Protocols for care and handling of deer and elk at the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range.

Wisdom, Michael J.; Cook, John G.; Rowland, Mary M.; Noyes, James H.

doi:10.2737/pnw-gtr-311

Cited by 43 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…We used a dependable bite‐count technique to estimate intake rate (Renecker and Hudson , Wairimu and Hudson ), and we minimized observer bias by limiting collection of diet data to 2 personnel (RC and JC) throughout the project. We conducted this research in accordance with an approved animal welfare protocol (Starkey Experimental Forest and Range Animal Care and Use Committee Protocol #92‐F004; Wisdom et al ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutritional ecology of elk during summer and autumn in the Pacific Northwest

Cook

Davis

et al. 2016

Wildlife Monographs

176

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Elk (Cervus elaphus) in the western United States are an economically and socially valuable wildlife species. They have featured species status for federal land management planning; hence, considerable modeling focused on habitat evaluation and land management planning has been undertaken for elk. The extent to which these and other habitat models for large ungulates account for influences of nutritional resources varies greatly, probably because of varying recognition of the importance of nutrition and uncertainty about how to measure and model nutrition. Our primary goals were to 1) develop greater understanding of how habitat conditions influence foraging dynamics and nutrition of elk in summer and autumn; and 2) illustrate an ecological framework for evaluating and predicting nutritional resources so that nutritional needs of elk can be integrated within landscape‐scale plans, population models, and habitat evaluation models. We evaluated foraging responses of elk to clearcut logging and commercial thinning, forest succession, and season across ecological site potentials. We also identified the extent to which plant communities satisfied nutritional requirements of lactating female elk and their calves. Our study was conducted in the temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest on industrial and public timberlands. We evaluated relations between habitat conditions and elk nutrition in plant communities representing a range in stand age and ecological conditions at 3 study areas, 1 near the Canadian border in the north Cascades Mountains (Nooksack), 1 in the Coast range southwest of Olympia, Washington (Willapa Hills), and the third in the central Cascades near Springfield, Oregon (Springfield), from late June to November, 2000–2002. In 98–143 macroplots per study area, we measured forage abundance by plant species, digestible energy content by plant life‐form group, and forest overstory. In a subset of these macroplots (∼30 per study area), we held 4 tame lactating elk with calves in electrified pens (n = 15–25 adult elk per year), and sampled activity budgets, dietary composition, forage selection, and other measures of foraging behavior; dietary digestible energy (DE; kcal/g) and protein (DP; %) levels; and intake rates of these nutrients. In 15 of these pens, we held elk for extended periods (13–21 days) to monitor changes in body fat of adults and growth of calves. We developed equations to predict dietary DE and DP and per‐minute intake rates of each in a nutrition prediction model that reflected vegetation attributes and ecological site influences. Total abundance of forage in the western hemlock series after clearcut logging in low to moderate elevations (≤1,000 m) ranged from a peak of 3,000–4,500 kg/ha in 5‐ to 10‐year‐old stands to 100–300 kg/ha in 20‐ to 50‐year‐old stands with only moderate increases through late succession. Patterns were similar in higher elevation forests (1,000–1,800 m), although peaks and troughs in forage abundance developed more slowly. Deciduous shrubs, forbs, an...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutritional ecology of elk during summer and autumn in the Pacific Northwest

Cook

Davis

et al. 2016

Wildlife Monographs

176

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“…Research was conducted under approval and guidance by an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC 92-F-0004), as required by the United States Animal Welfare Act of 1985 and its regulations. We followed protocols established specifically by the IACUC for conducting cattle, elk, and mule deer research in our study area (Wisdom et al, 1993).…”

Section: Acknowledgmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of ungulate herbivory on aspen, cottonwood, and willow development under forest fuels treatment regimes

