Life-history consequences of maternal condition in Alaskan moose

• Main Author: Keech, Mark A.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 1999
• Subjects: Moose; Reproduction; Fertility; Parturition; Pregnancy; Moose calves; Fairbanks; Alces alces; Alaska
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11122/14763

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1999 We studied characteristics of life-history of Alaskan moose (Alces alces gigas) including the effects of maternal condition of adult females on survival and physical condition of young during their first year-of-life. We also examined the relation between maternal condition and reproductive parameters of individual adult moose. We found that females in better physical condition, as indexed by rump-fat thickness, had higher rates of pregnancy, gave birth to more twins, and produced young with higher birth masses than did females with less rump fat. Expected time-to-death for individual young increased as birth mass increased and decreased with increasing birth date and litter size. Our results indicated maternal condition influenced subsequent variables associated with birth, which ultimately influenced future survival of offspring. Timing of parturition also occurred earlier for individual females with greater rump-fat thickness. That outcome suggested that timing of parturition was the result of environmental factors acting on females prior to birth. Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration. Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit