Winter habitat use by mule deer in the central interior of British Columbia

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (10) ◽  
pp. 1721-1725 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold M. Armleder ◽  
Michaela J. Waterhouse ◽  
Dagmar G. Keisker ◽  
Richard J. Dawson
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Habitat Use ◽  
Snow Depth ◽  
Mule Deer ◽  
Timber Harvesting ◽  
Biological Data ◽  
Planning System ◽  
Winter Habitat ◽  
Winter Range ◽  
Crown Closure

We analyzed winter habitat use by 23 radio-collared mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) in the central interior of British Columbia, Canada, from February 1982 to March 1989. This research was essential to provide sound biological data for development of a selection silvicultural and planning system that would integrate timber harvesting with the habitat needs of mule deer. Habitat selection was analyzed by comparing deer use with habitat availability of various levels (categories) of the following variables: age, crown closure, species composition, slope, and aspect. Additionally, we compared the use of each category among snow classes. Regardless of snow depth class, use of old stands (> 140 years) by deer was greater than the availability of that age category. Also, the use of old stands was greater in moderate (26–40 cm) and deep (>40 cm) snow depth classes than in the low snow depth class. Areas of winter range dominated by Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) were more often used than areas where other tree species were most common. In the deep snow class, use of both moderate and high crown closures categories exceeded their availability.

scholarly journals Managing Woodland Caribou in West-Central British Columbia

Rangifer ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah B. Cichowski
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Management Strategy ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Timber Harvesting ◽  
Range Management ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Winter Habitat ◽  
Specific Level ◽  
Winter Range

Initial long term planning for logging on the Tweedsmuir-Entiako caribou winter range began in the early 1980s. Because little information was available on which to base winter range management, the British Columbia Fish and Wildlife Branch began studies on radio-collared caribou in 1983, and an intensive study on caribou winter habitat requirements was conducted from 1985 to 1988. Terrestrial lichens were identified as the primary winter food source for the caribou, and in 1987, caribou winter range ecosystem maps, which emphasized abundance of terrestrial lichens, were produced. The ecosystem maps and information from the caribou study, including potential direct and indirect effects of timber harvesting on the caribou population, were used to develop a management strategy for the winter range. The management strategy comprised two levels of management: a landscape level (Caribou Management Zones); and a site-specific level (caribou habitat/timber values). Timber information associated with BC Ministry of Forests forest cover maps was integrated using a Geographic Information System. Six winter range management options were proposed ranging from harvesting low value caribou habitats only throughout the winter range to total protection of the entire winter range. Impacts of those options on both the caribou population and on the timber supply were evaluated. The options were reviewed through a public planning process, the Entiako Local Resource Use Plan, and recommendations from that process were forwarded to the British Columbia Protected Areas Strategy.

Influence of fire severity and vegetation treatments on mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) winter habitat use on the Kaibab Plateau, Arizona

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (10) ◽  
pp. 1292
Author(s):  
Kirby D. Bristow ◽  
Larisa E. Harding ◽  
Richard W. Lucas ◽  
Thomas C. McCall
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Mule Deer ◽  
Odocoileus Hemionus ◽  
Winter Habitat ◽  
Similar Treatment ◽  
Natural Fire ◽  
Winter Range ◽  
Kaibab Plateau

Context Wildfire and vegetation treatments affect mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) populations across the western United States. However, the relative influence of fire and treatments on habitat use by mule deer in Arizona is not well defined. Aims We examined locations of mule deer on the Kaibab Plateau in northern Arizona, so as to determine the influence of vegetation treatments and wildfire severity on deer habitat-use patterns across their winter range where fires and treatments had occurred previously. Methods We used locations (n = 11297) from 21 adult female mule deer fitted with global positioning system collars to model probability of use as a function of habitat covariates. Key results The best model describing winter-range habitat use by mule deer on the Kaibab Plateau included covariates describing the age of vegetation treatments and fire severity. Increased deer use in winter was associated with areas of lower terrain ruggedness and reduced snow depths. Deer use also increased in areas that experienced a higher average fire severity, resulting in decreased vegetation heights. Among treatment age classes, deer use was greatest in areas containing vegetation treatments that were ≤6 years old, but negatively associated with treatments that were >6 years old. Conclusions Vegetation treatments designed to remove or reduce less palatable tree and shrub species to improve forage conditions may increase the use of winter habitats by deer on the Kaibab Plateau. Similarly, prescribed fire and rangeland treatments designed to return areas to a more natural fire regime and, thereby, generate new plant growth, may improve winter-range habitat conditions for mule deer. Implications Similar treatment strategies may also benefit mule deer populations throughout the western USA, by improving forage conditions on critical habitats and reducing the potential for catastrophic wildfire.

scholarly journals Late-Winter Habitat Use by Mule Deer, Odocoileus hemionus, in Central Interior British Columbia

2008 ◽  
Vol 122 (3) ◽  
pp. 205
Author(s):  
Gilbert Proulx
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Habitat Use ◽  
Populus Tremuloides ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Mule Deer ◽  
Odocoileus Hemionus ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Winter Habitat

