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Mean size of winter and summer home ranges in square kilometers for moose in North America relative to latitude (as reported by Hundertmark 1997). Data for female and male moose added as open symbols.
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Moose (Alces alces) have recently re-occupied a portion of their range in the temperate deciduous forest of the northeastern United States after a >200 year absence. In southern New Eng-land, moose encounter different forest types, more human development, and higher temperatures than in other parts of their geographic range in North America. We ana...
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... central Massachusetts, female MCP home ranges were largest during summer when energy demands were greatest because of lactation and seasonal restoration of body condition. Mature male home ranges were largest during fall when they search for and attend mates during the breeding season, and smallest during late winter and summer when movements were presumably restricted by the combined effects of lower metabolism, snow conditions, and thermoregulatory constraints. Despite the large number of studies on home range size (Hundertmark 1997), comparisons to our results must be made with caution. Most studies have used traditional VHF telemetry and home ranges were calculated with a small number of locations (e.g., <30), particularly in winter (e.g., <10), which can underestimate home range size (Kernohan et al. 2001, B ö rger et al. 2006); further, few VHF locations are col- lected at night when moose are often active. Kernohan et al. (2001) suggested a minimum number of 30 locations, but at least 50 to calculate an accurate home range. Additionally, differences in methods and the length, timing, and number of seasons used can make comparisons difficult (Kernohan et al. 2001, B ö rger et al. 2006). Even with these limitations, our results fall within the range presented by Hundertmark (1997) for home range sizes across North America ( Fig. 3). Overall, home range size decreased with decreasing latitude and summer and winter home ranges in Massachusetts would be expected at the low end of the scale. In the northeastern United States our results are similar to those of Leptich and Gilbert's (1989) in Maine with >50 locations for 11 of 13 collared moose and an estimated summer MCP home range of 25 km 2 for females. Thompson et al. (1995) reported median summer home ranges of 32 km 2 for females and 28 km 2 for males in Maine; their sample sizes in other seasons were too low for comparison. Winter ranges were typified by concentrated use of small areas with short movements to other areas of intensive use in Minnesota (Van Ballenberghe and Peek 1971) and Maine (Thompson et al. 1995), a pattern similar to our observations. In northern New Hampshire, Scarpitti et al. (2005) observed smaller seasonal home ranges for females than our study ( ≤ 17 km 2 for all seasons), with an earlier study in northern New Hampshire (Miller and Litvaitis 1992) report- ing much larger annual home ranges for females (153 km 2 ) with the largest seasonal home ranges during fall (82 km 2 ). Garner and Porter (1990) reported 36 km 2 for summer and 8 km 2 for winter home ranges of males in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Our seasonal results are the opposite of Lenarz et al. (2011) who reported smaller home ranges during summer (16 km 2 ) than in winter (33 km 2 ) in Minnesota. Seasonal activity and movement patterns reflect changes in metabolic rate, ruminating time, and activity associated with the annual cycle of vegetation growth in temperate forests (Risenhoover 1986, Cederlund 1989). Increased movement rates in spring corresponded with the start of the growing season and increased abundance and quality of browse. High movement rates in summer have been shown to reflect increased activity associated with more foraging bouts, lower ruminating times, and an attempt by moose to maximize foraging during the growing season (Belovsky 1981, Cederlund 1989, Van Ballenberghe and Miquelle 1990). We speculate that the periodically reduced rates in movements we observed during spring, summer, and fall were the result of thermoregulatory behavior during periods of high temperatures. The reduced movements during winter were typical of moose throughout their range (Phillips et al. 1973, Dussault et al. 2005, Schwartz and Renecker 2007). Schwartz and Renecker (2007) suggest that the lower winter metabolic rate of moose is an adapta- tion to counteract reduced forage abundance and quality and the related increased time required to digest a highly fibrous diet, resulting in fewer feeding bouts and lower activity level. Movements were further reduced during periods of deep snow; however, snow depth and condition vary annually and across the state with the highest likelihood of deep snow at higher elevations in western Massachusetts. When confined by deep snow, moose concentrated their habitat use into as little as 0.5 km 2 for up to 3.5 