Alces (A Journal Devoted to the Biology and Management of Moose)
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MOOSE ESCAPE BEHAVIOUR IN AREAS OF HIGH HUNTING PRESSURE
No full textAlthough hunters cause more than 80% of moose mortality in some geographic areas, quantitative studies of how moose attempt to escape humans are surprisingly rare. We experimentally disturbed radio-collared moose of known age and of both sexes to study escape behaviour from humans. We found that larger groups of moose made fewer stops between being disturbed and settling down, and that larger groups exhibited a longer path length before quieting. We detected no significant effect of age (a potential measure of survival rate) on escape behaviour. The escape path of males was significantly longer than females even though the linear distance from the site of disturbance to the location where the moose settled down was not significantly different between the sexes. Overall, the escape path of males from the site of disturbance to where they settled down was significantly more tortuous than that of females. Although males are the preferred prey of hunters, the differences in escape behaviour between the sexes also may contribute to why males are more frequently killed by hunters. Thus, in areas with heavy hunting pressure, hunters may be acting as a selective force that favours animals that immediately run away after disturbance by humans. Finally, published evaluations of the use of hunter observations to index moose populations have often reported that considering the size of a hunting group is necessary to improve the accuracy of those data; our analysis suggests an explanation – differences in escape behaviour between the sexes
INITIAL USE OF MOOSE CALF HUNTS TO INCREASE YIELD, ALASKA
No full textIn 2002 the Board of Game authorized Alaska’s first permit hunts specifically for calf moose (Alces alces). We promoted these calf hunts to help stabilize a high-density, food-stressed moose population and to compensate for declining harvests of bulls. Low harvest rates of cows (= 1% of the prehunt cow population, 1996–2001) were tightly controlled by the public. High harvest rates of bulls (21–26% of the prehunt bull population, 1995–1999) resulted in bull:cow ratios declining below the management objective of 30:100. To conserve bulls, the previous bag limit of any bull was changed to bulls with specific antler configurations. Simultaneously, 300 calf drawing permits were made available in 7 different hunt areas with the allocation of permits based on estimated moose densities within individual hunt areas. We issued 274 permits, but 61% of the permittees did not participate, in part to protest the hunt. Of 108 hunters, 33 reported taking a calf. The harvest accounted for about 1.3% (33/2,500) of the estimated prehunt calf population and 7% (33/471) of the total reported harvest. The calf harvest contributed only marginally to meeting the Game Management Unit 20A harvest mandate of 500–720 moose. We observed decreasing acceptance of calf hunts and increasing acceptance of cow hunts during 2002 and 2003. In 2004 we expect to substantially increase the harvest of cows and calves using registration and late season hunts and continuing education programs. We deem gaining public acceptance of cow and calf hunts in increasing, food-stressed Alaska moose populations to be a long-term, challenging, yet worthwhile endeavor
MOOSE WINTER DIET SELECTION IN CENTRAL ONTARIO
No full textThis paper documents moose (Alces alces) winter diets in the northern portion of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence forest region of Ontario. Seventeen of 20 species available along 2,890m of moose foraging path were browsed. Striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum), eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), balsam fir (Abies balsamea), and red maple (Acer rubrum) comprised a combined 74 and 56 % of the browse dry weight consumed and available, respectively. Moose used balsam fir, eastern hemlock, and red maple proportionally more than their availability, used sugar maple (Acer saccharum), yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis), and mountain ash (Sorbus americana) proportionally less than their availability, and used striped maple, beaked hazel (Corylus cornuta), and mountain maple (Acer spicatum) proportional to their availability. The important contribution of striped maple and eastern hemlock to moose diets contrast with other studies. These results may be used to assist in the evaluation of moose winter habitat
GENETICS, EVOLUTION, AND PHYLOGEOGRAPHY OF MOOSE
No full textEarly studies of genetic variation in moose (Alces alces) indicated little variation. Recent studies have indicated higher levels of variation in nuclear markers; nonetheless, genetic heterogeneity of moose is relatively low compared with other mammals. Similarly, variation in mitochondrial DNA of moose is limited worldwide, indicating low historic effective population size and a common ancestry for moose within the last 60,000 years. That ancestor most likely lived in central Asia. Moose likely exhibit low levels of heterogeneity because of population bottlenecks in the late Pleistocene caused by latitudinal shifts in habitat from recurrent climate reversals. A northward movement of boreal forest associated with the end of the last ice age facilitated the northward advance of Asian populations and colonization of the New World, which occurred as a single entry by relatively few moose immediately prior to the last flooding of the Bering land bridge. Despite suffering serial population bottlenecks historically, moose have exhibited a notable ability to adapt to a changing environment, indicating that limited neutral genetic variation may not indicate limited adaptive genetic variation. We conclude that morphological variation among moose worldwide occurred within a few thousand years and indicates that moose underwent episodes of rapid and occasionally convergent evolution. Genetic change in moose populations over very short time scales (tens or hundreds of years) is possible under harvest management regimes and those changes may not be beneficial to moose in the long term. Modeling exercises have demonstrated that harvest strategies can have negative consequences on neutral genetic variation as well as alleles underpinning fitness traits. Biologists should consider such outcomes when evaluating management options
SURVIVAL, REPRODUCTION, AND MOVEMENTS OF MOOSE IN THE WESTERN UPPER PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
No full textMoose were extirpated from the Lower Peninsula of Michigan by the late 1800s. Although it is not clear if moose were extirpated from the Upper Peninsula (UP), the population was at the very least, reduced to a low level by ca 1900. Attempts to re-establish a population of moose in the UP during the mid-1930s failed. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources made a second attempt to reestablish moose by translocating animals from Canada to the western UP in 1985 and 1987. Based on optimistic estimates of survival and reproductive rates and habitat surveys, a population of 1,000 moose was expected by the year 2000. However, aerial surveys conducted in the winters of 1996 and 1997 produced population size estimates that were well below 1,000. To determine possible reasons for the slower than expected population growth, 84 moose were outfitted with radio-collars in the winters of 1999-2001. The survival, reproduction, and movements of these moose and 12 others radio-collared in 1995 were monitored from January 1999-June 2001. Overall, 1999-2001 pregnancy rates averaged 75%. Annual adult survival rate (0.88) was higher than yearling survival rate (0.82). First-year calf survival rate (0.71) was high, relative to highly preyed on populations. Annually, approximately 6% of radio-collared moose, primarily yearlings, dispersed out of the study area. The size of moose home ranges was typical of those found in the deciduous/coniferous ecotone of the upper Great Lakes region. Migratory adult moose had larger annual home ranges than did non migratory adult moose. Low productivity appears to be the likely cause of the slower than predicted population growth. Data from this study can be utilized to facilitate management of moose in the upper Great Lakes region
NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA MOOSE MANAGEMENT - A CASE STUDY IN COOPERATION
No full textThis paper provides an overview of moose management in northeastern Minnesota with an emphasis on relationships between the State and Tribal entities that share management responsibility. Specific topics discussed include settlement of treaty rights issues, harvest allocation and strategies, and the evolving State-Tribal partnerships that have been created during the past 15 years. Brief updates on the status of moose in Minnesota, population monitoring efforts, population goals, and the future direction of management are provided
CONSIDERATIONS FOR NATURAL MINERAL LICKS USED BY MOOSE IN LAND USE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
No full textDespite an increasing body of knowledge about the predictable use and functional role of naturally occurring mineral licks in the ecology of ungulates such as moose (Alces alces), no documents have been published that discuss the importance of implementing management guidelines aimed to protect these habitat features. We reviewed the literature on the biophysical attributes of mineral lick sites and their use by moose to illustrate the importance of licks and outline criteria that may serve to help in the development of guidelines to protect these land features. We canvassed the provinces and territories of Canada to ascertain whether any regulatory framework for identifying, classifying, and protecting mineral licks existed. Despite appeals for lick protection from several authors, few jurisdictions recognize mineral licks as a special habitat feature and none appear to base their guidelines for protecting licks on ecological principles. We also found no evidence for the existence of a set of standardized guidelines that can be used by planners and managers to ensure the protection of licks. We incorporated ecological and biophysical aspects of mineral licks into a field checklist to identify and classify mineral licks used by moose, and developed a preliminary draft of a management procedure to enable their protection
