Moose Alces alces habitat use at multiple temporal scales in a human-altered landscape
Habitat alteration by humans may change the supply of food and cover for wild ungulates, but few studies have examined how these resources are utilised over time by individuals of different sex and reproductive status. We examined circadian and seasonal variation in habitat utilisation within a moos...
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Language: | English |
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Nordic Council for Wildlife Research (NKV)
2011
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2500515 https://doi.org/10.2981/10-073 |
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ftntnutrondheimi:oai:ntnuopen.ntnu.no:11250/2500515 2023-05-15T13:13:06+02:00 Moose Alces alces habitat use at multiple temporal scales in a human-altered landscape Bjørneraas, Kari Solberg, Erling Johan Herfindal, Ivar Van Moorter, Bram Rolandsen, Christer Moe Tremblay, Jean-Pierre Skarpe, Christina Sæther, Bernt-Erik Eriksen, Rune Astrup, Rasmus 2011 http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2500515 https://doi.org/10.2981/10-073 eng eng Nordic Council for Wildlife Research (NKV) Wildlife Biology. 2011, 17 (1), 44-54. urn:issn:0909-6396 http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2500515 https://doi.org/10.2981/10-073 cristin:347353 Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no CC-BY 44-54 17 Wildlife Biology 1 Journal article Peer reviewed 2011 ftntnutrondheimi https://doi.org/10.2981/10-073 2019-09-17T06:53:54Z Habitat alteration by humans may change the supply of food and cover for wild ungulates, but few studies have examined how these resources are utilised over time by individuals of different sex and reproductive status. We examined circadian and seasonal variation in habitat utilisation within a moose Alces alces population in central Norway. Our study area covers forests and open habitats, both influenced by human alterations (e.g. forestry and agriculture). We expected moose to select habitats with good forage and cover in all seasons, but to select open foraging habitats mainly during night-time. Moose selected good foraging habitats, such as young forest stands and cultivated land during night, whereas the utilisation of older forest stands providing cover increased during daytime. This circadian pattern changed throughout the year, seemingly related to variation in hours of daylight and provision of forage. Young forest stands provided higher density of preferred food plants compared to older stands and were highly selected from spring until autumn. Relative to young forest, the selection for older forest stands increased towards winter, likely due to provision of higher plant quality late in the growing season, and to reduced accumulation of movement-impeding snow during winter. Selection of cultivated land varied among seasons, being highest when crop biomass was high. We also found some indications of state-dependent habitat selection as reproducing females avoided open, food rich areas in the first months after their calves were born, whereas males and females without young selected these areas in spring and summer. Our results clearly show that moose exploit the variations in cover and food caused by forestry and agriculture. This is particularly relevant for moose in Norway as current changes in forestry practice lead to a reduction in young, food-rich forest stands, possibly aggravating the already declining body conditions and recruitment rates of moose. publishedVersion Copyright © 2011 The Authors. Published under a CC-BY license. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alces alces NTNU Open Archive (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) Norway Wildlife Biology 17 1 44 54 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
NTNU Open Archive (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) |
op_collection_id |
ftntnutrondheimi |
language |
English |
description |
Habitat alteration by humans may change the supply of food and cover for wild ungulates, but few studies have examined how these resources are utilised over time by individuals of different sex and reproductive status. We examined circadian and seasonal variation in habitat utilisation within a moose Alces alces population in central Norway. Our study area covers forests and open habitats, both influenced by human alterations (e.g. forestry and agriculture). We expected moose to select habitats with good forage and cover in all seasons, but to select open foraging habitats mainly during night-time. Moose selected good foraging habitats, such as young forest stands and cultivated land during night, whereas the utilisation of older forest stands providing cover increased during daytime. This circadian pattern changed throughout the year, seemingly related to variation in hours of daylight and provision of forage. Young forest stands provided higher density of preferred food plants compared to older stands and were highly selected from spring until autumn. Relative to young forest, the selection for older forest stands increased towards winter, likely due to provision of higher plant quality late in the growing season, and to reduced accumulation of movement-impeding snow during winter. Selection of cultivated land varied among seasons, being highest when crop biomass was high. We also found some indications of state-dependent habitat selection as reproducing females avoided open, food rich areas in the first months after their calves were born, whereas males and females without young selected these areas in spring and summer. Our results clearly show that moose exploit the variations in cover and food caused by forestry and agriculture. This is particularly relevant for moose in Norway as current changes in forestry practice lead to a reduction in young, food-rich forest stands, possibly aggravating the already declining body conditions and recruitment rates of moose. publishedVersion Copyright © 2011 The Authors. Published under a CC-BY license. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bjørneraas, Kari Solberg, Erling Johan Herfindal, Ivar Van Moorter, Bram Rolandsen, Christer Moe Tremblay, Jean-Pierre Skarpe, Christina Sæther, Bernt-Erik Eriksen, Rune Astrup, Rasmus |
spellingShingle |
Bjørneraas, Kari Solberg, Erling Johan Herfindal, Ivar Van Moorter, Bram Rolandsen, Christer Moe Tremblay, Jean-Pierre Skarpe, Christina Sæther, Bernt-Erik Eriksen, Rune Astrup, Rasmus Moose Alces alces habitat use at multiple temporal scales in a human-altered landscape |
author_facet |
Bjørneraas, Kari Solberg, Erling Johan Herfindal, Ivar Van Moorter, Bram Rolandsen, Christer Moe Tremblay, Jean-Pierre Skarpe, Christina Sæther, Bernt-Erik Eriksen, Rune Astrup, Rasmus |
author_sort |
Bjørneraas, Kari |
title |
Moose Alces alces habitat use at multiple temporal scales in a human-altered landscape |
title_short |
Moose Alces alces habitat use at multiple temporal scales in a human-altered landscape |
title_full |
Moose Alces alces habitat use at multiple temporal scales in a human-altered landscape |
title_fullStr |
Moose Alces alces habitat use at multiple temporal scales in a human-altered landscape |
title_full_unstemmed |
Moose Alces alces habitat use at multiple temporal scales in a human-altered landscape |
title_sort |
moose alces alces habitat use at multiple temporal scales in a human-altered landscape |
publisher |
Nordic Council for Wildlife Research (NKV) |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2500515 https://doi.org/10.2981/10-073 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Alces alces |
genre_facet |
Alces alces |
op_source |
44-54 17 Wildlife Biology 1 |
op_relation |
Wildlife Biology. 2011, 17 (1), 44-54. urn:issn:0909-6396 http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2500515 https://doi.org/10.2981/10-073 cristin:347353 |
op_rights |
Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.2981/10-073 |
container_title |
Wildlife Biology |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
44 |
op_container_end_page |
54 |
_version_ |
1766256074945462272 |