时段与区域避开火烧地，而在追击型捕食者活动最频繁的时段与区域利用火烧地。本研究使用了佩戴GPS项圈的骡（mule）的遥测数据……