Form Approved REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE OMB No. 074-0188 AD_________________ (Leave blank) Award Number(s): W81XWH-08-2-0179-0002 W912DY-09-2-0011 W9126G-10-2-0042 TITLE: Characterization of moose movement patterns and movement of black bears in relation to anthropogenic food sources on Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson, Alaska PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: (Enter the name and degree of Principal Investigator and any Associates) Sean D. Farley,Ph.D.; Perry Barboza, Ph.D ; Herman Griese, MS; Christopher Garner, BS CONTRACTING ORGANIZATION: 673d Civil Engineering Squadron 724 Quartermaster Drive Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, Alaska 99505-8860 REPORT DATE: Sept 2014 TYPE OF REPORT: Final PREPARED FOR: U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command Fort Detrick, Maryland 21702-5012 (W81XWH-08-2-0179-0002) Army Corps of Engineers U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center Huntsville, Alabama 35816-1822 (W912DY-09-2-0011) Army Corps of Engineers U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center Fort Worth, Texas 76102-0300 (W9126G-10-2-0042) DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT: (Check one) X Approved for public release; distribution unlimited Distribution limited to U.S. Government agencies only; report contains proprietary information The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this report are those of the author(s) and should not be construed as an official Department of the Army position, policy or decision unless so designated by other documentation. 1 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing this collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188), Washington, DC 20503 1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 2. REPORT DATE 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED September 2014 FINAL REPORT, 14 Aug 2008-1 April 2014 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5. FUNDING NUMBERS Characterization of moose movement patterns and movement of W81XWH-08-2-0179-0002 black bears in relation to anthropogenic food sources on W912DY-09-2-0011 Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson W9126G-10-2-0042 6. AUTHOR(S) Sean D. Farley,Ph.D.; Perry Barboza, Ph.D ; Herman Griese, MS; Christopher Garner, BS 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER WashinAlaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Wildlife Conservation 333 Raspberry Road, Anchorage, AK 99518-1599 University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Institute of Arctic Biology 311 Irving, Fairbanks, Ak 99775 9. SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY REPORT NUMBER U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (W81XWH-08-2-0179-0002) Fort Detrick, Maryland 21702-5012 Army Corps of Engineers U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center (W912DY-09-2-0011) Huntsville, Alabama 35816-1822 Army Corps of Engineers U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center (W9126G-10-2-0042) Fort Worth, Texas 76102-0300 11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 12a. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT 12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE Approved for Public Release; Distribution Unlimited 13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 Words) Beginning in 2010 through 2012 JBER adult cow moose were outfitted with Global Positioning System (GPS) collars and a variety of body condition measures were recorded from each animal. A JBER nutritional landscape map was developed based upon seasonal metabolic requirements of moose and the JBER landscape. Resource Selection Function (RSF) analyses of moose habitat use were inconclusive, though provided support for the nutritional landscape model. JBER moose habitat can be highly fragmented and resident moose have individualistic movements. RSF work showed that shrub habitat is important and that moose tend to seasonally avoid open grassy areas that may have deep snow. Distance to buildings was negatively correlated to habitat selection. Travel between habitat patches is highly individualistic; however large structures such as the Glenn highway are somewhat resistant barriers to moose movement. Gene frequencies among JBER moose show a developing division into two distinct groups separated by the Glenn highway. This report contains multiple appendices which contain individual project descriptions and results. Resident JBER wolf packs were extirpated due to dangerous behavior relative to people and no research was conducted. Black bears were also collared with GPS collars on JBER and location data are reported. 14. SUBJECT TERMS 15. NUMBER OF PAGES 16. PRICE CODE 17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 18. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 19. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 20. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT OF REPORT OF THIS PAGE OF ABSTRACT Unclassified Unclassified Unclassified Unlimited NSN 7540-01-280-5500 Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89) Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39-18 298-102 2 Table of Contents SF298 Cover…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………1 SF 298………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………2 Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………………………3 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………4 Body……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………4 Key Research Accomplishments……………………………………………………………6 Reportable Outcomes……………………………………………………………………………………8 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………………………………………8 Appendices……………………………………………………………………………………………………………9 3 Introduction Beginning in 2010 through 2012 JBER adult cow moose were outfitted with Global Positioning System (GPS) collars and a variety of body condition measures recorded from each animal. Black bears were also collared with GPS collars on JBER and location data collected. A metabolic model of moose requirements was constructed as a nutritional landscape map with important moose habitat. Resource Selection Function (RSF) analyses of moose habitat use were inconclusive, though provided support for the nutritional landscape model. JBER moose habitat can be highly fragmented and resident moose have individualistic movements. RSF work showed that shrub habitat is important and moose tend to avoid open grassy areas that may have deep snow. Distance to buildings was negatively correlated to habitat selection. Travel between habitat patches is highly individualistic; however large structures such as the Glenn highway are barriers to movement. Long-term effects will be to develop two distinct moose populations. Current gene frequencies among JBER moose show a division into two distinct groups separated by the highway. There are multiple reports appended to this report as stand-alone appendices. Resident JBER wolf packs were extirpated due to dangerous behavior relative to people and no research was conducted. Body This report summarizes work that investigated biological attributes associated with habitat use by moose (Alces alces) and black bear (Ursus americanus) on Joint Base Elmendorf Fort Richardson (JBER). Beginning in 2010 and continuing until 2012 adult cow moose on JBER were captured, outfitted with Global Positioning System (GPS) collars, and a variety of body condition measures recorded from each animal. Black bears were captured on JBER as well and collared with GPS radio-collars. Location data were collected on bear movements as well as areas of high bear problem calls to JBER wildlife game wardens Habitat use by moose was examined by constructing a nutritional landscape map of JBER, identifying important moose diet items, and then combining the results from a metabolic model of moose requirements with the habitat map to generate a map outlining potential moose production for all areas. Managers will be able to take the ArcMap files of this nutritional landscape and use them to predict the effect on moose populations from proposed developments and to generate plans to improve habitat to support the moose population. This work is presented in the Master’s thesis by Joe Welch and is found in Chapter 1. We employed Resource Selection Function (RSF) analyses to identify habitat used by moose according to degree and type of use (encamped or traveling). Whereas the nutritional landscape maps show the metabolic values of habitat types, the RSF work was intended to identify habitat use that was not nutritionally explicit (i.e., cover, distance to buildings). The RSF work was somewhat inconclusive, though overall provided additional support for the nutritional landscape models. JBER moose habitat that was part of this study is a highly fragmented landscape and the resident moose are individualistic in their movements. The fragmentation apparently drives moose to adopt highly individualistic movements at a scale less than 100m. Overall RSF work showed that shrub habitat is important to moose, which is a conclusion shared by the nutritional landscape model. The RSF model also showed that moose tend to avoid open grassy areas (likely due to snow depth) and that distance to buildings was negatively correlated to habitat selection. Travel between habitat patches is highly individualistic as well, however it became clear that large structures such as the Glenn highway are barriers to movement and that the long-term effects will be to drive the development of two distinct moose populations. While the GPS collars