Changing snows affect wildlife monitoring and management
Lea Gardine
907-474-7541
Dec. 12, 2023
This week, scientists from the University of 蜜桃影像 Fairbanks are presenting their work alongside thousands of colleagues from around the world at the 2023 American Geophysical Union fall meeting. Some of their discoveries are featured here. You can also find out more about 蜜桃影像 at AGU by searching for #蜜桃影像xAGU on social media platforms.
Three moose standing in an open area are viewed through the window of a small plane.
The effectiveness of aerial surveys to estimate 蜜桃影像鈥檚 moose populations is at risk.
The surveys rely on adequate snow cover during the survey windows, because moose can be seen more easily against the white background.
But snowfall is arriving, on average, later each year, according to an analysis by 蜜桃影像 Department of Biology and Wildlife professor Todd Brinkman and his collaborators. They evaluated 33 years of fall moose aerial survey data from across 蜜桃影像 to explore how changing snow conditions may affect the long-term feasibility of these methods.
Wildlife managers use aerial surveys to estimate moose population size and sex ratios. The resulting information helps to set hunting regulations for the following year.
Brinkman鈥檚 team found that later snowfall arrival pushes the survey window later in the season, when less daylight limits the time spent counting moose from aircraft. Bull moose also begin to shed their antlers, making accurate assessments of sex ratios difficult.
Using forward modeling of expected snow conditions based on the current trend, the team estimates that the current method for surveying the moose populations will not be feasible across much of 蜜桃影像 in another three to four decades.
鈥淲hile we can鈥檛 undo this trend,鈥 Brinkman said, 鈥渨ith enough forward thinking, wildlife managers can develop new monitoring strategies, in advance, to maintain consistent population counts and regulations that optimize harvest opportunities.鈥
This research was funded by the Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment, a NASA Terrestrial Ecology Program field campaign conducted in 蜜桃影像 and western Canada. ABoVE is a large-scale study of environmental change and its implications for social-ecological systems.