RATE OF INCREASE IN MOOSE POPULATIONS

• Main Author: Van Ballenberghe, Victor
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Lakehead University 1983
• Subjects: Alces alces
• Online Access: http://alcesjournal.org/index.php/alces/article/view/1489

Rates of increase of an animal population may be expressed in either finite (λ) or exponential (r) terms; the former is the annual coefficient of population growth, the latter is its natural logarithm. Stationary populations have a λ of 1.0 and an r of zero. Rate of increase of a moose (Alces alces) population may be estimated in several ways including regressing loge numbers on time, subtracting loge of an initial population from loge of a final population and dividing the result by the number of years in the time interval, and by comparing survival and fecundity rates these are known. Rate of increase cannot be calculated solely by determining the percent calves in a population. If the necessary data are in hand, rate of increase statistics can be computed and used to estimate harvest rates required to hold a moose population stationary. This paper reviews the literature on rate of increase as applied to moose and discusses the ecological factors that affect this important population parameter.