Approaches to estimate body condition from slaughter records in reindeer

Olofsson, Anna; Danell, Öje; Forslund, Pär; Åhman, Birgitta

doi:10.7557/2.28.1.192

Cited by 5 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…The consistent correlations found between the three studied carcass measures (weight, conformation and fatness) is in accordance with the results of our previous study (Olofsson et al, 2008) and strengthen the assumption that the body condition of an individual animal is reflected in all these measures. Similar longterm trends and year-to-year variations show that changes in the carcass measures are consistent across animal categories and therefore probably indicative of individuals in these categories responding in a similar manner to common circumstances.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Taken together, the results of the present study imply a promising potential of using carcass measures from commercial slaughter to indicate changes in reindeer body condition. In practical applications a set of indicator variables seems advisable, as was implied in the previous work by Olofsson et al (2008). This is also in line with the proposals by Morellet et al (2007) for management of large herbivore populations.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…According to the results by Olofsson et al (2008), the quality of the information from slaughter measures could be enhanced by also including body size measures, either by adjusting carcass weights for the structural size of the animal or combining weight, scores and size measures using multivariate techniques.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a previous paper (Olofsson et al, 2008) we proposed the use of carcass records from commercial reindeer slaughter as indicator of changes in the general body condition in the reindeer herd, and, by inference, the condition and use of snow-free season pasture. Since the snow-free period (late spring, summer and early autumn) is regarded as being fundamental for growth and the rebuilding of body reserves (Klein, 1968;Skogland, 1983), carcass characteristics from the main reindeer slaughter, which takes place in autumn and early winter, are likely to indicate pasture quality during the preceding snow-free period.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Annual variation in the selection of animals for slaughter may introduce bias, since it affects the relative numbers of animals of different ages and reproductive states, and thus the average body size and composition of the slaughtered animals. Dividing the slaughter data into narrower classes of sex and age (as suggested by Olofsson et al, 2008), would make it possible to account for any confounding effects of variations in sex or age ratios of the slaughtered animals. However, the information necessary to accomplish this is not available in the current slaughter records.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Carcass records of autumn-slaughtered reindeer as indicator of long-term changes in animal condition

Olofsson

Danell

Åhman

et al. 2011

Ran

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This study investigates the possibility of using carcass records from the commercial slaughter of reindeer as indicator of long-term changes in animal condition and, thus, the condition and use of their snow-free pasture. The aim was to assess the suitability of this indicator for use within adaptive management programmes for reindeer husbandry grazing resources. Data comprising measurements of carcass weight, conformation and fatness taken from commercial reindeer slaughter between 1994 and 2007, were analysed in relation to year, slaughter date, herding district, population density, and three categories of animals selected for slaughter. The carcass measures were significantly affected by year, and the effects were strongly correlated among the three animal categories. There were generally positive trends over the 14-year period studied. We identified several factors that should be considered when using carcass data to indicate long-term changes in animal body condition: (i) slaughter date had different effects depending on animal category; (ii) reindeer population density negatively affected female and calf carcasses, but not male carcasses. The effects of herding district were similar for carcasses of calves and females, but differed between females and males. Some of the differences between animal categories may be due to differing timing of slaughter (point i above), by different slaughter selection among districts, or have ecological explanations, e.g. sex differences in range use. Uncertainties in the classification of animals when using skeletal development to discriminate between calf and yearling carcasses, may also add to differences among districts. That population density effects on body condition were detectable together with the similarities in the effects of year and general long-term trends between animal categories support the suggestion that carcass measures can be used to indicate general changes in reindeer body condition and range use.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Carcass records of autumn-slaughtered reindeer as indicator of long-term changes in animal condition

Olofsson

Danell

Åhman

et al. 2011

Ran

Self Cite

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Hunting for ecological indicators: are large herbivore skeleton measures from harvest data useful proxies for monitoring?

et al. 2023

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Hunter-collected data and samples are used as indices of population performance, and monitoring programs often take advantage of such data as ecological indicators. Here, we establish the relationships between measures of skeleton size (lower jawbone length and hind-leg length) and autumn carcass mass of slaughtered individuals of known age and sex of the high Arctic and endemic Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus). We assess these relationships using a long-term monitoring dataset derived from hunted or culled reindeer. The two skeleton measures were generally strongly correlated within age class. Both jaw length (R2 = 0.78) and hind-leg length (R2 = 0.74) represented good proxies of carcass mass. These relationships were primarily due to an age effect (i.e. due to growth) as the skeleton measures reached an asymptotic size at 4–6 years of age. Accordingly, strong positive correlations between skeleton measures and carcass mass were mainly evident at the young age classes (range r [0.45–0.84] for calves and yearlings). For the adults, these relationships weakened due to skeletal growth ceasing in mature animals causing increased variance in mass with age—potentially due to the expected substantial impacts of annual environmental fluctuations. As proxies for carcass mass, skeleton measurements should therefore be limited to young individuals. Although body mass is the ‘gold standard’ in monitoring large herbivores, our results indicate that skeleton measures collected by hunters only provide similar valuable information for young age classes, particularly calves and yearlings. In sum, jaw length and hind-leg length function as proxies identical to body mass when documenting the impacts of changing environmental conditions on important state variables for reindeer and other herbivores inhabiting highly variable environments.

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Hunting for ecological indicators: Are large herbivore skeleton measures from harvest data useful proxies for monitoring?

Stefanussen

Bårdsen

Veiberg

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Hunter-collected data and samples are used as indices of population performance, and monitoring programs often take advantage of such data as ecological indicators. Here, we establish the relationships between measures of skeleton size (lower jawbone length and hind-leg length) and autumn carcass mass of slaughtered individuals of known age and sex of the high Arctic endemic Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus). We assess these relationships using a long-term monitoring dataset derived from samples of hunted or culled reindeer. The two skeleton measures were generally strongly correlated within age class. Both jaw length (R2 = 0.78) and hind-leg length (R2 = 0.74) represented good proxies of carcass mass, but these relationships were mainly driven by an age effect (i.e., due to growth). The skeleton measures reached an asymptote at 4–6 years age. Accordingly, strong positive correlations between skeleton measures and carcass mass were mainly evident in young age classes (range r [0.45–0.84] for calves and yearlings), while in adult age classes, these relationships weakened due to skeletal growth ceasing in mature animals as well as the strong impacts of annual environmental fluctuations, causing increased variance in mass with age. Although body mass is often viewed as the ‘gold standard’ in ungulate monitoring, our results indicate that skeleton measures collected by hunters may provide similar valuable information about variation in ecological processes, particularly for the younger age classes. Such harvest-based monitoring proxies may improve the management’s access to indicators of changing environmental conditions.

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Approaches to estimate body condition from slaughter records in reindeer

Cited by 5 publications

References 34 publications

Carcass records of autumn-slaughtered reindeer as indicator of long-term changes in animal condition

Carcass records of autumn-slaughtered reindeer as indicator of long-term changes in animal condition

Hunting for ecological indicators: are large herbivore skeleton measures from harvest data useful proxies for monitoring?

Hunting for ecological indicators: Are large herbivore skeleton measures from harvest data useful proxies for monitoring?

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