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White Tailed Deer Inventory at Vicksburg National Military Park 2023 - Open Format Dataset

Metadata Updated: September 14, 2025

White-tailed deer (WTD) can exert substantial impacts on the ecosystems in the Southeastern United States. WTD populations in Vicksburg National Military Park (VICK) have not been surveyed since 2010. This study aimed to develop a cost-effective visual count-density conversion method using WTD counts from spotlight surveys and density estimates from fecal-DNA spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) models. We conducted spotlight surveys of WTD in January, March, and May, 2023. Average visual counts of WTD were 96.0 in January, March, and May. Direct visual deer counts were greater than those of the 2009 VICK WTD spotlight surveys by 40%-220%. Average WTD relative abundances were 8.5 deer per mile in January, March, and May, respectively. Average density estimated by distance sampling models was 0.65 deer per ha. We used eight microsatellite markers to genotype WTD fecal samples, fecal DNA spatially explicit capture-recapture models estimated 778 WTD within VICK. The WTD densities were positively related to the proportions of forests and open fields in VICK. White-tailed deer appeared to be overabundant within VICK, causing concerns relative to WTD-human conflicts and exacerbating the risk of wildlife disease transmission. We proposed a method for estimating WTD densities with visual counts, which will allow park staff to convert WTD visual counts from spotlight surveys to WTD densities until substantial changes in VICK’s vegetation and/or habitat management occur. The timely, cost-effective monitoring of WTD populations can help park staff better manage natural resources within VICK, including the mitigation of the damages caused by overabundant WTD to natural resources.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: us-pd

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 14, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI NPS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 14, 2025
Publisher National Park Service
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/nps-datastore-2310846
Data First Published 2025-05-01T00:00:00Z
Data Last Modified 2025-05-01T00:00:00Z
Category Data Package
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:24
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/nps-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id d2f71b31-bafe-4cb9-a140-191161c52149
Harvest Source Id d917c1a9-26b7-43ea-b8c5-c77ec750a850
Harvest Source Title DOI NPS DCAT-US
Homepage URL https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2310846
License http://www.usa.gov/publicdomain/label/1.0/
Old Spatial -90.934,32.3033,-90.519,32.3819
Program Code 010:119, 010:118
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 86538963a101a1abbbb72fe4d48fe22e394b33c7dce6598353cc6ed9d27e4c96
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -90.934, 32.3033, -90.934, 32.3819, -90.519, 32.3819, -90.519, 32.3033, -90.934, 32.3033}

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