Endress

Wisdom

Vávra

et al. 2012

Forest Ecology and Management

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a b s t r a c tHerbivory by domestic and wild ungulates can dramatically affect vegetation structure, composition and dynamics in nearly every terrestrial ecosystem of the world. These effects are of particular concern in forests of western North America, where intensive herbivory by native and domestic ungulates has the potential to substantially reduce or eliminate deciduous, highly palatable species of aspen (Populus tremuloides), cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa), and willow (Salix spp.). In turn, differential herbivory pressure may favor greater establishment of unpalatable conifers that serve as ladder fuels for stand-replacing fires. The resulting high fuel loads often require silvicultural fuels reductions to mitigate fire risk, which in turn may facilitate additional recruitment of deciduous species but also additional herbivory pressure. Potential interactions of ungulate herbivory with episodic disturbances of silviculture, fire, and other land uses are not well documented, but are thought to operate synergistically to affect forest dynamics. We evaluated individual and joint effects of ungulate herbivory and fuels reduction treatments in grand fir (Abies grandis) and Douglas-fir (Psuedotsuga menziezii) forests that dominate large areas of interior western North America. We applied fuels reduction treatments of mechanical thinning and prescribed fire and then evaluated the responses of aspen, cottonwood, and willow species to these treatments (N = 3) versus areas of no treatment (N = 3), and to exclusion from ungulate herbivory versus areas subjected to extant herbivory by free-ranging cattle (Bos taurus), elk (Cervus elaphus), and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). Densities of deciduous species were >4 times higher in response to fuels reduction treatments (84.4 individuals/ha) compared to areas of no treatment (19.7 individuals/ha). Additionally, when ungulates were excluded from fuels treated sites, the density of cottonwood was >5 times higher (122.5 individuals/ha) than fuels treated sites subjected to extant herbivory (24.3 individuals/ha). Similarly, densities of Populus spp. and Salix spp. were >3 times higher (211.6 individuals/ha) on fuels treated sites excluded from ungulate herbivory versus fuels treated sites subjected to extant herbivory (66.1 stems/ha). Deciduous species subjected to extant ungulate herbivory also were significantly lower in height, canopy surface area, and canopy volume than the same species inside the ungulate exclosures. Recruitment and long-term survival of aspen, cottonwood, and willow species in coniferous forests of interior western North America require a combination of episodic disturbances such as silviculture and fire to facilitate deciduous plant recruitment, followed by reductions in grazing pressure by domestic and wild ungulates during the time intervals between episodic disturbances to facilitate plant establishment, growth and survival.

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“…S. E. George, T. E. George, and D. Lay collected fecal sample and body mass data. All animals were handled in accordance with approved U.S. Forest Service animal welfare protocols (Wisdom et al, 1993).…”

Section: Acknowledgmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Diet and Body Condition on Fecal Progestagen Excretion in Elk

Cook

Garrott

et al. 2002

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

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Recent research demonstrated the utility of fecal progestagens (P 4 ) for detecting pregnancy in elk (Cervus elaphus) during mid-to late gestation. Several factors, however, may influence fecal P 4 excretion and limit its use in free-ranging animals. We investigated the effects of nutrition and body condition (percent ingesta-free body fat) on fecal P 4 concentrations and incidence of abortion. During mid-gestation (late December 1997 through early March 1998), 40 gravid cow elk varying in body condition were placed on three diets (high, medium, and low) in which the amount of food offered varied. Feces were collected periodically and analyzed for P 4 via radioimmunoassay. We found no significant effect of dietary treatment on P 4 concentrations, but as body condition declined, P 4 concentrations declined significantly. This decline did not impede the ability to detect pregnancy based on previously reported criteria, even for elk in such poor condition that they aborted. However, fecal P 4 concentrations in 10% (4/39) of samples collected from 13 non-pregnant animals maintained on a high plane of nutrition were falsepositive for pregnancy. We suggest alternate criteria for determining pregnancy in elk using fecal P 4 values: Ͼ1.25 g/g feces as pregnant, Ͻ1.0 g/g feces as non-pregnant, and 1.0-1.25 g/g feces as inconclusive. Finally, two cows that aborted did not abort until weeks after being classified as emaciated and near death, suggesting that nutrition-associated abortion in elk may not occur during mid-gestation except under extremely harsh conditions.

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Protocols for care and handling of deer and elk at the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range.

Cited by 43 publications

References 8 publications

Nutritional ecology of elk during summer and autumn in the Pacific Northwest

Nutritional ecology of elk during summer and autumn in the Pacific Northwest

Effects of ungulate herbivory on aspen, cottonwood, and willow development under forest fuels treatment regimes

Effects of Diet and Body Condition on Fecal Progestagen Excretion in Elk

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