HABITAT SELECTION BY MOOSE IN AN EMERGENT LOW-DENSITY EDGE POPULATION

Abstract

The Adirondack Park in northern New York contains about 700 moose (Alces alces) that persist as a low-density population (0.03 moose/km²) that occurs along the periphery of the moose’s southern range in the eastern United States. As part of a comprehensive effort to evaluate the status of the New York moose population, we fitted 26 moose with GPS collars during 2015–2017 and assessed summer (June–August) and winter (December–March) resource selection to understand moose space use and potentially limiting factors (e.g., climate, forage availability). Home ranges (x̄ = 22 km²) predominately contained deciduous forest, including managed forest stands recently harvested for timber. During summer moose did not exhibit variation in selection among years suggesting that adequate forage may be available across the landscape regardless of habitat type. Moose resource selection within home ranges was most variable during winter, and moose selected areas of managed timber during the most severe winters. Observed habitat selection highlights the potential of direct and indirect interactions with white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), given that deer in the Adirondack Park forage in areas selected by moose such as those with regenerative timber. Because white-tailed deer are an intermediate host for two fatal moose parasites (Parelaphostrongylus tenuis and Fascioloides magna), increase in habitat overlap between moose and deer could be detrimental to the long-term health of the New York moose population. Additionally, the dependence of both moose and white-tailed deer on regenerating forest stands for optimal forage could put commercial stands at risk of regenerative failure.