Resource separation by mountain ungulates on a landscape modified by fire

Sittler, Krista L.; Parker, Katherine L.; Gillingham, Michael P.

doi:10.1002/jwmg.869

Cited by 10 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 65 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The AIC score identifies the most parsimonious model, which has the fewest variables explaining the greatest amount of variation (Thompson and Lee 2000). We ranked models using the difference in AIC between the model of interest and the model with the smallest AIC (DAIC; Anderson et al 2000, Burnham andAnderson 2002) and calculated Akaike weights (w i ; Burnham and Anderson 2002) to identify a suite of competing models (Sittler et al 2015). We defined competing models as all those required for Sw i to be >0.95 because the best model identified with an AIC approach is not necessarily representative of landscape use (Sittler et al 2015).…”

Section: Resource Selection Model Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elk resource selection and implications for anthrax management in Montana

Morris

Proffitt

Asher³

et al. 2015

J Wildl Manag

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Anthrax, caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis, is a zoonotic disease that affects humans and animals throughout the world. In North America, anthrax outbreaks occur in livestock and wildlife species. Vaccine administration in wildlife is untenable; the most effective form of management is surveillance and decontamination of carcasses. Successful management is critical because untreated carcasses can create infectious zones increasing risk for other susceptible hosts. We studied the bacterium in a re-emerging anthrax zone in southwest Montana. In 2008, a large anthraxepizootic primarily affected a domestic bison (Bison bison) herd and the male segment of a free-ranging elk (Cervus elaphus) herd in southwestern Montana. Following the outbreak, we initiated a telemetry study on elk to evaluate resource selection during the anthrax season to assist with anthrax management. We used a mixed effects generalized linear model (GLM) to estimate resource selection by male elk, and we mapped habitat preferences across the landscape. We overlaid preferred habitats on ecological niche model-based estimates of B. anthracis presence. We observed significant overlap between areas with a high predicted probability of male elk selection and B. anthracis potential. These potentially risky areas of elk and B. anthracis overlap were broadly spread over public and private lands. Future outbreaks in the region are probable, and this analysis identified the spatial extent of the risk area in the region, which can be used to prioritize anthrax surveillance.

show abstract

Section: Resource Selection Model Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elk resource selection and implications for anthrax management in Montana

Morris

Proffitt

Asher³

et al. 2015

J Wildl Manag

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Translocations replicate natural migrations from population sources to sinks, but the dearth of source and sink populations, and reduced capacity for migration, is invariably limited by the forced boundaries of the protected area itself. Even behavioural alterations and population redistributions within protected areas are management substitutes for natural stochastic processes that have been suppressed, such as fire [111][112][113], and fear responses lost when humans removed natural predators, or made human disturbance a refuge from predators [29].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Modeling of populations of Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus), based on 16 years of previous climate data for Makhtesh Ramon Nature Reserve, Israel, found that in a global change scenario, population fluctuations increased 30%, and extinction rate increased 10 fold [117]. As climate change increases the stochasticity of environmental conditions such as precipitation and fire [113,118], large herbivore management in the future will have to become more proactive and predictive of future change, rather than relying on reactivity to observed changes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing Large Herbivores in Protected Areas

Found¹

2016

Glob J Ecol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

By nature of their size, grouping behaviour, and central position within most trophic webs, large terrestrial herbivores --namely ungulates and elephants --tend to be both keystone and umbrella species. Their proportionately large impacts on ecosystems extend both top-down (i.e. regulation of vegetation), but also bottom up (regulated their predators). For these reasons, as well as their cultural and economic importance to humans around the world, large herbivores are among the most heavily managed species in any region. Large herbivores have historically been managed by the fact that hunting by humans -or an intentional or forced reduction in that hunting -effectively plays its own top-down role of regulating herbivores. Managing large herbivores in protected areas presents a different set of challenges, however, because where human can no longer hunt large herbivores, the role of humans in the ecosystem is changed dramatically. The necessity of regulating both over and underabundant large herbivore populations remains, however, but we are now challenged to affect this management from outside of our former predator-prey relationships. I reviewed the major approaches to managing large herbivores in protected areas, from a historical perspective, through the development of protected areas and conservation ethics, to more modern methods such as wildlife contraception and behavioural modification. I examine each of these methods from a broader perspective that give further consideration to the impacts on species other than the target species. I synthesize these approaches them from the perspective of holistic ecosystem management, where each method acts to replace a part of ecosystem function that has otherwise been lost by the very fact the herbivore population is in a protected area. As the amount of undisturbed habitat for large herbivores decreases worldwide, these iconic species are increasingly confined only to protected areas, making specific strategies for managing their populations even more important.the consequences of inadequate management. Ironically, because of past human interference, maintaining balanced and "natural" ecosystem function within protected areas often requires further human interference. The objective of this review was to examine the different methods humans have employed to manage large herbivore populations, but synthesize them as reactive approaches to replace natural ecosystem process that have been lost. Protected areas have changed our relationship with what essentially is our former prey, but I argue that sustainable management of large herbivores can only be achieved by restoring intactness to ecosystems in which humans are an active part. Historical large herbivore managementPre-industrial attitudes and actions: The goal of wildlife management is to decide how best to manipulate ecosystems towards specific ecological but also human goals within that protected area. Humans have managed large herbivores for thousands of years, namely as a continuous and important food s...

show abstract

“…Most cover types were open enough to easily see and count ungulates, and we assumed our repeated samples of locations were representative of population response. The aerial survey sample corresponds with data obtained from a relatively few global positioning system (GPS)‐collared elk and Stone's sheep in the study area (Sittler et al ). Animal occurrences obtained using repeated systematic aerial surveys conducted under good weather conditions can provide accurate information on habitat use (Potvin et al ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As elk move on burned slopes into the small traditional ranges of Stone's sheep, there is concern about potential forage competition between the 2 species and displacement of Stone's sheep. Higher elk numbers also could increase predation risk for Stone's sheep by facilitating the increase of shared predators (Sittler et al ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation and prescribed fire: Implications for Stone's sheep and elk

2018

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Fire is the dominant single natural disturbance influencing northern mountain and boreal landscapes. We evaluated fire-induced changes in forage resources for 2 focal ungulates, Stone's sheep (Ovis dalli stonei) and elk (Cervus canadensis), in northern British Columbia, Canada. We implemented 4 prescribed fires and monitored short-term vegetation (quantity and quality) and ungulate (Stone's sheep and elk) responses. We took measurements prior to burning, the year of burning, and 1 year after burning in treatment areas and adjacent unburned control areas in winter and summer at 2 scales. At a fine scale, we used vegetation transects and pellet counts; at the landscape scale, we used Landsat imagery for vegetation and aerial survey flights for animals. Following prescribed fire, shrub cover declined and burned communities increased in herbaceous cover. Plant species diversity also declined but increased to almost that of unburned areas by 1 year after burning. Burning increased quality of forage most (2-7 percentage points more digestibility and 0.3-6.3 percentage points more crude protein than unburned areas) in the summer of the burn. In winter, forage biomass and available digestible dry matter increased to pre-burn levels by 1 year after burning. Stone's sheep and elk always used burned areas more than unburned control areas in winter at both scales. Whereas elk used sites with higher forage quantity, Stone's sheep appeared to respond to forage quality at the fine scale. Ungulate grazing during the 2 years of this study did not alter forage quantity on burned or unburned sites, as determined from range exclosures. Based on our findings in this area, maximum benefits to elk would be achieved from large prescribed fires on south-aspect slopes that result in the greatest amounts of forage biomass. Smaller prescribed fires at high burn intensities on west-aspect slopes intermixed with rocky outcrops and talus scree (less frequented by elk) would most benefit Stone's sheep requirements for highquality forage and escape terrain. Ó 2018 The Wildlife Society.

show abstract

Resource separation by mountain ungulates on a landscape modified by fire

Cited by 10 publications

References 65 publications

Elk resource selection and implications for anthrax management in Montana

Elk resource selection and implications for anthrax management in Montana

Managing Large Herbivores in Protected Areas

Vegetation and prescribed fire: Implications for Stone's sheep and elk

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About