The declining occurrence of moose (Alces alces) at the southernmost edge of its range raise conservation concerns
The border region between Austria, the Czech Republic, and Germany harbors the most south-western occurrence of moose in continental Europe. The population originated in Poland, where moose survived, immigrated from former Soviet Union or were reintroduced after the Second World War expanded west an...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2999352 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7441 |
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fthsinnlandet:oai:brage.inn.no:11250/2999352 2024-03-03T08:36:22+00:00 The declining occurrence of moose (Alces alces) at the southernmost edge of its range raise conservation concerns Neudert, Jiří Ernst, Martin Engleder, Thomas Jirku, Miroslav Romportl, Dušan Martin, Šálek Peters, Wibke Janík, Tomáš Heurich, Marco 2021 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2999352 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7441 eng eng urn:issn:2045-7758 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2999352 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7441 cristin:1954282 Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no 5468-5483 11 Ecology and Evolution 10 Bohemian Forest Ecosystem Habitat suitability modelling Moose (alces alces) VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400 Peer reviewed Journal article 2021 fthsinnlandet https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7441 2024-02-02T12:42:26Z The border region between Austria, the Czech Republic, and Germany harbors the most south-western occurrence of moose in continental Europe. The population originated in Poland, where moose survived, immigrated from former Soviet Union or were reintroduced after the Second World War expanded west and southwards. In recent years, the distribution of the nonetheless small Central European population seems to have declined, necessitating an evaluation of its current status. In this study, existing datasets of moose observations from 1958 to 2019 collected in the three countries were combined to create a database totaling 771 records (observations and deaths). The database was then used to analyze the following: (a) changes in moose distribution, (b) the most important mortality factors, and (c) the availability of suitable habitat as determined using a maximum entropy approach. The results showed a progressive increase in the number of moose observations after 1958, with peaks in the 1990s and around 2010, followed by a relatively steep drop after 2013. Mortality within the moose population was mostly due to human interactions, including 13 deadly wildlife-vehicle collisions, particularly on minor roads, and four animals that were either legally culled or poached. Our habitat model suggested that higher altitudes (ca. 700–1,000 m a.s.l.), especially those offering wetlands, broad- leaved forests and natural grasslands, are the preferred habitats of moose whereas steep slopes and areas of human activity are avoided. The habitat model also revealed the availability of large core areas of suitable habitat beyond the current distribution, suggesting that habitat was not the limiting factor explaining the moose distribution in the study area. Our findings call for immediate transboundary conservation measures to sustain the moose population, such as those aimed at preventing wildlife-vehicle collisions and illegal killings. Infrastructure planning and development activities must take into account the habitat ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Alces alces Høgskolen i Innlandet: Brage INN Ecology and Evolution 11 10 5468 5483 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Høgskolen i Innlandet: Brage INN |
op_collection_id |
fthsinnlandet |
language |
English |
topic |
Bohemian Forest Ecosystem Habitat suitability modelling Moose (alces alces) VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400 |
spellingShingle |
Bohemian Forest Ecosystem Habitat suitability modelling Moose (alces alces) VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400 Neudert, Jiří Ernst, Martin Engleder, Thomas Jirku, Miroslav Romportl, Dušan Martin, Šálek Peters, Wibke Janík, Tomáš Heurich, Marco The declining occurrence of moose (Alces alces) at the southernmost edge of its range raise conservation concerns |
topic_facet |
Bohemian Forest Ecosystem Habitat suitability modelling Moose (alces alces) VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400 |
description |
The border region between Austria, the Czech Republic, and Germany harbors the most south-western occurrence of moose in continental Europe. The population originated in Poland, where moose survived, immigrated from former Soviet Union or were reintroduced after the Second World War expanded west and southwards. In recent years, the distribution of the nonetheless small Central European population seems to have declined, necessitating an evaluation of its current status. In this study, existing datasets of moose observations from 1958 to 2019 collected in the three countries were combined to create a database totaling 771 records (observations and deaths). The database was then used to analyze the following: (a) changes in moose distribution, (b) the most important mortality factors, and (c) the availability of suitable habitat as determined using a maximum entropy approach. The results showed a progressive increase in the number of moose observations after 1958, with peaks in the 1990s and around 2010, followed by a relatively steep drop after 2013. Mortality within the moose population was mostly due to human interactions, including 13 deadly wildlife-vehicle collisions, particularly on minor roads, and four animals that were either legally culled or poached. Our habitat model suggested that higher altitudes (ca. 700–1,000 m a.s.l.), especially those offering wetlands, broad- leaved forests and natural grasslands, are the preferred habitats of moose whereas steep slopes and areas of human activity are avoided. The habitat model also revealed the availability of large core areas of suitable habitat beyond the current distribution, suggesting that habitat was not the limiting factor explaining the moose distribution in the study area. Our findings call for immediate transboundary conservation measures to sustain the moose population, such as those aimed at preventing wildlife-vehicle collisions and illegal killings. Infrastructure planning and development activities must take into account the habitat ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Neudert, Jiří Ernst, Martin Engleder, Thomas Jirku, Miroslav Romportl, Dušan Martin, Šálek Peters, Wibke Janík, Tomáš Heurich, Marco |
author_facet |
Neudert, Jiří Ernst, Martin Engleder, Thomas Jirku, Miroslav Romportl, Dušan Martin, Šálek Peters, Wibke Janík, Tomáš Heurich, Marco |
author_sort |
Neudert, Jiří |
title |
The declining occurrence of moose (Alces alces) at the southernmost edge of its range raise conservation concerns |
title_short |
The declining occurrence of moose (Alces alces) at the southernmost edge of its range raise conservation concerns |
title_full |
The declining occurrence of moose (Alces alces) at the southernmost edge of its range raise conservation concerns |
title_fullStr |
The declining occurrence of moose (Alces alces) at the southernmost edge of its range raise conservation concerns |
title_full_unstemmed |
The declining occurrence of moose (Alces alces) at the southernmost edge of its range raise conservation concerns |
title_sort |
declining occurrence of moose (alces alces) at the southernmost edge of its range raise conservation concerns |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2999352 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7441 |
genre |
Alces alces |
genre_facet |
Alces alces |
op_source |
5468-5483 11 Ecology and Evolution 10 |
op_relation |
urn:issn:2045-7758 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2999352 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7441 cristin:1954282 |
op_rights |
Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7441 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
5468 |
op_container_end_page |
5483 |
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1792503247854895104 |