Characterization of muskox habitat in northeastern Alaska

Abstract

In northeastern Alaska, muskoxen have been most often found in riparian habitats and proximate uplands. Vegetation was studied in nine adjacent river drainages; six of the drainages are regularly used by muskoxen. Twenty-two vegetation/land cover types were described using aerial photographs, point-intercept sampling, and ocular cover estimates. The proportion of each cover type was estimated for each drainage and compared among drainages by MANOVA. There was no significant difference among non-muskox drainages in the average proportion of cover types. A marginally significant difference was found among muskox drainages. There were no significant differences in the proportions of each vegetation type in non-muskox drainages versus muskox drainages. Five vegetation types associated with high forage quality and availability and low snow accumulation were often used by muskoxen. Four of these five vegetation types typically had <7% cover in the nine drainages and are critical habitat components in northeastern Alaska.