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Factors influencing the use of willow and birch by moose in winter

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Abstract

We evaluated browsing patterns of moose during 37 individual feeding trials conducted over a 3-day period in winter in which hand-assembled, species-specific trials containing various densities of either willow (Salix scouleriana) or birch (Betula papyrifera) saplings were presented to human-habituated moose (Alces alces andersoni). At the trial (patch) level, the pre-trial weight of both willow and birch was the most important factor in explaining the amount of biomass eaten, the length of all shoot materials removed from saplings, and the amount of edible biomass left uneaten by moose. For willow, the number of days moose were fed saplings partially explained the average bite diameters and the amount of edible biomass left uneaten following trials. The position of the sapling within the feeding station helped to explain the shoot length removed by moose, while sapling density influenced the amount of edible willow biomass left uneaten. At the individual sapling level, the pre-trial weight of birch and willow was important in helping to explain the amount of biomass eaten and the amount of edible biomass left behind. In addition, sapling density influenced the amount of willow biomass eaten, and both sapling density and trial day helped to explain the amount of edible willow biomass left behind.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Peter and Angelika Langen at the Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter in Smithers, BC for allowing us to work with the moose that they bottle-fed and raised. Thanks to Marshall Schneider for help with the trials and to Anna DeHoop and Jamie Svendsen for help with post-feeding measurements. We thank Scott Emmons and Roger Wheate for their help in the GIS lab at UNBC. Funding was provided by the University of Northern British Columbia. Thanks to Pekka Niemelä, Lars Edenius, Shannon O’Keefe, and two anonymous reviewers who evaluated earlier drafts of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Institute and Ecosystem Science and Management Program, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way, Prince George, BC, Canada, V2N 4Z9

    Roy Rea & Michael Gillingham

  2. Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, PO Box 5003, NO-1432 Ås, Norway

    Olav Hjeljord

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  1. Roy Rea
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  2. Olav Hjeljord
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Correspondence to Roy Rea.

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Communicated by H. Kierdorf

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Rea, R., Hjeljord, O. & Gillingham, M. Factors influencing the use of willow and birch by moose in winter. Eur J Wildl Res 61, 231–239 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-014-0891-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-014-0891-3

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