In central interior British Columbia, extensive cut blocks to recover timber killed by the Mountain Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) could impact negatively on Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) late-winter habitat. This study assessed the possibility of predicting the distribution of potential late-winter habitat for Mule Deer with the BC Vegetation Resources Inventory (VRI) dataset used to produce forestry maps. On the basis of literature review and roadside inventories in December 2004, I predicted that high-quality Mule Deer late-winter habitat would correspond to mature and old conifer-dominated stands with ≤ 20% deciduous species, a canopy closure ≥ 45%, tree heights ≥ 23 m, tree diameter at breast height ≥ 24 cm, and basal area ≥ 45 m2/ha, and would be located on < 60% slopes on south, southeast, southwest or west aspects, or on flat ground. I allocated weight values to these criteria to classify map polygons into high-, medium- and low-quality polygons, and produce predictive maps of late-winter habitat use by Mule Deer. I tested my predictive habitat rating by snowtracking along 18 km of transects in February-March 2006, and 15.6 km of transects in February 2007. I recorded 31 and 12 Mule Deer tracks in 2006 and 2007, respectively, all in high-quality polygons. The observed frequency of tracks per polygon type was significantly (P < 0.001) different from expected. All tracks were in mature and old conifer-dominated stands including 10-60% Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta) and 10-20% Trembling Aspen (Populus tremuloides). This study showed that it was possible to predict the distribution of potential late-winter habitat for Mule Deer using a series of habitat criteria and the VRI dataset. The extensive harvesting of Lodgepole Pine in mixed coniferous stands will undoubtedly have a negative impact on Mule Deer late-winter habitat quality and quantity. The rating of habitat types developed in this study should be used in forest management plans to determine sites that should be protected from logging.

Winter habitat selection by female moose in western interior montane forests

2006 ◽  
Vol 84 (12) ◽  
pp. 1823-1832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim G. Poole ◽  
Kari Stuart-Smith
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Selection ◽  
Snow Depth ◽  
Causative Factor ◽  
Habitat Associations ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Managed Forests ◽  
Winter Habitat ◽  
Gps Collars ◽  
Winter Range ◽  
Crown Closure

Winter range has been identified as an important component of moose ( Alces alces (L., 1758)) conservation in managed forests, yet there have been few studies on habitat associations in montane ecosystems. We investigated habitat selection by moose at landscape and stand scales during late winter in southeastern British Columbia using global positioning system (GPS) collars on 24 adult moose cows in each of two winters. The strongest determinant of late-winter range at the landscape scale was decreasing elevation, while moose also selected for areas of gentler slopes and higher solar insolation. Elevation likely is a surrogate for snow depth, which is probably the primary causative factor influencing late-winter distribution of moose. Within late-winter range, topographic variables had little influence on moose habitat selection. Lower crown closure was the strongest determinant of stand-scale selection, although the resultant model was weak. We found no disproportionate selection for stands with high crown closure, and there was little evidence for greater use of cover stands with increasing snow as winter progressed. Within late-winter range, moose selected forage habitats (42% use vs. 30% availability) over cover habitats (22% use vs. 37% availability). The delineation of late-winter moose range can be based on snow depth, or elevation as its surrogate.

scholarly journals Late-winter habitat use by the Fisher, Pekania pennanti (Erxleben, 1777), in the Boreal Plains Ecozone of northwestern Saskatchewan, Canada

2014 ◽  
Vol 128 (3) ◽  
pp. 272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilbert Proulx
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Deciduous Forest ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Larix Laricina ◽  
Forest Stands ◽  
Habitat Types ◽  
Winter Habitat ◽  
Boreal Plains ◽  
Pekania Pennanti ◽  
Crown Closure

Late-winter habitat use by the Fisher, Pekania pennanti (Erxleben, 1777) in northwestern Saskatchewan was assessed in February 2009, 2011, and 2012. A total of 78 Fisher tracks were recorded over 60 300 m of snowshoe surveys. Fisher tracks were significantly less frequent than expected in Tamarack (Larix laricina [Du Roi] K. Koch) stands with > 40% crown closure and mainly 0–10 m trees (P < 0.05) and in open areas. Fishers used other habitat types equal to availability, including muskeg and coniferous, mixed, and deciduous forest stands. Maintaining mosaics of forest stands of different seral stages interspersed with muskeg would meet the late-winter habitat needs of Fishers in the Boreal Plains Ecozone of northwestern Saskatchewan.

scholarly journals Winter Habitat use by Mule Deer in Idaho and Montana

2015 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja M Smith ◽  
Paul R Krausman ◽  
Greg Painter
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Mule Deer ◽  
Winter Habitat

scholarly journals Early Winter Habitat Use by Mountain Caribou in the North Cariboo and Columbia Mountains, British Columbia

Rangifer ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 133 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Terry ◽  
B. McLellan ◽  
G. Watts ◽  
J. Flaa
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Habitat Use ◽  
Regional Differences ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Winter Habitat ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
The North ◽  
Columbia Mountains ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Spruce Stands

