Use and selection at two spatial scales by female moose (alces alces) across central British Columbia following a mountain pine beetle outbreak

• Other Authors: Scheideman, Matthew (Author), Gillingham, Michael (Thesis advisor), Parker, Katherine (Committee member), Heard, Douglas (Committee member), University of Northern British Columbia (Degree granting institution)
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of Northern British Columbia 2018
• Subjects: Moose > Seasonal distribution; Moose > Seasonal distribution > British Columbia; Mountain pine beetle; Mountain pine beetle > British Columbia; Alces alces
• Online Access: https://arcabc.ca/islandora/object/unbc%3A58851; https://doi.org/10.24124/2018/58851

Moose are a keystone species and play a substantive role in predator-prey systems, nutrient cycling, and forest succession. Following a mountain pine beetle (MPB) spread across British Columbia, I quantified seasonal home-range selection, home-range size and daily movements, and within home-range selection of GPS-collared female moose in three study areas. I used case-matched logistic regressions with individual seasonal home-ranges, and mixed-effects logistic regressions for seasonal locations of female moose to determine habitat selection at two spatial scales. Individual variation was evident at both home-range and within-home-range scales. Female moose selected lodgepole pine-leading stands at both spatial scales regardless of mass die-off due to MPB. Clear-cuts following the MPB outbreak were avoided in drier locations, and trade-offs between cover and browse were evident where disturbance due to salvage logging was highest. My findings indicate that MPB salvage-logging reduced moose habitat, and thereby, influenced selection by female moose. female moose mountain pine beetle