Mule Deer Decline?

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Hiker of the Woods

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There is a new hypothesis out there why some herbivore populations have been on a steady decline. Could this be just one more factor into why mule deer populations have been declining over the decades even while elk populations have gone up? Deer do rely on high quality feed while elk need quantity.

“that plant quality is declining even as plant growth has nearly doubled—highlights the paradoxical nature of nutrient dilution.”

https://phys.org/news/2020-03-malnourished-bugs-higher-carbon-nutritious.html

https://phys.org/news/2020-03-reveals-grasshopper-declines-quality-prairie.html
 
Cheatgrass is currently one of the biggest threats to muledeer across the Western US. Here's an interesting article from the Muledeer Foundation:


There is an incredible amount of research currently being conducted across the Western US that is consistently finding that invasive cheatgrass directly competes with native shrubs like antelope bitterbrush and mountain mahogany found on critical winter ranges. Dense cheatgrass thatch increases the intensity and frequency of wildfires. Many of these shrubs that are important to muledeer in winter are lost with these wildfires.

Researchers are finding that native shrubs and forbs dramatically increase where cheatgrass and other annual weeds are controlled....which directly benefits muledeer, pollinators, and other wildlife. Muledeer utilize these forbs and shrubs in the early spring and summer when they green up. Research is also finding that fresh liter growth of these desirable shrubs doubles where cheatgrass is controlled.

There is a relatively new herbicide called Esplanade that controls cheatgrass for multiple years and prevents cheatgrass and other annual weeds from competing with these native species.

Hopefully land managers in your area will consider using Esplanade to control cheatgrass and other annual weeds in critical muledeer habitat!
 
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Habitat loss due to development or cheatgrass are definitely a factor in declining mule deer populations.
Jim's Do you work for Bayer?
 
The deer in my yard are eating cheatgrass right now. Admittedly, it isn't much in a couple months but they seem to think its feed. They also like russian olives, which are another invasive species.

I don't know what that means and I have no point. Just an observation.

I asked about the affiliation in another thread, but didnt get a good answer. Im going to give the benefit of the doubt and say an applicator on a crusade against cheat grass.
 
I worked at Colorado State University doing invasive weed research for 28+ years and now work for Boulder County Parks and Open Space. We manage over 200,000 acres of which most of it has cheatgrass! Many of our properties have critical wildlife habitat with diverse, rare, and endangered species. It's been a joy seeing color and life brought back to these diverse ecosystems that previously were a cheatgrass moniculture! This is the most exciting thing I have worked on in my career devoted to invasive weeds and range management!

We've done several aerial applications to control cheatgrass under ponderosa pines and in rough country that is critical winter habitat for deer, elk, and other wildlife. We've also sprayed over 2,000 acres of cheatgrass with tractor the past few years. The results we are seeing is literally amazing! We've presented several posters and presentations with data at the SRM, annual weed conferences, and other meetings. This data is consistent with what other university professors and researchers are finding throughout the Western US.

Yep, deer will eat cheatgrass in early spring when it is green. Unfortunately cheatgrass competes with vital early spring moisture that native shrubs and forbs that are vital for muledeer, pollinators, and other wildlife through the remainder of the spring, summer, fall, and winter. Once dried out in early spring cheatgrass is useless and a severe wildfire hazard.

Esplanade is so effective on annual weeds that Wyoming and other states recently got an emergency order to allow them to use Esplanade to control ventenata and medusahead in grazed areas (it is so new it hasn't gotten a grazing label yet). There are no other herbicides available that effectively control ventenata and medusahead in a range setting for extended years. Esplanade is manufactured by Bayer and I have a relative that works for the company.

The more in depth we look the more benefits we see to cheatgrass control. Not only is habitat improved for deer, elk, and wildlife but we are finding pollinators and ground nesting birds favor areas without dense cheatgrass thatch and the release of native forbs and other flowering plants. Another researcher found that bobwhite quail favor these same areas where cheatgrass is controlled. I've also noticed a dramatic increase in nests from ground nesting birds in areas where cheatgrass is controlled....something else we plan on monitoring in detail this year.

If you would like any specifics on cheatgrass or cheatgrass control please send me a message. I'd be glad to chat with you! If you would like to view or tour sites we've controlled cheatgrass look me up and I would be glad to show you the results! It's amazing!
 
