Habitat selection by female moose in the Canadian prairie ecozone

Abstract

The combined effects of global climate change and shifting patterns in land use have resulted in range shifts for many wildlife species, as favorable conditions have been created for species entering novel environments. Moose (Alces alces) are a forest specialist species but have recently expanded southward from their traditional range in the boreal and aspen parkland forests into the agriculture-dominated landscape of the Prairie Pothole Region in western Canada. We quantified habitat selection patterns for moose in an agriculture-dominated landscape in south-central Saskatchewan, Canada. We fitted 15 adult female moose with global positioning system collars and generated resource selection functions for summer (Jul-Sep) and winter (Dec-Feb). Our goal was to describe seasonal habitat selection patterns for moose using farmland. We buffered used and available locations by 100 m and quantified land cover types within buffers. To account for nonlinear habitat selection, we generated models with quadratic (squared) land cover terms. We found strong selection by moose for wetland and forest land cover types, a nonlinear selection of cereals with highest selection occurring at an intermediate percentage of cereals, and an avoidance of pulses (peas, beans, and lentils) in both seasons. Oilseeds were weakly selected in summer and weakly avoided in winter. Developed areas were avoided in both seasons. Our results suggest that moose select woody and tree-ringed wetlands for foraging and lay down in the wetlands or use the associated shade as thermoregulatory cover. The selection of these wetlands suggests a possible explanation for the successful expansion of moose into the Prairie Pothole Region. Consumption of crops by native ungulates is a cause for concern for local agricultural producers, with damage by moose increasing in south-central Saskatchewan. Our results have important management implications for managing human-wildlife conflict with wild ungulates in a novel ecosystem, with fenced exclosures around wetlands offering a potential solution to areas faced with extensive moose crop damage. The strong selection of wetland and forest land cover types emphasizes the importance of conservation efforts for the remaining wetlands and riparian buffers in the agriculture-dominated Prairie Pothole Region. Ó 2016 The Wildlife Society.

Climate change effects on deer and moose in the Midwest

“…Moose populations have even expanded into some regions of their range (Wattles and DeStefano , ; Murray et al ; DeCesare et al ; Timmerman and Rodgers ). Southward expansions into the Prairie Pothole Region of Saskatchewan, Canada, for example, may be a result of expanding wetlands that can be used for thermoregulation (Laforge et al ). A more recent study, however, suggested that expansions were most likely the result of colder and dryer winters associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and greater coverage of high‐protein crops (Laforge et al ).…”

Spatio-temporal trends in crop damage inform recent climate-mediated expansion of a large boreal herbivore into an agro-ecosystem

“…This indicates that wetland abundance in the Canadian prairies may not be a limiting factor for moose (at least not over the timescale of this study), despite strong evidence from Laforge et al . 10 who found that at a fine scale (100 m) moose in agricultural systems select for wetlands in both summer and winter. This is likely explained by the widespread distribution of Prairie Pothole wetlands across the landscape such that they are widely available throughout most of our study area and locally selected by moose at fine scales.…”

“…Moose ( Alces alces ), are widely considered to be a boreal species with a circumpolar distribution 7 , 8 . However, over the past ~30 years, moose have become widespread across agricultural regions in the Boreal Plains and Prairie ecozones of Western Canada, areas typically considered highly unsuitable moose habitat and where transient animals were historically observed extremely rarely 9 , 10 . To understand ultimate causes for the encroachment of a species into a novel habitat, it is crucial to understand proximal causes underlying shifts in local distribution over larger scales.…”

“…Despite this, moose in isolated agricultural environments remain relatively unstudied (but see Laforge et al . 10 ), and environmental factors that explain their recent expansion into these systems remain unexplored.…”

“…Laforge et al . 10 showed that within their home ranges, moose selected for relatively small Prairie Pothole wetlands. Moose reliance on these wetlands, combined with our field observations of moose lying neck deep in the water at the centre of these wetlands on hot days (Brook unpublished data) suggests a link between broad-scale wetland recharge mediated by long-term trends in climate and moose persistence in agricultural ecosystems.…”