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Factors Influencing Seasonal Migrations of Pronghorn

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Factors Influencing Seasonal Migrations of Pronghorn UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Factors Influencing Seasonal Migrations of Pronghorn Across the Northern Sagebrush Steppe by Andrew F. Jakes A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN CALGARY, ALBERTA SEPTEMBER, 2015 © Andrew F. Jakes 2015 ABSTRACT Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) undertake seasonal migrations and long- distance movements to satisfy annual life history requirements. To investigate these phenomena, 185 females were collared across the Northern Sagebrush Steppe (NSS) to classify migration and long-distance movement states and to analyze movement metrics. Based on 170 animal years, 55% of individuals undertook seasonal migrations. I also identified long-distance fawning-associated and driven movements during the study period. Thirty-six individuals used stopover sites during seasonal migration, principally during spring. During spring, migration was slow, sinuous and lengthy to exploit quality forage. During fall, fawning-associated and driven movements, movements were faster, more linear and shorter than spring. Both fall and spring stopover sites exhibited similar metrics, likely to profit from high quality forage areas. Next, I modelled multi-scalar migratory pathway selection in response to anthropogenic factors and environmental gradients. I found that pronghorn responded to road, well and hydrology variables at specific densities at finer scales. Generally, migratory pronghorn selected grasslands, intermediate slopes and south-facing aspects compared to other landcover types and topographic conditions. Pronghorn highly avoided increased well and road densities compared to lower densities of these features. Seasonal variation showed that during fall, pronghorn used large hydrologic systems while in spring pronghorn selected high quality forage areas. Pronghorn selected stopover sites with higher forage productivity values and lower densities of well attributes versus migratory pathways during both seasons. Relative to cultivated habitats, pronghorn avoided stopover sites in grassland or shrubland habitats versus migratory pathways. At finer scales, pronghorn slightly avoided anthropogenic features across the landscape, but at broader scales, pronghorn strongly selected against roads, natural resource wells and well drilling. I used a scale-integrated mapping approach to evaluate if such spatial predictions performed as well or better than single order scales to predict migration pathways. Finally, using scale-integrated spatial predictions, I assessed connectivity across the NSS to identify seasonal pronghorn connectivity networks. I concluded that multi-scale migration followed hierarchically nested theory where finer scale decisions are conditional on broader scales that can be ii assessed sequentially. I suggest that the pronghorn is a broad-scale focal species useful for designing conservation networks across the NSS. KEY WORDS: Pronghorn, Antilocapra americana, migration, long-distance movement, logistic regression, multi-scalar connectivity, Northern Sagebrush Steppe, anthropogenic factors influencing migration iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Funding for this project was provided by: Alberta Conservation Association (ACA), Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), University of Calgary - Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary - Faculty of Graduate Studies, Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment (SK MOE), MITACS Inc. - Accelerate Program, Alberta Sport Recreation Parks and Wildlife Foundation, and Montana Chapter of The Wildlife Society & Counter Assault Inc. In-kind support was provided by Montana Chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), The Miistakis Institute, FWP, ACA, BLM and WWF. I have found that, unlike anything I have ever experienced, a PhD dissertation is both a personal and professional awakening. I have a number of individuals that I would like to thank, with deepest and most genuine sincerity for their expertise, guidance, humor, dedication and staunch support towards me and towards conservation in general. I thank my committee members, Drs. Cormack Gates, Mark Hebblewhite and Darren Bender for candid and enjoyable discussions and comments on pronghorn and movement ecology; your dedication, organization and edits at the front and back end of my project provided invaluable contributions to my ecological inferences. I thank Dr. Nick DeCesare for his analytical assistance, humor and friendship; without your support, I may still be working away! I thank Paul Jones for his sound and stable support and dedication; your efforts helped me more than I can detail. I thank Dr. Kyran Kunkel for his field and personal support; your encouragement and tenacity never wavered. I thank my field intern Samantha Howlett from University of Gloucestershire; your enthusiasm and hard work made the long summer hours in Malta and Glasgow a joy! Finally, I thank my pilot Dixon Hitch; besides having the coolest name of anyone I have ever met, thanks for being rock solid and listening to static with me for countless hours. Numerous other professional and personal collaborators were integral in my work. They say it takes a village to raise a child; perhaps here, it takes a dedicated wildlife management and conservation community to finalize an international project! In no particular order, I thank Mark & Barb Sullivan, Kelvin & Leila Johnson, Justin Gude, Scott Story, Adam Messer, Jeff Herbert, Ken McDonald, Scott Thompson, Lydia Bailey, Adam Peterson, iv Bob Cochran and the entire Region 6 staff with FWP; John Carlson, Pat Gunderson, Craig Miller, Rich Adams, Mark Albers and Fritz Prellwitz with BLM; Dennis Jorgensen, Erin Poor, Colby Loucks, Sarah Olimb and Steve Forrest with WWF; Doug Manzer and Mike Grue with ACA; Brian Martin, Shawn Cleveland, Amy Pearson and Alison James with TNC; Greg Chernoff with Miistakis Institute; pilots Clyde Robinson and Chad Cyrus; fellow graduate students Byron Weckworth, Mike Suitor, Tyler Muhly, Rachelle Haddock, Karl Zimmer, Joe St. Peter, Michael Kohl, Wibke Peters and Marisa Lipsey at University of Calgary and University of Montana, respectively; photographer Michael Foresberg; Jen Taillefer and Crystal Hickey with University of Calgary; Paul Luckas and Joshua Goldberg with University of Montana; Dale Eslinger and Al Violette with Alberta Sustainable Resource and Development; John Pogorzelic, Chuck Lees and Ed Beveridge with SK MOE; Dean Smith with Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration; Carmen Luma and Randy Matchett with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; Quicksilver Air Inc.; the people of Ft. Belknap and Ft. Peck reservations and the communities and people of the high-line region of Montana, in particular those in Malta. Most significantly, I thank my family for their understanding and relentless support of this endeavor. My parents and siblings mean so much to me; words on a page cannot express my love and support for them. To my mother – every day I say thank you and smile because of the optimistic traits you have instilled in me. You have been steadfast when life felt like a roller-coaster. I am stronger because of you and you will always be an angel on my shoulder. To my son Greysen – you have never known me as anything else but a “pronghorn expert,” as you like to say. Every day, I went through this experience, I got up because of you; every day, I worked a little bit harder, because of you; and every day became a little brighter, because of you. You have made me a more patient and resourceful man. I am the most fortunate parent in the world because I get to be your dad. I promise that your resilience, caring and sweet personality will allow you to achieve wonders. And I promise I will be with you for every step of your journey as you have been there for every step of this journey of mine. You are a lover of wildlife and wild places and I hope to always share and strengthen those ties you have to the land. It is our place of solace and deep, eternal joy. To my lovely fiancée Catherine – you have brought me hope and happiness, loyalty and laughs, emotion and excitement and the v confidence of being a better man because of this journey that you have taken with me. You have gone through this every step of the way and I thank you for being there more than anyone else. This is just the beginning for us and I truly believe that it’s “all gravy” from here on out! Finally, to my father – you keep me strong, you keep me focused, and you have continued to keep me doing the right thing. We find out what our true nature is as humans and perhaps more so, as energy. I am proud of my past, what I have accomplished here and am confident and excited for what lies ahead. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................. vii LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. x LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xii ACRONYMS ..................................................................................................................
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