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I thought it would be interesting to show some visuals of some of the work we are doing on our properties to improve muledeer, pollinator, and other wildlife habitat. First picture is a photo of what we are faced with. Poor growth of antelope bitterbrush with a monoculture of dense cheatgrass.
Hallmonoculture.jpg

This photo is on the same property where we had a prescribed burn. As you can see the bitterbrush was killed by the high intensity fire and the cheatgrass returned with a vengeance!

Halldeadbitterbrush.jpg

Here's a bird's-eye view of an area we sprayed with Esplanade. The photo was taken with a drone 3 years after it was sprayed. The left side of the road was sprayed and the right side non-sprayed.
Picture6.jpg

The photo below shows a different property with a side-by-side comparison of control of cheatgrass on left with unsprayed on the right the summer after application. There is almost immediate response of shrubs when moisture is made available to them! Notice the height difference and leader growth increase in the shrubs.
Tommyt.jpg

The photo below shows a comparison of leader growth of mountain mahogany and antelope bitterbrush. We are finding that leader growth at least doubles at sites sprayed with Esplanade to control cheatgrass compared to immediately adjacent non-sprayed sites. This has been consistent for every shrub species we have monitored.
litergrowth.jpg
 
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The flowering forb and shrub response is also amazing! Muledeer diet is converted over to these desirable species in early spring and summer. These native flowering plants are also vital for pollinators and other wildlife. Here is a before photo of one of our properties with a dense moniculture of cheatgrass.
Picture1.jpg

This is the same property the spring after cheatgrass was controlled. We have closely been monitoring 13 of these sites sprayed with Esplanade. This site actually had the highest diversity of native plants of all the sites. There were 76 native species found in unsprayed sites vs 96 native species in adjacent sprayed sites. That is almost a 25% increase in species richness! There were also several rare and endangered species that showed up in sites where cheatgrass was controlled.
Picture3.jpg

Here is a photo of a different property before being sprayed.
Picture4.jpg

Same property the spring after!
Picture5.jpg
 
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Wow! That’s impressive. Imagine what our deer population would do if they implemented that everywhere. I know in Utah, cheatgrass has taken over many areas.
 
Opps you are correct I went back and edited the liter-leader deal. Thankyou!

The same research is being conducted in Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and other states across the country. You are absolutely right, if land managers start controlling cheatgrass on critical winter range and other areas muledeer and antelope health and condition will improve. Healthier does mean healthier fawns that can survive winter, drought, etc. I'm also guessing that horn and antler growth in big game bucks and bulls will improve with added nutrition!

We are also seeing up to a 10x increase in perennial native grass which ought to benefit elk. Esplanade is expected to get a grazing label throughout the West this summer so cattle ranchers ought to be excited.
 
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Ground nesting birds and ground nesting bees don't like the thick thatch associated with cheatgrass. While conducting surveys on the 13 sites last summer I found 12 different bird's nests where cheatgrass was controlled. I didn't find any bird's nests in the dense cheatgrass. Here are a few photos of some of the ground nests I found.
IMG_3639.JPG
IMG_3643.JPG

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Here's a neat photo of a nest at the base of a native thistle (wavey-leaf). Notice how the canopy is opened up from dense cheatgrass and how the natives (including grass) responded
thistlenest.jpg
 
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Man this stuff really does seem to be having a HUGE impact. I hope they can get on this soon and start getting it applied to areas.

This is something the conservation org's should be looking into and pushing funding for as I am sure this will be a very costly endeavor.
 
Another stepping stone is to get Esplanade on the federal list of herbicides available for them to use! The BLM and forest service are the big players with the greatest potential for positive impact that benefits muledeer, antelope, elk, and other wildlife. If you think about it cheatgrass control would also improve sage grouse habitat by protecting it from intense and more frequent wildfires with improved nesting habitat and food sources!

The feds currently don't have any tools available to control cheatgrass long-term. The more pressure that is put on the feds the better chance they will start improving critical wildlife habitat! Esplanade currently is safe and labeled for use in vineyards, orchards, and turf. If it is safe in those areas you would expect it is safe to use on BLM and forest service? There has been some testing on federal land in Wyoming so hopefully this prompts them to progress forward!
 
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This would surely benefit many cwmus here in Utah, many of them run cattle and hunt the animals that live on them, good feed makes big deer, elk and beef
 
How long have those sites been dominated by cheatgrass? Would there be a point where the native seeds would be longer be around and you would need to plant seed to get things to grow?
 
