Moose-Habitat Relationships in the Yaak River Drainage Northwestern Montana

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Moose-Habitat Relationships in the Yaak River Drainage Northwestern Montana University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1985 Moose-habitat relationships in the Yaak River drainage northwestern Montana Marc R. Matchett The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Matchett, Marc R., "Moose-habitat relationships in the Yaak River drainage northwestern Montana" (1985). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 7378. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/7378 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COPYRIGHT ACT OF 1976 Th is is an unpublished manuscript in which copyright sub­ s is t s. Any further r eprinting of its contents must be approved BY the author. MANSFIELD L ibrary Un iv er s ity of Montana Date ; 1 ^ 8 5 _______ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. MOOSE-HABITAT RELATIONSHIPS IN THE ÏAAK RIVER DRAINAGE, NORTHWESTERN MONTANA by Marc R. Hatchett B.S. University of Montana, 1980 Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science University of Montana 1985 Approved by; c : - ; / , / / , Chairman, Board1 of/Examinerso f V E x a Dean, Graduate School /Sl/ Ù?/y :>' Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: EP38179 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI OisMrtstion PublwhMig UMI EP38179 Published by ProQuest LLC (2013). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code uest ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1348 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 -1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Matchett, Marc R., M.S., Fall 1985 Wildlife Biology Moose-Habltat Relationships in the Yaak River Drainage, Northwestern Mon1;^a. (229 pp. ) Directors: LI H. Metzgar and ITd. Ball Logging began during the 1950's and is now the primary land use in the Yaak River drainage. The relationships between timber management and moose habitat were evaluated using 669 locations of 12 radio-collared moose (Alces alces shirasi) collected between January 1982 and September 1983. Habitat availability on the 450 km study area was estimated with random points inside harmonic home ranges. On a year-round basis, moose use was greater than expected in: clearcuts, cuts less than 12 ha, cuts logged 15-30 years ago, or in areas within 100 m of a cutting unit. Moose selected elevations below 1067 m in winter and above 1524 m in summer. During early winter moose were often in open areas, but during mid and late winter they frequently used closed canopied stands. Implications of snow conditions (from snow hardness measurements at 42 stations) on moose habitat use and movement patterns are discussed. During summer, moose often cycled between upland core areas in spruce-logged basins and lowland aquatic feeding sites. Harmonic home ranges suggested similar sized use areas (3-5 km ) in all seasons. Winter home ranges were small areas that were used uniformly with a few sites receiving intensive use. Summer home ranges were small, disjunct use areas scattered over a large area. Minimum convex polygons (MCP's) and other home range indices indicated that summer movements covered more than twice the area of movements in winter. Yearlong MCP's averaged 60 km^, summer MCP's averaged about 25 km , and winter MCP's averaged about 10 km*^. A calf:cow ratio of 42:100 and a bull:cow ratio of 46:100 were estimated from observational data. A density of 0.11-0.16 moose/km was estimated for the study area. It is felt that the population is at least stable and perhaps increasing, but additional information on trends, productivity, and mortality is needed. Maintaining a mosaic of small (less than 20 ha), 15-30 year-old logged areas intermixed with mature, closed canopied, timbered stands combined with effective population monitoring and a continued road closure program will provide productive moose habitat and populations in the Yaak valley. Management recommendations are provided. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. © 1985 Marc R. Matchett ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Cooperative funding for this study was provided by the USDA Intermountain Research Station, the Region 1 office of the U.S. Forest Service, the Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, Mr. J. E. Davis, and memorial funds from Bill Nemeth. Many thanks to Jack Lyon and Reid Goforth for facilitating Research Station funding and to Bob Gale from the Region 1 office for providing additional support. Thanks also to Jere Mossier for negotiating support from the Louisiana-Pacific Corporation when budgets were tight. Special gratitude is due Mr, J, E. and Flo Davis at Lake Okaga, not only for financial support, but also for their friendliness and hospitality. The Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit administered this project. I am particularly grateful to committee chairman Dr. L. H. Metzgar for his support, encouragement, analysis techniques discussions, and critical review of this manuscript. I am also indebted to committee members Dr. I. J. Ball for all-purpose project support and Drs. D. Pletscher and J. R. Habeck for critical reviews of this manuscript. Dr. B. W. O'Gara deserves special thanks for project support and field assistance. Numerous individuals aided in the completion of this study. Special thanks are due Bob Byars, Dave Fisher, and John Righter from the Yaak Ranger District and to Alan Christensen in the Supervisor's office of the Kootenai National Forest for their assistance, ideas, iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. encouragement, and logistical support. I am indebted to Jerry Brown of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks who was instrumental in initiating this study and for his flight time, advice, and help throughout the study. Special thanks go to Rick and Bo Levesque for dedicated assistance in capturing moose, mechanicing, conducting snow courses, digging out hopelessly stuck snow machines, and being all-around good friends. Thanks also to Jerry Green for his field assistance. I am grateful to the Yaak valley residents for their interest and support of this study. In particular, I thank Clint and Gloria Mills. Fellow graduate students, Mark Haroldson and Jim Hayden, made late night sessions on the computer bearable. Their ideas and feedback on programs and analysis techniques have enriched this study. This study would not have been possible without the support and encouragement from my parents, Jere and Gayle Matchett. Finally, I am grateful to my wife Sally, for her love, constant prodding, and assistance in the completion of this study. IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. mm mmm Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ........................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................... iii MASCOT ............................................................. V LIST OF TABLES ..................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES .................................................... ix INTRODUCTION ....................................................... 1 STUDY AREA ...................................................... 6 METHODS ............................................................ 15 Capture ....................................................... 15 Radio Telemetry ................... 21 Home Ranges ................................................... 23 Movement Patterns ............................................ 25 Habitat Use and Selection ........................... 28 Sightings and Population Estimates ........................ 34 Snow Measurements and Track Counts ........................ 34 Data Analyses.................................................. 36 RESULTS............................................................ 37 Radio Locations ............................................... 37 Home Ranges .............................................. 44 Movement Patterns ............................................ 58 Habitat Use and Selection .................................... 72 Yearlong and seasonal habitat useand selection .......
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