Connectivity of Elk Migration in Southwestern Alberta
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University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2012-12-12 Connectivity of Elk Migration in Southwestern Alberta Paton, Dale G. Paton, D. G. (2012). Connectivity of Elk Migration in Southwestern Alberta (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25419 http://hdl.handle.net/11023/344 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Connectivity of Elk Migration in Southwestern Alberta by Dale G. Paton A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE INTERDISCIPLINARY GRADUATE PROGRAM CALGARY, ALBERTA December, 2012 © Dale G. Paton 2012 ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the migration of a partially migratory population of 650 Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus) in the human dominated landscape of southwestern Alberta. I contribute previously unknown values for metrics known to be important for elk ecology and management, including: migration timing, distance, and duration . The Brownian bridge movement model was used to delineate a probabilistic estimate of elk migration corridors between seasonal ranges, to determine if elk use stopovers during migration and prioritize migration corridors. Elk used a number of stopovers during migration likely to maximize areas of rich forage due to spring green-up. Stopovers were found to be >500m from roads in areas of rugged terrain These stopover locations are critical components in altitudinal migration. Finally a predictive modeling process using graph theory methods (least cost and circuit theory) was undertaken to predict connectivity of the landscape for elk. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Most importantly, I would like to thank my wife, Karen and daughters Carley, Mollie and Kestrel for the great support you provided me for the duration of my degree. Without your backing during my preoccupation with this project, completion would have been logistically difficult. To my wonderful daughters, the best moment of the entire thesis process was stalking elk with all three of you while checking for collared elk. We were so close and the elk were totally unaware of our presence. It was great fun. I appreciate the guidance from my supervisor Mike Quinn who steered me in the right direction when I needed it the most and understood the struggles of working and writing a thesis. My graduate committee consisted of Luigi Morgantini, Greg McDermid and Ralph Cartar. Thank you all for your constructive suggestions to make the thesis a stronger piece of work. Numerous people have provided help and guidance. Angela Braun (SRD) and Tyler Muhly provided excellent GIS support. Simoe Ciuti and Andrew Paul (SRD) guided me through the statistical relms of R. Hall Sawyer provided the BBMM script for modelling elk migration and support to initial start-up questions. Once again Andrew Paul provided R scripting skills to expedite analysis of 140 elk migration events in the BBMM. Greg Hale, Travis Ripley, Perry Abramenko, Kirk Olchoway, John Clarke, Andrew Gustavson, Terry Mack, Brian Sunberg and Mike Tieghe facilitated logistics for elk captures. My project received tremendous support from the Montane Elk Project group particularly the project manager Roger Creasy, who guided us through the complexities of a large research project. Collaborators Marco Musiani, Tyler Muhly, Rob Watt, Bill Dolan, Mark Boyce, Justin Pitt, Jeremy Banfield, Andrea Moorehouse, Barb Johnson and Rod Sinclair made up an awesome research team. Thank you, Cathy Shier for providing critical administrative support during collaring events. Bighorn Helicopters and Clay Wilson helped us collar more elk than we could have using anyone else. Greg Goodison of Ascent Helicopters made our searches for finding missing collared elk much more efficient with his trained ears and eyes. Finally thanks to Pauline Fisk for keeping me on track with the administrative requirements of U of Calgary. iii This thesis benefited from the support of the Mark Boyce and his lab at the University of Alberta. In particular Simone Ciuti who was always willing to entertain my questions and engage in discussion of statistics or analysis methods. Finally I would like to thank my parents for taking me out into wild places and for encouraging me to pursue my passions. Funding for this project was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Alberta Conservation Association, Royal Dutch Shell, Safari Club International-Northern Alberta Chapter, Spray Lakes Sawmill, Alberta Sports Recreation Parks, and Devon. Alberta Tourism Parks and Recreation and Alberta Sustainable Resource Development provided in-kind support. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................................II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................................................... III TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................................... V LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................................... VIII LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................................................... IX ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................................................................... X CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 11 PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES ...................................................................................................................................... 13 THESIS STRUCTURE/CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................................... 15 IMPORTANCE OF MIGRATIONS ................................................................................................................................. 15 ROCKY MOUNTAIN ELK ECOLOGY AND LIFE HISTORY ........................................................................................... 16 ELK BEHAVIOR AND FORAGING STRATEGIES .......................................................................................................... 18 ELK BEHAVIOUR AND REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS ..................................................................................................... 19 MIGRATION OF ELK: INFLUENCES OF BEHAVIOUR, FORAGE AND WEATHER ........................................................... 20 Hypotheses for Migration ............................................................................................................. 20 Elk Migration and Predators ........................................................................................................ 23 ELK MIGRATION, DISTURBANCE AND MANAGEMENT ISSUES .................................................................................. 23 Ecological Effects and Management of Roads ............................................................................. 24 LANDSCAPE CONNECTIVITY .................................................................................................................................... 25 SPATIAL ECOLOGY AND MODELING ........................................................................................................................ 27 Seasonal Range Home Range Estimation ..................................................................................... 27 Resource Selection Function ......................................................................................................... 29 Graph Theory and Resource Selection Function .......................................................................... 31 Step Selection Functions ............................................................................................................... 31 Brownian Bridge Movement Model .............................................................................................. 32 LANDSCAPE CONNECTIVITY ANALYSES ................................................................................................................... 34 Least-Cost Path ............................................................................................................................. 36 Current Flow Analysis .................................................................................................................. 37 CHAPTER THREE: USING BROWNIAN BRIDGE MOVEMENT MODEL TO DEPICT ELK LINKAGE ZONES IN SW ALBERTA ......................................................................................................................................