Abstract
Indirect effects of hunting can lead to changes in population dynamics,
which can be caused by trait-mediated effects such as, but not limited
to, changes in behavior, reproduction, and physiological responses. Our
understanding of the effects of activities associated with hunting such
as dog training may incur trait-mediated effects and ultimately indirect
effects to wildlife populations are underrepresented. We conducted a
two-year study on a high-density wild bobwhite population to identify
potential impacts of disturbance caused by spring dog training on
survival and reproduction. We recorded 40 total encounters with
radio-collared bobwhite, where the lowest seasonal encounter rate was
16.7% of available coveys and the highest was 50%. In 2021, mean
survival for the control and treatment groups were 0.41 (95% CrI: 0.33,
0.49) and 0.38 (95% CrI: 0.31, 0.46), respectively. In 2022, mean
survival for the control group was 0.45 (95% CrI: 0.38, 0.52) and 0.42
(95% CrI: 0.34, 0.50) for the treatment group. We also found no effect
of treatment on fecundity and nest survival was similar for both years
for both treatments. The neutral results of our study are likely
attributed to low encounter rates. Future studies should focus on public
land scenarios where disturbances are more frequent and food resources
are likely more limited.