For more details about the specifics of the SNODAS snow mass and energy balance model and the assumptions it makes, see nd references therein.
We use the daily snow depth variable from SNODAS to calculate mean daily snow depth (mm) for November 2007 to April 2008 (termedSnow_Depth).
Snow depth is believed to be a factor influencing winter deer movement at both local and regional scales (Pauley et al., 1993; Brinkman et al., 2005).
Given the broad variation in land cover pattern across our study area described above, we examine whether ecoregion subsections associated with regional vegetation patterns (Albert, 1995, termed Ecoregion) are an important regional driver of winter deer density.
Finally, we do not consider regional factors related to deer hunting, as most land in our study area is publicly open to hunting and subject to State game laws.
Therefore, we believe there is little potential for these factors to have sufficient variation to drive regional deer distribution.