Effects of hunting pressure on the spatial dynamics of a subarctic caribou herd
dc.contributor.author | Wells, Jeffrey | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2024-07-11T23:21:43Z | |
dc.date.available | 2024-07-11T23:21:43Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2024-05 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11122/15195 | |
dc.description | Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2024 | en_US |
dc.description.abstract | Indirect effects of hunting can have important ecological and hunt management implications, and little has been done to quantify these indirect effects on caribou (Rangifer tarandus). To assess effects of hunting pressure on caribou spatial dynamics, we used GPS locations that spanned fall and winter 2010-2022 from the semi-migratory Fortymile caribou herd in interior Alaska. We analyzed these locations using integrated step selection analysis to evaluate step lengths (i.e., movement rates) and selection of distance to roads and trails, and forest cover across 3 hunting pressure levels (none, low, and high) as well as road crossings during hunting compared to non-hunting periods. We found that the caribou response to hunting pressure varied by season and, within the fall season, by hunting pressure level. Relative to no hunting pressure, caribou in fall showed a very strong avoidance of roads at high hunting pressure and a lower avoidance at low hunting pressure. Similarly, caribou in fall showed an avoidance of trails at high hunting pressure although, unlike roads, the avoidance continued at low hunting pressure. Conversely, relative to no hunting pressure, caribou did not change their selection of forest cover in either season nor did they alter their selection of roads or trails in winter. Furthermore, in both seasons, changes in step lengths in response to hunting pressure were less than we expected. Last, caribou avoided road crossings more during hunting compared to non-hunting periods in both seasons. Overall, caribou response to hunting pressure could have implications for caribou availability to hunters, especially during the fall season, as well as caribou distribution in relation to roads across both seasons. Hunt managers and public stakeholders could use our results to inform how changes to caribou harvest management might indirectly impact caribou movements and hunter opportunity. | en_US |
dc.description.sponsorship | Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration, State of Alaska, Bureau of Land Management, and Environment Yukon | en_US |
dc.language.iso | en_US | en_US |
dc.subject | Caribou hunting | en_US |
dc.subject | Hunting | en_US |
dc.subject | Caribou | en_US |
dc.subject | Caribou migration | en_US |
dc.subject | Migration | en_US |
dc.subject | Interior Alaska | en_US |
dc.subject.other | Master of Science in Wildlife Biology and Conservation | en_US |
dc.title | Effects of hunting pressure on the spatial dynamics of a subarctic caribou herd | en_US |
dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
dc.type.degree | ms | en_US |
dc.identifier.department | Department of Biology and Wildlife | en_US |
dc.contributor.chair | Crimmins, Shawn | |
dc.contributor.committee | Brinkman, Todd | |
dc.contributor.committee | Bentzen, Torsten | |
refterms.dateFOA | 2024-07-11T23:21:44Z |
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Biological Sciences
Includes WIldlife Biology and other Biological Sciences. For Marine Biology see the Marine Sciences collection.