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Abstract
Coyotes (Canis latrans) have become abundant throughout the southeastern United States during the past two to three decades and evidence suggests they may lower white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawn recruitment. Therefore, I assessed the impacts of coyotes on recruitment in two central Georgia deer populations and identified factors contributing to this predator-prey dynamic. From October 2009 to April 2012, I monitored coyote abundance and deer population parameters on B.F. Grant (BFG) and Cedar Creek (CC) Wildlife Management Areas. I estimated coyote abundance using a mark-recapture design based on genotyping feces and obtained deer recruitment rates using infrared-triggered camera surveys. I also conducted scat-deposition and scent-station surveys of coyote abundance during 2010 to compare the utility of these methods to that of mark-recapture surveys. During the springs of 2011 and 2012, trappers removed coyotes from both sites. Point estimates of coyote abundance on BFG after trapping were 81% (2011) and 24% (2012) lower than during pre-removal. I observed a slight decrease in coyote numbers on CC following trapping but confidence limits of abundance estimates overlapped throughout the study. Fawn recruitment on BFG averaged 0.65 fawns/doe before the first removal and 1.01 in the years following the first and second removals. In contrast, estimates of fawn recruitment on CC did not vary among years. Trends indicated an inverse relationship between fawn recruitment and coyote abundance, but effectiveness of trapping differed between study sites and over time on BFG. If coyote removal is decided on, efforts should be intense and focused on removing a significant percentage of the population. Low visitation rates ( = 0.04; range = 0 0.10) made scent-station surveys an unreliable index of coyote abundance. Similar to 2010 mark-recapture estimates, there was no difference in scat deposition rates between sites (F1,60 = 0.025, P = 0.873), but there was an interaction between site and season (F2,60 = 7.661, P = 0.001). Additionally, I observed significant spatiotemporal trends in coyote scat deposition patterns. Therefore, scat-deposition surveys may provide sufficient information for managers in many situations but timing, scale, and distribution of survey routes are important considerations.