Effects of winter recreation on northern ungulates with focus on moose (Alces alces) and snowmobiles

Abstract

Winter recreation can displace ungulates to poor habitats, which may raise their energy expenditure and lower individual survivorship, causing population declines. Winter recreation could be benign, however, if animals habituate. Moreover, recreation creates trails. Traveling on them could reduce energy expenditure, thereby increasing ungulate survivorship and generating population benefits. Balancing recreation use with wildlife stewardship requires identifying when these effects occur. This task would be simpler if guidelines existed to inform assessments. We developed and tested such guidelines using two approaches. First, we synthesized literature describing the effects of winter recreation-motorized and nonmotorized-on northern ungulates. This synthesis enabled formulating six guidelines, while exposing two requiring further attention (ungulate habituation and displacement). Second, we tested these two guidelines and evaluated the others by quantifying the behavioral responses of moose to snowmobiles, in two areas of south-central Alaska, differing by snowmobile predictability. For each location, we modeled moose preferences during the snowmobile period using different combinations of eight variables-static (elevation and slope), biotic (habitat and cover), and anthropogenic (distance to roads, railroads, snowmobile trails, and trail density). We identified the model with the most support and used it to estimate parameter coefficients for pre-and post-recreation periods. Changes in coefficients between periods indicated snowmobile effects on moose. Overall, we produced and evaluated six guidelines describing when winter recreation is potentially detrimental to ungulates as follows: (1) when unpredictable, (2) spanning large areas, (3) long in duration, (4) large spatial footprint, (5) nonmotorized, and (6) when animals are displaced to poor quality habitats.

Winter recreation and Canada lynx: reducing conflict through niche partitioning

“…), moose (Harris et al. ), mountain caribou ( Rangifer tarandus caribou; Seip et al. ), and wolverines ( Gulo gulo , Heinemeyer et al.…”

“…For example, moose preferentially selected habitats away from areas of high snowmobile‐trail density (Colescott and Gillingham , Harris et al. ) and intensive snowmobile activity displaced woodland caribou ( R. tarandus caribou ) from suitable habitat (Seip et al. ).…”

Sharing the same slope: Behavioral responses of a threatened mesocarnivore to motorized and nonmotorized winter recreation

“…Animal responses to human disturbance often vary depending on the type of disturbance activity. Wild reindeer fled longer distances when disturbed by skiers than snowmobiles (Reimers, Eftestøl, & Colman, ), while moose exhibited short‐term disturbance from skiers (Neumann, Ericsson, & Dettki, ) and avoidance of areas with high snowmobile trail density (Harris et al., ). Lynx did not appear to exhibit a consistent response to all dispersed recreation types, although some consistent differences between motorized and nonmotorized recreation types emerged.…”

Spatial factors influencing northern mountain caribou (Rangifer tarandus) survival and distribution in the Telkwa Range

“…Avoidance of recreationists by ungulates is well-documented (Cassirer et al 1992, Colescott and Gillingham 1998, Creel et al 2002, Neumann et al 2010, Harris et al 2014 and findings by Seip et al (2007) showed that caribou were displaced from large areas of high-quality winter habitat by snowmobiles. Displacement may result in caribou being forced into low-quality habitat and/or areas with high predation risk.…”

“…Recreational use, both motorized and non-motorized, can negatively influence ungulate populations (Cassirer et al 1992, Colescott and Gillingham 1998, Creel et al 2002, Neumann et al 2010, Harris et al 2014. Motorized winter recreation in the form of snowmobiling can lead to range abandonment and/or increased accessibility to caribou habitat by wolves (Bergerud 1988, Seip et al 2007.…”