months. The variability in the timing, depth, and condition of snowfall strongly influenced the variability of home range size and movements in early and late winter, as moose moved widely between suitable winter habitats until confined by snow. In addi- tion to the influence of seasonal patterns on movements, changes in daily movement rates were greatest at times of the year corre- sponding to the annual reproductive cycle, i.e., calving for females and the rut for males. A final important consideration for understanding movements of moose in southern New England is the lack of their major predator, wolves ( Canis lupus ), and the absence of moose hunting. Predators and hunters can play important roles in the distribution and movements of their ungulate prey. Black bears ( Ursus americanus ) and coyotes ( Canis latrans ) may prey on some moose calves, but in general the influence of predators or hunters on moose movements and distribution is absent in Massachusetts. Existing distribution of vegetative com- munities, landscape configurations, and levels of development have allowed moose to re-colonize and establish a low density population throughout central and western Massachusetts and into Connecticut after 200 – 300 years of absence. However, southern New England is comprised of some of the most densely populated and highly developed states in the nation, and despite very active and successful conservation agencies and organizations, the trend will continue to move in the direction of more development and increased fragmentation. We have documented key elements of habitat use and movement distances and patterns by this newly re-established moose population. This information can be used to further enhance existing high priority conservation areas and identify new areas for protection and landscape connectivity. Massachusetts has many well established biodiversity conservation initiatives (e.g., Wildlife BioMap and Living Waters) and ...
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... Movements within home ranges, particularly with respect to seasonal patterns or navigating fragmented habitat, may also be of ecological or conservation importance. For example, the association between movement patterns and habitat fragmentation in mammalian taxa is a well-documented conservation and management issue (Crooks 2002, Gardiner et al. 2018, Tucker et al. 2018, Wattles and DeStefano 2013. Similarly, road kills of turtles during nesting season (Gibbs and Shriver 2002, Haxton 2000, Piczak et al. 2019) and amphibian mortality during spring migration (Fahrig et al. 1995, Gibbs andShriver 2005) have directly resulted in local population declines. ...
... The inconsistent responses to release observed here could thus have been driven by internal biological factors. In most ungulate species, including moose and red deer, sub-adults often move more and have larger HRs (Cederlund & Sand, 1994;Goddard, 1970;Lynch & Morgantini, 1984;Prévot & Licoppe, 2013;Wattles & Destefano, 2013;Webb et al., 2007). Furthermore, the animals that disperse (i.e. ...
Translocations, “the deliberate movement of organisms from one site for release in another”, are
increasingly being used for wildlife conservation and management. However, their success rate is still
relatively low. Failures of translocation projects have often been attributed to the extensive
movements made by newly-released individuals or their inability to acclimatise. However, it is
unclear if animals display this typical movement pattern when released into fenced areas where
movements are restricted. Furthermore, we do not know if methods commonly used to facilitate
acclimatisation work in those systems. In particular, although the presence of conspecifics has
sometimes shown to facilitate establishment, we do not know if this holds true for non-social ungulate
species. Using GPS data on moose (Alces alces) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) released in a small
fenced reserve, we aimed at 1) describing the post-release spatial behaviour of both species and
identifying the time needed to acclimatise and 2) determining if the presence of conspecifics
influences the length of the acclimatisation period in a non-social species. We found that neither
moose nor red deer had larger home ranges in the first weeks post-release. Instead, both speciestended
to have comparatively smaller home ranges during this period. Red deer had longer step lengths
following release, but in the first 80 days only. Moose seemed to acclimatise immediately after
translocation, whereas deer had an acclimatisation period of around 15 weeks. Home ranges and step
lengths of the first moose cohort tended to be larger in the first weeks post-release only, suggesting
some influence of conspecifics. These results show that moose and red deer seem to acclimatise
relatively shortly after translocation, but limits imposed by the enclosure might play a role. Multitrait studies are needed to assess the full impact of confinement on post-release spatial behaviour to
improve translocation outcomes.
... Further, the timing of the winter survey relative to the autumn hunting season may have some influence on winter abundance and location of moose, as animals in easily accessible areas may be harvested at higher rate. Because moose move little during winter (Wattles and DeStefano 2013), their ability to disperse and recolonize areas is limited until the following spring. Roads also have a cumulative effect on moose populations. ...
Aerial survey data collected between 2001 and 2020 were used to assess winter habitat use by moose (Alces alces) in the Greater Highland Ecosystem of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. These data were analyzed using generalized additive mixed models that explored the influence of habitat variables. We compared abundance estimates developed directly from the surveys to those estimated from habitat use. Moose generally occupied the same general area throughout the study despite a marked population decline. Moose favoured areas comprised of greater proportions of coniferous forest showing preference for younger forest, and moose meadows, areas of predominantly coniferous forest but with abnormal or retarded regeneration due to high moose herbivory. Moose occupied areas farther away from roads inferring that moose preferred areas with younger plant forage and lower human access. The use of long-term survey data coupled with related habitat use relationships provided a useful approach to assess temporal tends in abundance and habitat use of moose in Cape Breton. ALCES VOL. 57: 99-111 (2021)
... Mixed forest comprises a greater proportion of available home range habitat and can provide both cover and forage in the winter, which suggests that moose do not need to use solely evergreen or deciduous land classes to meet their needs in the winter. These findings are in line with prior research, which has established that moose select for largely forested habitat at the home range scale (Wattles & Destefano, 2013), with a preference for red maple which can occur in both deciduous and mixed forest habitats in Maine (DeGraaf et al., 1992). Research has also established that moose tend to favor young regeneration for forage, with optimal habitat consisting of 4-16 year old forest openings (Healy et al. 2018). ...
Maine is a New England state with rich ecosystems and diverse opportunities for enjoying the outdoors. Maine is well known as a popular nature-based tourist destination, and is often associated with its notable moose population. Social-ecological systems in Maine are highly intertwined, and as such, are especially susceptible to impacts resulting from climate change. Moose health in the state is already being negatively impacted by climate change with high infestation rates of winter tick resulting in declining moose health and high moose calf mortality. Given that late winter is a time of high stress and increased mortality of moose due to low resource availability, high energy use, and higher winter tick infestation; understanding winter habitat selection of moose in the context of changing winter weather conditions will be essential in determining how climate change will impact moose landscape use in Maine. Wildlife management is a key mechanism in moderating the relationship between people and wildlife, addressing wildlife diseases and parasites, and maintaining wildlife habitat. Moose management in Maine is essential for maintaining a healthy moose population, providing moose hunting and viewing opportunities, and reducing moose-vehicle collisions. Moose management in Maine is conducted by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) and the Wabanaki tribes; policy and management decisions can be guided by stakeholder perceptions and attitudes toward management strategies since part of managing wildlife is meeting the needs and desires of people. This thesis explores the human-moose social-ecological system in Maine with a transdisciplinary approach, and employs a participatory approach to understand the effects of climate change on a social-ecological system to develop related solutions in a tourism dependent community. The aim of this research is to better understand moose landscape use in the context of changing winters, as well as perceptions and support of management strategies addressing moose parasitism in Maine. This thesis has three components: (1) characterization of winter habitat of adult moose; (2) survey of outdoor recreationists; and (3) participatory climate change planning. First, we identified winter habitat selection of adult female moose over the course of six years to explore the potential influence of winter weather and forest composition on moose landscape use. We found that moose selected forested areas to a greater extent than other land cover classes and selected all forest types, deciduous, evergreen, and mixed, equally. We found no influence of snow depth on these mature forest types; however, our results demonstrated increased selection of regenerating forests in years with lower snow density. These results have implications for moose distribution on the winter landscape, and impacts on regenerating forests in Maine and winter weather conditions continue to vary because of climate change. Second, we conducted a survey of moose hunters (in-state and out-of-state) and Maine recreationists to better understand perceptions of moose health, attitudes towards various management strategies, and confidence in MDIFW management efforts. We explored if differences between moose hunters, non-moose hunters, and non-hunters existed in terms of perceptions of moose health in Maine as well as their potential support of specific moose management strategies. We found that beliefs about moose health in Maine were largely moderate, and there was no difference in concerns about moose and winter tick parasitism among groups. Moose hunting was seen as an important part of managing a healthy moose population among all groups. Moose hunters were found to be the most comfortable with increasing moose hunting to reduce parasitism, followed by non-moose hunters. There was no statistically significant difference between groups regarding whether increasing moose hunting to reduce parasitism would have a strong positive or strong negative impact on moose population health. Intention to support moose hunting as a management strategy was neutral with no difference among groups. Confidence in agency management was statistically different between non-hunters and moose hunters, and between non-hunters and non-moose hunters. Self-reported feelings of being up to date on information regarding current moose population health and management was different among all groups, with moose hunters reporting being the most up to date. Further, understanding the impacts and perceptions of climate change needs to be paired with action in order to adapt to changes and promote resilient social-ecological systems. The final research component of this thesis was the joint development and implementation of a series of participatory planning workshops on community climate change adaptation and mitigation. The participatory process used reinforced the idea that collaborative planning and stakeholder driven solution development are key to identifying locally relevant priorities and feasible action steps. There are many social-ecological systems in Maine that are vulnerable to climate change, including the human-moose system; hence, interdisciplinary approaches that integrate biophysical and social science research efforts are essential to addressing impacts to these complex systems into the future.
... For example, within North America, there have been reports of increasing and decreasing populations of moose (Alces alces) since 2010 (Timmermann and Rodgers 2015). Across the range, different factors including climate change, habitat loss or degradation, disturbance, harvest, disease, predation, and vehicle collisions have been suggested as causes of declines (West 2009, Timmermann andRodgers 2015), whereas changing harvest regulations, habitat restoration, and climate have facilitated population increases or range expansion (Darimont et al. 2005, Wattles andDeStefano 2013). Although moose resource selection has been studied extensively, those studies are limited to specific foci. ...
Since 2010, several moose (Alces alces) populations have declined across North America. These declines are believed to be broadly related to climate and landscape change. At the western reaches of moose continental range, in the interior of British Columbia, Canada, wildlife managers have reported widespread declines of moose populations. Disturbances to forests from a mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonum ponderosae) outbreak and associated salvage logging infrastructure in British Columbia are suspected as a mechanism manifested in moose behavior and habitat selection. We examined seasonal differences in moose habitat selection in response to landscape change from mountain pine beetle salvage logging infrastructure: dense road networks and large intensive forest harvest cutblocks. We used 157,447 global positioning system locations from 83 adult female moose from 2012 to 2016 on the Bonaparte Plateau at the southern edge of the Interior Plateau of central British Columbia to test whether increased forage availability, landscape features associated with increased mortality risk, or the cumulative effects of salvage logging best explain female moose distribution using resource selection functions in an information‐theoretic framework. We tested these hypotheses across biological seasons, defined using a cluster analysis framework. The cumulative effects of forage availability and risk best predicted resource selection of female moose in all seasons; however, the covariates included in the cumulative models varied between seasons. The top forage availability model better explained moose habitat use than the top risk model in all seasons, except for the calving and fall seasons where the top risk model (distance to road) better predicted moose space use. Selection of habitat that provides forage in winter, spring, and summer suggests that moose seasonally trade predation risk for the benefits of foraging in early seral vegetation communities in highly disturbed landscapes. Our results identified the need for intensive landscape‐scale management to stem moose population declines. Additional research is needed on predator densities, space use, and calf survival in relation to salvage logging infrastructure. © 2020 The Wildlife Society. Female moose are selecting intensively logged areas and their populations are declining within them. Equally intensive landscape management through restoration and deactivations of aspects of salvage logging (i.e., roads) and landscape scale restoration is necessary to stem these declines.
... It was found that moose showed an avoidance of areas up to 500 m from highways, and that moose crossed highways and forest roads 16 and 10 times less frequently than expected, respectively [52,53]. Others have reported the preference of moose for areas of lower road density and human development [54,55]. A recent study in Sweden reported that the average distance to roads and dwellings/buildings was different for migratory and non-migratory moose. ...
... In the reviewed literature, we found contradictory information on the response of moose to agricultural areas and the usage of crops [37,54,55,[58][59][60]. Even in the winter season, moose were reported to browse 95% of the time within a zone no more than 80 m from cover [61]. ...
The present work presents the development of a moose movement model to explore the value of wildlife mitigation structures and examine how hypothetical changes in land use patterns could alter wildlife habitats at landscape scales. Collisions between vehicles and animals pose a threat to humans and wildlife populations, the most dangerous collisions being with moose. Migrations of moose are generally predictable and habitat-dependent. Here, we use GIS-based simulations of moose movements to examine road-related habitat fragmentation around the main highways A1 and A2 in Lithuania. From forest data, we develop a moose habitat suitability map. Then, by running multiple simulation iterations, we generate potential moose pathways and statistically describe the most efficient potential long-range movement routes that are based on the principles of habitat utilization. Reflecting the probabilities of cross-highway moose movement, ranks are assigned to all 1 km highway segments, characterizing them in terms of their likelihood of moose movement, and thus identifying discrete migration corridors and highway crossing zones. Bottlenecks are identified through simulation, such as where sections of wildlife fencing end without highway crossing structures, thereby creating a 'spillover' effect, i.e., moose moving parallel to the highway, then crossing. The tested model has proven the prognostic capacity of the tool to foresee locations of moose-vehicle collisions with high accuracy, thus allowing it to be a valuable addition to the toolbox of highway planners.
... Female moose begin to localize their movements prior to parturition and reduce the distance they move just after parturition (Poole et al., 2007;Wattles and DeStefano, 2013;Welch et al., 2000) and may remain sedentary for several days postpartum (Bowyer et al., 1999;Cederlund et al., 1987;Chekchak et al., 1998;Stringham, 1974;Testa et al., 2000). Therefore, initially we used TA to visualize and animate the movement data of an individual (see Supplemental Video for example). ...
Quantifying a fundamental life history event like parturition for any species is important both for wildlife management and research purposes. Surveys to estimate reproductive success for large mammals are typically done by visual observations on the ground or from the air and are time consuming, expensive and labor intensive particularly when conducted in remote locations. An alternative to visual verification is remote monitoring of animal movement and locations which can identify and link movement behavior to different types of life history events, such as parturition. We used GPS locations of a large ungulate (moose) to identify a specific behavioral change in the movement pattern that would indicate a calving event. From these data we applied three methods, one of which is a novel technique, to search for localized movement patterns that characterize a calving event for female moose in Sweden (n = 60 moose-years, ground observations) and Alaska (n = 49 moose-years, aerial observations). The three methods include a computerized visual method using Tracking Analyst® (TA), a rolling window minimum convex polygon (rMCP), and behavioral change point analysis (BCPA), all of which provided nearly identical results. BCPA confirmed lack of a parturition date for 100% of the animals that were never observed with a calf, whereas the rMCP method yielded 1 false positive. For Sweden, parturition dates inferred using rMCP agreed exactly or ±1 day with the dates inferred using BCPA for 98% moose-years whereas TA vs BCPA and rMCP agreed 98% and 100% respectively; for Alaska parturition dates estimated from rMCP and BCPA agreed equally at 94%. In this study we showed that evaluation of wildlife movement patterns from remote monitoring can lead to increased precision and understanding of parturition with minimal bias from neonatal mortality, in addition to understanding spatiotemporal distribution, resource selection, and other behaviors.
... In addition, because of the high correlation of road salt with the percent imperviousness and the better performance of the percent imperviousness model, road salt was not included in the variable set for our multiple regression models. MVC frequency peaked in May and remained high into July, which corresponded to the peak of vegetation quantity and quality in Massachusetts, and the peak movement period outside of the reproductive season (Wattles and DeStefano 2013). Yearlings also disperse during this time, resulting in naive individuals moving about the landscape. ...
Wildlife–vehicle collisions are a human safety issue and may negatively impact wildlife populations. Most wildlife–vehicle collision studies predict high-risk road segments using only collision data. However, these data lack biologically relevant information such as wildlife population densities and successful road-crossing locations. We overcome this shortcoming with a new method that combines successful road crossings with vehicle collision data, to identify road segments that have both high biological relevance and high risk. We used moose (Alces americanus) road-crossing locations from 20 moose collared with Global Positioning Systems as well as moose–vehicle collision (MVC) data in the state of Massachusetts, USA, to create multi-scale resource selection functions. We predicted the probability of moose road crossings and MVCs across the road network and combined these surfaces to identify road segments that met the dual criteria of having high biological relevance and high risk for MVCs. These road segments occurred mostly on larger roadways in natural areas and were surrounded by forests, wetlands, and a heterogenous mix of land cover types. We found MVCs resulted in the mortality of 3% of the moose population in Massachusetts annually. Although there have been only three human fatalities related to MVCs in Massachusetts since 2003, the human fatality rate was one of the highest reported in the literature. The rate of MVCs relative to the size of the moose population and the risk to human safety suggest a need for road mitigation measures, such as fencing, animal detection systems, and large mammal-crossing structures on roadways in Massachusetts.
... Thus, highest mortality on newborn ungulates typically occurs during the first few weeks from birth (Ballard et al. 1981;Wilton 1983;Kunkel and Mech 1994;Smith and Anderson 1996;Pinard et al. 2012;Patterson et al. 2013), making the selection of birth sites of critical importance for parturient females. For moose (Alces alces (L., 1758)), the limited mobility of calves after birth (Leptich and Gilbert 1986;Cederlund et al. 1987;Testa et al. 2000;Poole et al. 2007;Wattles and DeStefano 2013) requires lactating females to balance nutritional requirements with minimizing predation risk to themselves and newborn calves (Lima and Dill 1990;Kie 1999) using resources available in the immediate surroundings of the birth site. Previous studies on calving site selection by moose have provided inconsistent results, with studies demonstrating both selection and avoidance of forage availability and concealment cover, in addition to other factors such as slope, elevation, and distance to water (Addison et al. 1990; Wilton and Garner 1991;Langley and Pletscher 1994;Chekchak et al. 1998;Bowyer et al. 1999;Scarpitti et al. 2007). ...
... The analysis of location data from cow moose in our study areas showed extensive movement in the days leading up to calving. This result is consistent with other studies showing extensive pre-calving movement by ungulates (Testa et al. 2000;Vore and Schmidt 2001;Poole et al. 2007;Wattles and DeStefano 2013;Severud et al. 2015). Furthermore, the mean time moose in our study stayed near their calving site (5.8 days) was comparable with other studies (6.2 days: Langley and Pletscher 1994;6.5 days: Poole et al. 2007;6.1 days: Severud et al. 2015). ...
There is limited knowledge of moose (Alces alces (L., 1758)) calving site selection at the southern limit of their range. Varying results from previous research on calving habitat selection make it challenging to extrapolate to other populations. We used a combination of global positioning system (GPS) data from collared cow moose and GPS locations of expelled vaginal implant transmitters and neonatal calf captures to identify calving sites in two areas of central Ontario, Canada (Algonquin Provincial Park and Wildlife Management Unit 49 (WMU49)), that differed in terms of moose and timber harvest management. We investigated selection and avoidance of habitat types, roads, topography (slope and elevation), and forest stands of varying successional age during the calving season at three spatiotemporal scales—annual home range, seasonal range, calving site—using a combination of distance-based and classification-based variables. In both study areas, calving sites were on gentler slopes and closer to conifer stands than expected at the fine scale. Cows in WMU49 strongly selected rock–grass sites across all scales. This study also demonstrates the feasibility of using GPS collars to infer parturition and location of calving sites. We recommend ground-based microhabitat data be collected to better understand habitat selection of moose during calving.
... Within a specified analysis window in a time series, movement pattern may be described with parameters derived from changes in location and distance, such as mean μ(t), variance σ²(t), and continuous autocorrelation ρ(t). We expect BCPA to identify where changes in a movement metric were abrupt before calving, given that female movements change considerably before parturition (Testa et al. 2000;Poole et al. 2007;Wattles and DeStefano 2013). We analyzed GPS paths of 21 females in Alaska between 1 May and 1 July for 1-4 years each for a total of 47 female-years. ...
