Ungulates commonly select habitat with higher forage biomass and or nutritional quality to improve body condition and fitness. However, predation risk can alter ungulate habitat selection and foraging behavior and may affect their nutritional condition. Ungulates often choose areas with lower predation risk, sometimes sacrificing higher quality forage. This forage–predation risk trade-off can be important for life history strategies and influences individual nutritional condition and population vital rates. We used GPS collar data from adult female mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and mountain lions (Puma concolor) to model mule deer habitat selection in relation to forage conditions, stalking cover and predation risk from mountain lions to determine if a forage-predation risk trade-off existed for mule deer in central New Mexico. We also examined mountain lion kill sites and mule deer foraging locations to assess trade-offs at a finer scale. Forage biomass and protein content were inversely correlated with horizontal visibility, hence associated with higher stalking cover for mountain lions, suggesting a forage-predation risk trade-off for mule deer. Mule deer habitat selection was influenced by forage biomass and protein content at the landscape and within home range spatial scales, with forage protein being related to habitat selection during spring and summer and forage biomass during winter. However, mule deer selection for areas with better foraging conditions was constrained by landscape-scale encounter risk for mountain lions, such that increasing encounter risk was associated with diminished selection for areas with better foraging conditions. Mule deer also selected for areas with higher visibility when mountain lion predation risk was higher. Mountain lion kill sites were best explained by decreasing horizontal visibility and available forage protein, suggesting that deer may be selecting for forage quality at the cost of predation risk. A site was 1.5 times more likely to be a kill site with each 1-meter decrease in visibility (i.e., increased stalking cover). Mule deer selection of foraging sites was related to increased forage biomass, further supporting the potential for a trade-off scenario. Mule deer utilized spatio-temporal strategies and risk-conditional behavior to reduce predation risk, and at times selected suboptimal foraging areas with lower predation risk.

中文翻译：

---

长耳鹿 (Odocoileus hemionus) 资源选择：草料和捕食风险之间的权衡

有蹄类动物通常选择具有较高饲料生物量和/或营养质量的栖息地，以改善身体状况和健康。然而，捕食风险可能会改变有蹄类动物的栖息地选择和觅食行为，并可能影响它们的营养状况。有蹄类动物经常选择捕食风险较低的地区，有时会牺牲较高质量的草料。这种饲料与捕食风险的权衡对于生活史策略很重要，并影响个体的营养状况和种群活力率。我们使用成年雌性长耳鹿 (Odocoileus hemionus) 和山狮 (Puma concolor) 的 GPS 项圈数据来模拟长耳鹿栖息地选择与饲料条件、跟踪覆盖和山狮捕食风险的关系，以确定是否存在饲料捕食风险交易新墨西哥州中部的长耳鹿存在“-off”。我们还检查了美洲狮的猎杀地点和黑尾鹿的觅食地点，以更精细地评估权衡。草料生物量和蛋白质含量与水平能见度呈负相关，因此与山狮较高的跟踪覆盖率相关，这表明黑尾鹿存在草料与捕食风险的权衡。长尾鹿栖息地选择受到景观和居住范围空间尺度内草料生物量和蛋白质含量的影响，草料蛋白质与春季和夏季的栖息地选择以及冬季的草料生物量有关。然而，黑尾鹿对觅食条件较好地区的选择受到山狮景观规模遭遇风险的限制，因此遭遇风险的增加与对觅食条件较好地区的选择减少相关。当美洲狮被捕食风险较高时，长耳鹿也会选择能见度较高的地区。山狮猎杀地点的最佳解释是水平能见度和可用饲料蛋白质的降低，这表明鹿可能会以被捕食风险为代价来选择饲料质量。能见度每降低 1 米（即跟踪掩护增加），地点成为杀戮地点的可能性就会增加 1.5 倍。长尾鹿对觅食地点的选择与草料生物量的增加有关，进一步支持了权衡情景的可能性。长尾鹿利用时空策略和风险条件行为来降低捕食风险，有时会选择捕食风险较低的次优觅食区域。