Effect of Hurricane Andrew on survival and movements of white-tailed deer in the Everglades

Movements and survival of 32 radiomarked white-tailed deer (Odocoilcus virg inianus seminolus) were studied in the wet prairie of Everglades National P ark (ENP) and Big Cypress National Preserve (BCNP) before and after the pas sage of Hurricane Andrew a storm with sustained winds of 242 km/hr that bis ected the study area on 24 August 1992. All radiomarked deer survived the H urricane. However. the hurricane, which struck during rut, appeared to redu ce conception rates or fetus and fawn survival, or both, as evidenced by a In-fold decrease in fawn production in 1993. Home range sizes, measured dur ing January March, did not differ (P > 0.05) among the years 1991, 1992 (pr ehurricane). and 1993 (posthurricane). Strong site fidelity iri the wake of Hurricane Andrew was evidenced by the lack of difference (P > 0.05) in the distances between home range centers in prehurricane years (1991-92) and i n pre- and posthurricane years (1992-93). Multiple response permutation pro cedure (MRPP) analyses revealed that although many deer altered (P cr 0.05) their home range use distributions between 1992 (prehurricane) and 1993 (p osthurricane). these changes were consistent with those observed in the sam e deer between 1991 and 1992 (prehurricane years). In the absence of extrao rdinary or prolonged rainfall, hurricanes appear not to exert direct detrim ental effects on deer populations in the interior marshes of the Everglades , but they may depress productivity for an annual cycle.