White-Tailed Deer

White-Tailed Deer Puja Mahesuria

Profile • Taxonomy: Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ChordataClass: MammaliaOrder: ArtiodactylaFamily: CervidaeGenus: Odocoileus • Scientific name: OdocoileusVirginianus • Common name: White-tailed Deer, Key Deer

Profile Continued... • Geographic Range- Mostly around southern Canada - Northern Mexico - Most of united states lying east of the rocky mountains - Some of the great northwest • Habitat - Mostly associated with brush lands and forested areas- Pine and oak woodlands, dense stands of cottonwoods, and even tropical forests provide suitable habitat • System type: Terrestrial

Profile Continued... • Population- Range has increased towards the north into Canada, as a result of habitat changes caused by humans. Estimated population of White-tailed Deer's in the US must be over 11,000,000 - one third in the states of Texas

Threats • Loss in the population of a White-Tailed Deer • Hunting

1) Loss in the population of a White-Tailed Deer • Diseases are fairly common to the causes of loss in the population for white-tailed deer’s. Young and old are mostly effected of the diseases. The most common are pneumonia, bluetongue, encephalitis, anthrax, and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). • When deer's start developing more often they cause damage to forest vegetation through over browsing; They’re involved in accidents with cars, often resulting in serious injury to the human occupants of the vehicles • Buck fights can also lead to deaths

2) Hunting • For centuries before Europeans arrived in north America, native hunters harvested millions of whitetails each year. Today's whitetail population stands at more than 20 million after declining to a low of a few hundred thousand in the early 1900s. • Keys on how to find a deer or how to hunt: - scouting, stand hunting, tripod stands, ground stands, driving, glassing and stalking, shooting, snow tracking • Things used out of deer’s - meat and bone- Indians used hides for clothing, rugs, blankets and fishnets

2) Hunting Continued... • In 1646 Rhode Island realized extinction was imminent and passed the first law to protect white-tailed deer’s ... It was continued until the late 1800s • 1900 THE LACY ACT - first federal wildlife law was enacted - lacy prohibited the interstate trafficking of venison and other wildlife - exploitation of white-tailed deer’s began to slow down

Food web

Food Web labelling

Classification Map • The Phylum of a White-Tailed Deer is Chordata • A White-Tailed Deer falls underneath this category because it has a vertebral column like all the other mammals and it also has a placenta • Chordata contains the most familiar species, including humans • They have pharyngeal slits which are used as gills, and the notochord which is a rod that extends mainly about its length of its body when it is completely developed.

Classification Map continued...(3 organisms)

Consequences • If a White-Tailed Deer became extinct some consequences would occur. All the species that refer to a white-tailed deer as their daily diet, such as a mountain lion, bobcats or coyotes, they could become extinct in the future as well. Living things depend on other living things. • All the humans that go hunting would lose one of their species hunted for. Since white-tailed deer's are commonly known for hunting, this would affect some humans lives because they also refer to whitetails as food.

Personal Response • Biodiversity is important. Biodiversity is the variability of all living things which include plants and animals. A lot of varieties of habitats are needed for all different species because each and every species is adapted to a certain set of environmental condition. Biodiversity makes the structure of the ecosystems and habitats that support living resources; they include the fisheries, forests and wildlife. Biodiversity helps fulfill the basic needs of humans such as medicine, shelter and food. Humans depend on plants and animals so a diverse ecosystem benefits us as well. Such as the medicinal drugs we take or drink comes from plants, healthy biodiversity of species can provide a variety of food, for example meat. You can find biodiversity anywhere there is life. However some parts of the world are more biologically diverse than others. Different ecosystems on the

Personal Response continued... ...planet, such as deserts, rainforests and coral reefs are all part of a biologically diverse Earth. All living things depend on other living things, so if one species becomes extinct the one relying on it could also become extinct. For example insects to us seem really small and we don’t bother to care about them. But for some ecosystems such as small mammals and birds rely on insects as food, so if there aren’t any insects that means the birds and mammals have no food. How would we feel if we didn’t have any food on the dinner table? We would be hungry and want food as soon as possible, so just like how we need food to live animals need their food. At the end of the day biodiversity is important because we all benefit from it. If biodiversity is important to us then we should be taking care of the diverse earth. Such as keeping the environment clean, protection of water resources and the maintenance of ecosystems.

HELP us protect our whitetails YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE 1-800-597-DEER or visit:www.helpingwhitetails.ca STOP ILLGEAL HUNTING!

Bibliography • Hiller, Ilo. The White-Tailed Deer. College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 1996. Internet resource. • "Parks Canada - Cape Breton Highlands National Park - Why is biodiversity important?." Parcs Canada | Parks Canada. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. <http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ns/cbreton/natcul/natcul1/d/iii.aspx> • "Biology and Ecology of Whitetailed Deer (Whitetail Deer)." Texas Deer Hunting - 1A Hunting in Texas Guide Service - Trophy Whitetail or Management Deer. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. <http://www.1atexasdeerhunting.com/ • "Understandings of Consequence > Curriculum Modules > Ecosystems."Project Zero. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. <http://pzweb.harvard.edu/ucp/curricu • Dawson, Jim. Whitetail Hunting. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1982. Print • "White Tailed Deer [Odocoileusvirginianus]: Wildlife and Nature Photography of the Rocky Mountains."Ray Rasmussen Photography, Haiku, Haibun, Canyonlands, Willmore. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. <http://raysweb.net/wildlife/pages/13.h • "white-tailed deer." FCPS Home Page Redirect Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. <http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/white-tailed_deer.htm>. • Weiss, John. The advanced deer hunter's bible. New York: Doubleday, 1993. Print.

White-Tailed Deer