Winter habitat use was compared between two mountain caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) populations in British Columbia. Regional differences were apparent during November and December. Radio-collared caribou inhabiting the gentle plateaus of the northern Cariboo Mountains, near Prince George, B.C. primarily used mid-elevation balsam-spruce stands on moderate slopes (&lt;30%). In contrast, radio-collared caribou in the North Columbia Mountains, near Revelstoke, B.C. used low elevation hemlock-cedar stands and relatively steeper slopes (&gt;30%). To adequately address habitat requirements of caribou, forest management plans should incorporate varying regional and seasonal habitat use patterns. Hypotheses on observed differences in habitat use are discussed.

scholarly journals Winter Habitat Use by Moose, Alces alces, in Central Interior British Columbia

2005 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilbert Proulx ◽  
Rhonda M. Kariz
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Habitat Use ◽  
Pinus Contorta ◽  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Alces Alces ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Winter Habitat ◽  
Pine Beetle ◽  
Pine Stands

In central British Columbia, recent epidemics of Mountain Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) have resulted in the use of expansive clearcut areas to remove infested mature and old Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta) stands. This study aimed to determine if Moose (Alces alces) use late-successional Lodgepole Pine stands in mid- to late-winter. Moose activity and habitat use was determined during February-March track surveys in 2000 (60 km) and 2001 (55.7 km). In 2000 (69 tracks) and 2001 (313 tracks), Moose track distribution differed significantly (P < 0.05) from random. They were significantly more abundant than predicted in young stands (dominated by Picea spp.), or early seral stages; they were less abundant than predicted in mature and old Lodgepole Pine stands. It is unlikely that harvesting late-successional Lodgepole Pine stands would affect Moose winter habitat supply.

Winter habitat use by female caribou in relation to wildland fires in interior Alaska

2003 ◽  
Vol 81 (7) ◽  
pp. 1192-1201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Joly ◽  
Bruce W Dale ◽  
William B Collins ◽  
Layne G Adams
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
Very High Frequency ◽  
Winter Habitat ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Burned Areas ◽  
Winter Range ◽  
Core Areas

The role of wildland fire in the winter habitat use of caribou (Rangifer tarandus) has long been debated. Fire has been viewed as detrimental to caribou because it destroys the slow-growing climax forage lichens that caribou utilize in winter. Other researchers argued that caribou were not reliant on lichens and that fire may be beneficial, even in the short term. We evaluated the distribution of caribou relative to recent fires (<50 years old) within the current winter range of the Nelchina caribou herd in east-central Alaska. To address issues concerning independence and spatial and temporal scales, we used both conventional very high frequency and global positioning system telemetry to estimate caribou use relative to recent, known-aged burns. In addition, we used two methods to estimate availability of different habitat classes. Caribou used recently burned areas much less than expected, regardless of methodologies used. Moreover, within burns, caribou were more likely to use habitat within 500 m of the burn perimeter than core areas. Methods for determining use and availability did not have large influences on our measures of habitat selectivity.

Habitat use by woodland caribou near Takla Lake in central British Columbia

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (9) ◽  
pp. 1552-1561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim G Poole ◽  
Douglas C Heard ◽  
Garth Mowat
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Habitat Use ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Winter Habitat ◽  
Risk Of Predation

Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) living in the mountainous areas of British Columbia are usually classified as either northern caribou, which spend much of the winter in low-elevation relatively young forests foraging primarily on terrestrial lichens, or mountain caribou, which winter in high-elevation old subalpine forests foraging exclusively on arboreal lichens. The forest-management practices necessary to conserve caribou differ substantially between these two categories of animals with different life-history strategies. Because of this variability in winter-habitat use, information relating specifically to Takla Lake caribou was required for forest management. To provide this information, we radio-collared 15 female caribou in two subherds in the vicinity of Takla Lake and determined their distribution and movements between January 1996 and May 1998 in relation to topography and vegetation cover. Habitat selection was examined using a classified satellite image. At the landscape scale, Takla Lake caribou avoided low-elevation forests (presumably because of the associated high risk of predation from wolves (Canis lupus)), occupying small seasonally overlapping home ranges (mean 151 km2) at intermediate and high elevations. Within home ranges in all seasons, caribou were most often found in the forest but, relative to availability, they selected forests only during calving. When in the forest, caribou selected open hybrid white-Engelmann spruce (Picea glauca × Picea engelmannii) - subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) forests over lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) and deciduous forests in all seasons except spring. Caribou selected open spruce-fir stands over dry and closed spruce-fir stands in all seasons except calving. We conclude that caribou feed primarily on arboreal lichens in winter, because the open spruce-fir forests that they use have moderate to high arboreal lichen abundance, deep snow, and few terrestrial lichens. Takla Lake caribou were not typical of either mountain or northern caribou, but as is typical of insular populations of any species, have adapted to the food, topography, and cover types available to them on their mountain islands in a sea of moose (Alces alces) and wolves.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document