Coping in a human-dominated landscape: trade-off between foraging and keeping away from roads by moose (Alces alces)

Eldegard, Katrine; Lyngved, Jo Trygve; Hjeljord, Olav

doi:10.1007/s10344-012-0640-4

Cited by 43 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Especially densities of hunted wildlife species are often negatively related to the density of roads, or positively with the distance to roads (Coffin, 2007). The effect of roads varies with road type and traffic intensity, and avoidance of roads by large mammals generally increases with increasing disturbance intensity (road width, traffic density, human disturbance) (Eldegard et al, 2012;Leblond et al, 2013;D'Amico et al, 2016). However, roads with low traffic intensity may also influence animal behavior (Ciuti et al, 2012;D'Amico et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Aggregations of moose (Alces alces) due to barrier effects of major roads on migration, led to increased moose browsing on pine within 3 km from major highways (Ball and Dahlgren, 2002). Moose have also been observed to avoid major roads with high traffic intensity, and select for browse far from the road (Eldegard et al, 2012). However, according to our knowledge, how forest roads with low traffic intensity affect ungulate browsing, is unknown.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of forest roads on oak trees via cervid habitat use and browsing

Marie

Wójcicki

Borowski

2018

Forest Ecology and Management

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Roads can affect animals in several ways, by affecting movement, space use, foraging behaviour and mortality. As roads often have a negative effect on populations of birds and mammals, their effects are important for wildlife management. However, the effect of roads differ between different types of roads, and most studies of road ecology have focused on major roads with high traffic intensity, whilst effects of smaller unpaved forest roads in northern ecosystems are less known. We investigated the effects of forest roads in a mixed conifer forest in central Europe on cervid habitat use and browsing impact on forest regeneration during the winter season. We found that hunted cervid species avoided forest roads, and that browsing pressure was higher within the core of forest areas rather than close to roads. This led to an increased density of undamaged trees (by browsing) close to forest roads, whilst browsing damages were relatively high in the interior. Hunters often use these forest roads in the hunting season. We suggest that human disturbance creates corridors of fear along forest roads, and that cervids alter their habitat and browse use to avoid humans. This in turn has implications for forest and cervid management. This is the first study to document that gravel roads can affect oak trees through modifying cervid behaviour. Future studies should use experiments to explore this question further and separate different effects of forest roads to understand the mechanisms; edge effects on vegetation, traffic, effects on natural predators and human disturbance.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of forest roads on oak trees via cervid habitat use and browsing

Marie

Wójcicki

Borowski

2018

Forest Ecology and Management

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“…We likely have managed only to scratch the surface of the true quantity of the morphological variation and plausible adaptive potential possessed by this species. These features together with the very flexible behavior (e.g., Bjørneraas et al 2011Bjørneraas et al , 2012Eldegard et al 2012;Melin et al 2014) would give at least a partial explanation for the success and extensive range of the moose. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographic Cline in the Shape of the Moose Mandible: Indications of an Adaptive Trend

et al. 2016

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Intra-specific geographic variation is probably one of the most common patterns studied in ungulate morphology.However, the shape of the mandible, a crucial feature with regard to feeding, has been greatly understudied in this context. Here, we utilized a museum collection of moose (Alces alces) mandibles to investigate whether we could detect significant variation in this species, and test for the existence of geographic patterns and associations with population genetic structure. We applied a landmark-based geometric morphometrics approach, analyzing shape data with principal component analysis and linear mixed models. A significant geographic shift in the shape of the moose mandible was revealed. The main pattern was similar in both sexes; however, there was a consistent difference in shape between males and females over the latitudinal scale. The main changes included an enlargement in the attachment surfaces of the muscles controlling biting and mastication, suggesting more effective mastication towards the north, plausibly as an adaptive response to a harder and tougher wintertime diet. Additionally, more subtle, yet statistically significant agerelated shape variation was discovered. Interestingly, no or only a weak association between the morphometric variation and the genetic population structure was detected with neutral molecular markers.

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“…The avoidance of vehicular traffic differs from road surface avoidance in that some animals may cross roads but appear to cross only when traffic is decreased, such as nighttime (Jaeger et al 2005). This has been observed among mammals as small as hedgehogs ( Erinaceus europaeus) (Dowding et al 2010) and as large as moose ( Alces alces) (Eldegard et al 2012).…”

Section: Animal Movement and Home Rangesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Urban Wildlife Behavior

Ryan

Partan

2014

Urban Wildlife

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Wild animals in urban areas face unique challenges. They live in environments modified by and for humans without having evolved in them, but unlike domesticated animals, they remain under the auspices of natural selection. We do not yet know how living in urban areas will ultimately affect the animals that share our urban environments, but we are at the beginning of a new and important scientific effort to study the effects of urbanization on wildlife. Early signs suggest that animals that can tolerate urbanization are quite different in behavior and physiology than those that are limited in distribution to natural areas .In this chapter, we focus on how animal behavior changes in response to urbanization. We use the term urban to refer to habitats undergoing intense human development for purposes of human residency, as seen in cities and suburbs (see Gehrt 2010). Understanding why some animals successfully adapt their behavior to urban areas and others do not can contribute to both the management of urban wildlife and the conservation of species that do not fare well during urbanization. After addressing the behavioral effects of urbanization, we conclude with implications for evolution and biodiversity of animals in urban environments. We have limited our review to terrestrial vertebrates with a few exceptions. Aquatic animal

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Coping in a human-dominated landscape: trade-off between foraging and keeping away from roads by moose (Alces alces)

Cited by 43 publications

References 45 publications

Effects of forest roads on oak trees via cervid habitat use and browsing

Effects of forest roads on oak trees via cervid habitat use and browsing

Geographic Cline in the Shape of the Moose Mandible: Indications of an Adaptive Trend

Urban Wildlife Behavior

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