Patterns of decadal, seasonal and daily visitation to mineral licks, a critical resource hotspot for mountain goats Oreamnos americanus in the Rocky Mountains

Abstract

Concentrated resources or hotspots, within an individual's usual home range may be strong determinates of movement behavior. We evaluated the patterns of mineral lick use by a population of mountain goats Oreamnos americanus displaying high site fidelity at two mineral licks along the Trans‐Canada Highway in the Rocky Mountains, British Columbia, Canada. Access to these mineral licks was characterized by deliberate and repetitive movements into marginal habitat. We describe the patterns of mineral lick use over decadal, seasonal and daily periods by using dendrochronological analysis of trampling scars along mountain goat trails, movements determined from GPS collar locations, and camera traps placed along trails and at mineral licks, respectively. Our findings suggest that mountain goats have strong trans‐generational behavioral traditions and that they predictably access mineral licks using the same trails, seasons and daily patterns. Differences in the patterns of mineral lick visitation between males and females may be related to reproductive and nutritional status, while their nocturnal use appears to be a response to disturbance at the mineral licks. Understanding how animals adjust their behavior in response to highly localized resource hotspots outside their usual home range can provide valuable information for the management of these critical habitat features and the wider conservation of mountain goat populations.

Allometry of sodium requirements and mineral lick use among herbivorous mammals

“…5). This aligns with observations at mineral licks around the world, with females, who often have higher Na demands from pregnancy or lactation, visiting more frequently than males (Calef and Lortie 1975, Montenegro 1998, Atwood and Weeks 2003, Ayotte et al 2008, Kroesen et al 2020, Pan et al 2020, Vasilchenko and Naidenko 2021, He et al 2022) and increasing visitation during reproductive periods (Fraser et al 1982, Pan et al 2020, Vasilchenko and Naidenko 2021, He et al 2022. Furthermore, the occurrence and use of mineral licks appears to be highly associated with low-Na ecosystems, consistent with our results (Weir 1972, Holdø et al 2002, Lee et al 2010, Dudley et al 2012, González et al 2021, Maro and Dudley 2022.…”

Species conflict at Earth’s edges – Contests, climate, and coveted resources

“…Importantly and regardless of whether the mediating forces are directly human such as local habitat destruction, or broader and slower like warming temperatures, given the scarcity and patchiness of abiotic sources (e.g., mineral licks, desert waters) opportunities for interspecies conflict arise over access. Clearly, human alterations of remote desert waters heighten the accessibility challenge (Braithwaite and Muller, 1997;Simpson et al, 2011;Larsen et al, 2012), as has road construction where species have changed their behavior to access mineral licks (Kroesen et al, 2020).…”

The role of large mammalian herbivores in shaping and maintaining soil microbial communities of natural mineral licks: A case study on sika deer at the firebreak adjacent to the Sino‐Russian border

“…Natural mineral licks are usually bare rock or soil that are rich in minerals (Kreulen, 1985 ; Matsubayashi et al., 2006 ; Molina et al., 2014 ). Geophagy or soil ingestion at mineral licks is a widespread and important behavior in a large number of herbivores (He et al., 2022 ; Kroesen et al., 2020 ; Lavelle et al., 2014 ; Li et al., 2019 ; Matsubayashi et al., 2006 ). Although geophagy has been considered a tropical‐subtropical phenomenon (Ghanem & Voigt, 2014 ; Gilmore et al., 2020 ; Link et al., 2011 ; Matsubayashi et al., 2006 ; Molina et al., 2014 ; Stephenson et al., 2011 ; Weeks, 1978 ; Weir, 1969 ), the behavior is widespread in northern ecosystems as well as in semi‐arid regions (Klein & Thing, 1989 ; Kroesen et al., 2020 ; Lavelle et al., 2014 ; Panichev et al., 2012 ).…”