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Range Size and Habitat Use of Elk in the Glass Mountains, Texas

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Range Size and Habitat Use of Elk in the Glass Mountains, Texas RANGE SIZE AND HABITAT USE OF ELK IN THE GLASS MOUNTAINS, TEXAS A Thesis By BRENDAN R. WITT Submitted to the School of Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences Sul Ross State University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE December 2008 Major Subject: Range and Wildlife Management RANGE SIZE AND HABITAT USE OF ELK IN THE GLASS MOUNTAINS, TEXAS A Thesis By BRENDAN R. WITT Approved as to style and content by: _______________________________ ____________________________ Louis A. Harveson, Ph.D. Patricia Moody Harveson, Ph.D. (Chair of Committee) (Member) ____________________________ Bonnie J. Warnock, Ph.D. (Member) _______________________ Robert J. Kinucan, Ph.D. Dean of Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences ABSTRACT As recently as the end of the nineteenth century, Texas had a native population of Merriam’s elk (Cervus elaphus merriami) living in the southern Guadalupe Mountains. Since the extirpation of this subspecies ca. 1915, state agencies and landowners began re- introducing Rocky Mountain elk (C. e. nelsoni) into west Texas as early as 1928. Currently, there are 5 mountain ranges in west Texas with free-ranging populations of elk, but very little information is available pertaining to their ecology and overall management. We initiated a study to better understand movements and habitat use of elk in the Glass Mountains of west Texas. We captured and radioed 14 elk (3 M, 11 F) in fall 2006 - spring 2007 using free range darting and net guns fired from helicopters. Home range sizes (100% minimum convex polygon) averaged 345 ± 24 km² for males and 145 ± 63 km² for females using an average of 79 locations for each individual. Eight broad classes of habitats were delineated: riparian, tobosa (Hilaria mutica) grassland, juniper (Juniperus coahuilensis) woodland, mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa)-tarbush (Flourensia cernua) scrubland, creosote (Larrea tridentata)-mariola (Parthenium incanum) scrubland, desert grassland, desert scrubland, and evergreen woodland. Elk selected for juniper woodland, riparian, and evergreen woodland habitats and avoided tobosa grassland, creosote-mariola scrubland, desert grassland, and desert scrubland habitats. Mesquite-tarbush was used in proportion to availability. Because annual ranges were so large in the privately owned matrix, it is essential that management be conducted on a landscape scale rather than property specific and be focused on juniper woodland, riparian, and evergreen woodland habitats. iii DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my mother, Marika R. Will, and my grandfather, William R. Ralston. Without my mothers support during my undergraduate career I might not be writing this thesis today. She helped through tough times and even when I wanted to give up she helped to push me along. She helped me get to where I am today and for that I am overwhelmingly grateful. My grandfather helped me understand where I wanted to be and what I wanted to know even if he did not realize it. I will never forget when he would take me fishing on the Kentucky lakes around where I was born and help me to appreciate wildlife. I wish he was here so I could show him what I have accomplished in an area he loved so much. I miss you Opa, I wish to one day be as good of a man as you were. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Louis Harveson, and my committee members, Dr. Bonnie Warnock and Dr. Partricia Moody Harveson, for helping me through many obstacles throughout this project. I thank Sul Ross State University for support with many materials needed for the project. Thank you to Bobby Zoch, Homer Mills, Chance Parker, Jim Daccus, Shad Shoenfelt, and Johnny Lanum for land access and all of your hard work throughout this project, without these land owners this project could not have happened. I thank Walt Eisenhour, Curtis Christianson, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for believing in the Natural Resource Management program at Sul Ross State University and for all of the monetary support throughout the entire project. Thank you to all Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation volunteers for helping tremendously with all captures. Thank you to all who helped to collect data in the field despite hot weather and the extreme west Texas wind. Thank you to my pilot, George Vose, for flying with me twice a week and through tough weather and always getting us back safely. Thank you to my family for their complete support and understanding throughout my college career. I would also like to thank all my friends who helped me through tough times and thank you to my fiancé for all of her love and support throughout this project. Lastly, I would like to thank my grandfather, William R. Ralston, for always taking the time to take me outside and show me what I truly wanted to know and understand - wildlife. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………..................... iii DEDICATION............................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………….................. v TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………….................. vi LIST OF TABLES ………………………………………………………................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ……………………………………………………...................... viii LIST OF APPENDICES……………………………………………………………… xi INTRODUCTION…………………………………………….………….................... 1 CHAPTER I: IDENTIFYING ELK RANGE SIZE IN THE GLASS MOUNTAINS OF TEXAS......................................................................................….......…………… 5 CHAPTER II: USE OF HABITAT BY ELK IN THE GLASS MOUNTAINS, TEXAS..........................…...................................................................................... 30 APPENDICES………………………………………………………………………... 56 VITA……………………………………………………………………….................. 58 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1.1 Annual, summer, and winter ranges as determined from radio telemetry locations for bull (M) and cow (F) elk in the Glass Mountains, Texas, November 2006 - March 2008…………………………………………... 25 2.1 Example of vegetation identification in the Glass Mountains using soil data for Brewster (TX622), Pecos (TX 371), and Jeff Davis (TX243) counties…………………………………………………………………... 36 2.2 Error matrix of the vegetation map derived from soils data in the Glass Mountains, Texas………………………………………………………… 38 2.3 Habitat characteristics of the study area for habitat use-availability analysis in the Glass Mountains, Texas, November 2006 – March 2008... 40 2.4 Annual selection ratios of bull (M) and cow (F) elk and percent use versus availability of the landscape in the Glass Mountains, Texas, November 2006 – March 2008…………………………………………... 41 2.5 Summer selection ratios of bull (M) and cow (F) elk and percent use versus availability of landscape in the Glass Mountains, Texas, November 2006 – March 2008…………………………………………... 43 2.6 Winter selection ratios of bull (M) and cow (F) elk and percent use versus availability of the landscape in the Glass Mountains, Texas, November 2006 – March 2008………………………………………………………. 45 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1.1 Radiotelemetry locations and summer, winter, and annual home ranges (100% Minimum Convex Polygon) for elk M1 in the Glass Mountains, Brewster and Pecos counties, Texas, November 2006 - March 2008........................................................................................................ 11 1.2 Radiotelemetry locations and summer, winter, and annual home ranges (100% Minimum Convex Polygon) for elk M2 in the Glass Mountains, Brewster and Pecos counties, Texas, November 2006 - March 2008......................................................................................................... 12 1.3 Radiotelemetry locations and summer, winter, and annual home ranges (100% Minimum Convex Polygon) for elk M3 in the Glass Mountains, Brewster and Pecos counties, Texas, November 2006 - March 2008........................................................................................................ 13 1.4 Radiotelemetry locations and summer, winter, and annual home ranges (100% Minimum Convex Polygon) for elk F4 in the Glass Mountains, Brewster and Pecos counties, Texas, March 2007 - March 2008........................................................................................................ 14 1.5 Radiotelemetry locations and annual home range (100% Minimum Convex Polygon) for elk F5 in the Glass Mountains, Brewster and Pecos counties, Texas, March 2007 - March 2008. Summer and winter range sizes not calculated due to insufficient sample size......................................................................................................... 15 1.6 Radiotelemetry locations and summer, winter, and annual home ranges (100% Minimum Convex Polygon) for elk F6 in the Glass Mountains, Brewster and Pecos counties, Texas, March 2007 - March 2008........................................................................................................ 16 1.7 Radiotelemetry locations and summer, winter, and annual home ranges (100% Minimum Convex Polygon) for elk F7 in the Glass Mountains, Brewster and Pecos counties, Texas, March 2007 - March 2008........................................................................................................ 17 1.8 Radiotelemetry locations and summer, winter, and annual home ranges (100% Minimum Convex Polygon) for elk F8 in the Glass Mountains, Brewster and Pecos counties, Texas, March 2007 - March 2008.......................................................................................................
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