Mtnrunner260, you are absolutely correct. A lot depends upon the particular site. Fortunately most of the sites we have been spraying have a remnant population of native species.

Sites that have a past history of heavy cattle grazing pressure or have been disturbed or tilled may not have any natives and may require drilling to return natives to a site. We are currently making progress on steps to do this. I can send you tips if you send me a pm.

Generally speaking, native forb and shrub seed stays viable in the soil a lot longer than cheatgrass. Research published by CSU a couple years ago showed that cheatgrass seed only has a life in the soil of 2 to 5 years tops. If we can prevent cheatgrass seed production for 2 to 4+ years we are really making a positive impact.

Esplanade doesn't control or injure perennials with established roots. That is both good and bad. On the bright side the majority of native species in Colorado are perennial forb, grass, and shrubs. Perennial invasive weed species like field bindweed or Canada thistle on sites sprayed with Esplanade are released from competition with cheatgrass. There are tank mixes that are specific to different weed species (Quinstar controlling field bindweed as an example) that are very selective controlling specific weeds without injuring natives.

Another interesting thing that we are finding is that Esplanade controls a lot of biennial invasive weed species like diffuse knapweed, common mullein, and others. It also extends control of perennial weeds like Dalmatian toadflax by controlling their seedlings. CSU published an article on this as well.

That is probably more information than you ever wanted but I thought I'd add a few additional comments. This is what I really enjoy about my job...I get to work outside and I'm always learning great techniques for improving wildlife habitat!
 
In regard to negatives we really haven't found any yet other than the fact that most perennial weeds are released if they are present. With tank mixes this shouldn't be a problem. Esplanade is fairly expensive but there may be a slight price drop once it gets a grazing label. Timing is critical for first year control of cheatgrass.
 
We have a range health monitoring program through our District Conservation Office where PLO are taught how to complete the annual surveys. The primary purpose is for livestock grazing but also to demonstrate to the BLM how piss poor the BLM range is really in. Sights have been selected to show the health difference between public and private land. Every few years there is a tour demonstrating the data and range health. BLM does not look so swell compared to private. We have 2 mule deer units near me that have been selected to monitor as well. One with significant private land owner improvements such as controlled burns, chaining, hydro-axing, edge control, pinyon removal, controlled spraying, and invasive species control. The other which happens to be BLM has had little if any improvements. Night and day difference. The difference has been so noticable that CPW has noted a drastic change in mule deer migration habits and concentrations. The results have been so obvious that BLM has what we would consider almost shamed into doing "some" range health projects. Still BLM has this "do nothing" mentally while also quoting their rule book about needing to complete a Biological Assessment and NEPA review prior to taking care of their land that is in dismal condition while a strong population of invasive species runs rampant. They care more about the NEPA review paper process than the land itself. Perhaps BLM needs a name change? We have the largest migrating mule dear herd in the world and in our part of the world 75% of the lands are federal which might help put this into perspective. Our county has developed a Land Use and Natural Resource Plan that frankly the BLM hates because now they have to become a better neighbor. We'll see how good of a neighbor they'll be.
 
Tailchasers,
Holy smokes that's sad news about the BLM! I feel extremely fortunate to work in a place where I have the freedom and budget to make dramatic changes. I'm not sure I would last long working for the BLM if my hands were tied and I couldn't use the tools available to make changes that I know would make dramatic positive impacts. Quite frankly, I would be somewhat embarrassed working somewhere that owns so many scare miles in every Western state where improvement are so desired and needed but it is impossible to conduct them! Ultimately it is the big game and sportsman that are let down! I'm not exactly sure how sportsman and local private landowners can confront this? I can see how it would be frustrating! It sounds like the natural resources plan you mentioned is a step in the right direction? Do you think this will work with the BLM?
 
jims, so far BLM has been more cooperative but time will tell. BLM has burned several areas in the bast 2 years as well as allowed natural fires burn where appropriate. Over the past few decades we have also lost numerous natural springs due to wild horses and invasive species. Wild horses continue to be highly problematic damaging large areas once inhabited by abundant native wildlife where now not even a wild horse can hardly survive because of the damages. The Plan has opened an opportunity to engage directly with BLM forcing them to listen and strongly consider the county's positions. All of a sudden the BLM became much easier to work with. I am surprised more counties have not followed this.
 

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