THE POTENTIAL FOR MULTIPLE FECUNDITY OF MOOSE IN FINLAND
No full textMultiple fecundity (i.e., >2 fetuses or calves per female) is a rare and poorly known phenomenon in moose (Alces alces). In this paper I: (1) report the frequency of multiple fecundity of moose in Finland; (2) study the frequencies of multiple fecundity in different years and areas; (3) discuss the viability of litters with different numbers of progeny; and (4) discuss the possible fecundity effects of selective harvest and the evolutionary aspects of multiple fecundity. The embryo numbers of harvested cows were counted during 1980-89 (n = 2,347) and the proportion of single, twin, and triplet calves were determined from the 1986-99 moose observation material recorded in the field by hunters during the hunting season (n = 585,149). The material includes 4 sets of quadruplet calves, 1 set of stillborn sextuplets, and a moose female with 5 sets of triplet calves; a total of 30 calves in 15 years. In Finland, 60.38 % of pregnant moose cows had one, 39.37% two, 0.21% three, and 0.04% four embryos. In the observation material, 61.79% of the cows had one calf, 38.18% twin calves, and 0.03% triplet calves. The proportion of multiple cases decreased from south to north. The viability of single and twin calves was found to be very high, but only 15% of the sets of triplet calves seemed to survive up to the first fall. Calf survival rate was clearly higher in 1980-99 than in 1963-66, possibly depending on the different age structures of the female populations. According to the literature, the frequency of multiple fecundity in moose appears to be lower in North American than European moose populations
THE STATUS AND MANAGEMENT OF MOOSE IN NORTH AMERICA CIRCA 2000-01
No full textAt the turn of the century 2000, the North American moose population was estimated at about 1 million distributed in 28 jurisdictions. Populations occur in 11 Canadian provinces or territories, and in at least 17 U.S. States. Densities are believed to be increasing in 12, stable to increasing in 14, and stable to decreasing in only 2. Moose continue to expand their range in New England and several western U.S. States. In 2000-01, an estimated 382,951 licensed moose hunters harvested 82,619 moose in 23 jurisdictions, down from 418,619 and 89,027 a decade earlier. Additional harvests by Native and subsistence users although largely unquantified, are believed substantial in Alaska, Minnesota, and all 11 Canadian jurisdictions. A wide variety of active and passive harvest strategies used to manage moose are discussed. Population estimates are presented for 28 of 35 National Parks where moose occur, but where licensed hunting is prohibited
TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL ASPECTS OF PREDATOR-PREY DYNAMICS
No full textUngulates are both major consumers of vegetation and are themselves consumed by carnivores, so food web dynamics, both top down (predation) and bottom-up (food and weather effects), are prominent in theoretical and applied research involving ungulates. The long generation time of ungulates induces long lags in population responses. Over broad geographic regions, ungulates commonly achieve high density only when predation is relatively low (< 2 species of predator), suggesting that predation provides a pervasive limitation of large herbivores. Ungulate stability is fundamentally a trophic-dynamics issue, usually a mix of top-down and bottom-up influences. The Isle Royale case history, spanning 4 decades, reveals a wolf-moose system fluctuating at 2-decade intervals with significant predation, food, and weather effects on ungulates. After a century, an equilibrium between moose and forest vegetation has not yet been reached, and a historical context seems necessary to understand trophic relationships. Components of predation compared at large spatial scales reveal different predator-prey patterns than the single system at Isle Royale, and analyses involving substitution of space for time also run counter to studies of single systems. Choice of spatial and temporal scales for field studies and meta-analyses appear to have a strong bearing on the results and their interpretation. Thus temporal and spatial scales enter influentially in the actual dynamics of carnivore-ungulate interaction as well problematically in our analyses of them