ESTIMATING 24-H HABITAT USE PATTERNS OF WHITE-TAILED DEER FROM DIURNAL USE

We compared diurnal and 24-h habitat use patterns of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) at Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota from 1 January to 20 December 1993. Deer were sampled during t wo periods, diurnal (i.e. 0800 to 1959 h) and 24-h to determine if 24- h habitat use could be estimated from diurnal use patterns at the popu lation level. No differences between diurnal and 24-h use were detecte d (P = 0.101) during winter, spring, summer, or fall, indicating that 24-h habitat use could be estimated (r(2) = 0.95, P < 0.001) from diur nal patterns when habitats were combined even during periods of intens e unpredicted human disturbance (i.e. fall hunting with approx. 12 hun ters/km(2)). (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited