Optimal foraging by a large ungulate in an extreme environment: Wild mountain reindeer select snow‐free feeding habitats in winter
Abstract Optimal foraging models predict that individual animals will optimize net energy gain by intensifying forage activity and/or reducing forage energy cost. Then, the free distribution model predicts an animal's distribution in a patchy landscape will match the distribution of the resourc...
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crwiley:10.1002/ece3.7843 2024-06-02T08:02:51+00:00 Optimal foraging by a large ungulate in an extreme environment: Wild mountain reindeer select snow‐free feeding habitats in winter Romtveit, Lena Strand, Olav Mossing, Anders Kastdalen, Leif Hjeltnes, Arne W. Bjerketvedt, Dag K. Odland, Arvid Heggenes, Jan 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7843 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.7843 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ece3.7843 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ecology and Evolution volume 11, issue 15, page 10409-10420 ISSN 2045-7758 2045-7758 journal-article 2021 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7843 2024-05-03T10:50:41Z Abstract Optimal foraging models predict that individual animals will optimize net energy gain by intensifying forage activity and/or reducing forage energy cost. Then, the free distribution model predicts an animal's distribution in a patchy landscape will match the distribution of the resources. If not modified by other factors, such patterns may be expected to be particularly explicit in variable and extreme, forage‐limited, and patchy environments, notably alpine and Arctic environments during winter. The large ungulate wild mountain reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus tarandus ) surviving in such environments is used as a model during the forage‐limited winter season. The largest wild reindeer area in Western Europe (Hardangervidda, 8130 km 2 ) is actively managed to sustain 10,000–12,000 wild reindeer. Since 2001, 104 different individuals have been GPS‐tracked at 3‐hr intervals. In winter, mountain reindeer may either choose to seek out and forage in patchy snow‐free habitats, typically on top of wind‐blown ridges, or use energy‐demanding digging through the snow to reach ground forage (cratering). We use late April satellite data from Landsat 5 and 8 (30 × 30 m), airborne laser scanning subsampling (processed to 1 × 1 m grid), and topographic information (1 m resolution) derived from digital aerial photographs (0.25 × 0.25 m resolution) to delineate snow‐free patches, constituting less than 694 km 2 . By overlaying recorded wild reindeer GPS positions winters 2001–2017 (188,942 positions), we document a strong positive selection for snow‐free patches, which were used about four times more frequently than expected from a “random walk” model. On a daily basis, the preference for snow‐free areas was slightly stronger in the evenings. In the sustainable management of wild mountain reindeer, the area of snow‐free patches is an important predictor of winter forage availability and important winter source areas. It may be derived from remote sensing data. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Rangifer tarandus Wiley Online Library Arctic Ecology and Evolution 11 15 10409 10420 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Optimal foraging models predict that individual animals will optimize net energy gain by intensifying forage activity and/or reducing forage energy cost. Then, the free distribution model predicts an animal's distribution in a patchy landscape will match the distribution of the resources. If not modified by other factors, such patterns may be expected to be particularly explicit in variable and extreme, forage‐limited, and patchy environments, notably alpine and Arctic environments during winter. The large ungulate wild mountain reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus tarandus ) surviving in such environments is used as a model during the forage‐limited winter season. The largest wild reindeer area in Western Europe (Hardangervidda, 8130 km 2 ) is actively managed to sustain 10,000–12,000 wild reindeer. Since 2001, 104 different individuals have been GPS‐tracked at 3‐hr intervals. In winter, mountain reindeer may either choose to seek out and forage in patchy snow‐free habitats, typically on top of wind‐blown ridges, or use energy‐demanding digging through the snow to reach ground forage (cratering). We use late April satellite data from Landsat 5 and 8 (30 × 30 m), airborne laser scanning subsampling (processed to 1 × 1 m grid), and topographic information (1 m resolution) derived from digital aerial photographs (0.25 × 0.25 m resolution) to delineate snow‐free patches, constituting less than 694 km 2 . By overlaying recorded wild reindeer GPS positions winters 2001–2017 (188,942 positions), we document a strong positive selection for snow‐free patches, which were used about four times more frequently than expected from a “random walk” model. On a daily basis, the preference for snow‐free areas was slightly stronger in the evenings. In the sustainable management of wild mountain reindeer, the area of snow‐free patches is an important predictor of winter forage availability and important winter source areas. It may be derived from remote sensing data. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Romtveit, Lena Strand, Olav Mossing, Anders Kastdalen, Leif Hjeltnes, Arne W. Bjerketvedt, Dag K. Odland, Arvid Heggenes, Jan |
spellingShingle |
Romtveit, Lena Strand, Olav Mossing, Anders Kastdalen, Leif Hjeltnes, Arne W. Bjerketvedt, Dag K. Odland, Arvid Heggenes, Jan Optimal foraging by a large ungulate in an extreme environment: Wild mountain reindeer select snow‐free feeding habitats in winter |
author_facet |
Romtveit, Lena Strand, Olav Mossing, Anders Kastdalen, Leif Hjeltnes, Arne W. Bjerketvedt, Dag K. Odland, Arvid Heggenes, Jan |
author_sort |
Romtveit, Lena |
title |
Optimal foraging by a large ungulate in an extreme environment: Wild mountain reindeer select snow‐free feeding habitats in winter |
title_short |
Optimal foraging by a large ungulate in an extreme environment: Wild mountain reindeer select snow‐free feeding habitats in winter |
title_full |
Optimal foraging by a large ungulate in an extreme environment: Wild mountain reindeer select snow‐free feeding habitats in winter |
title_fullStr |
Optimal foraging by a large ungulate in an extreme environment: Wild mountain reindeer select snow‐free feeding habitats in winter |
title_full_unstemmed |
Optimal foraging by a large ungulate in an extreme environment: Wild mountain reindeer select snow‐free feeding habitats in winter |
title_sort |
optimal foraging by a large ungulate in an extreme environment: wild mountain reindeer select snow‐free feeding habitats in winter |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7843 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.7843 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ece3.7843 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
Ecology and Evolution volume 11, issue 15, page 10409-10420 ISSN 2045-7758 2045-7758 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7843 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
15 |
container_start_page |
10409 |
op_container_end_page |
10420 |
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1800747324458139648 |