Detecting snow at the den‐site scale in wolverine denning habitat

Abstract

The relationship of wolverines (Gulo gulo) to persistent spring snow (PSS) may be obligate at the den‐site scale but this relationship has yet to be examined at this scale. Our objective was to detect snow at the den‐site scale in late May using low‐altitude aerial photography in wolverine denning habitat both in the Rocky Mountains of western United States and northwestern Alaska, USA. In the Rocky Mountains, we detected snow on 31 May 2016 in low to heavy categories in 82% of 40 transect segments flown through home ranges of 4 reproductive female wolverines that had denned in Idaho and Montana, USA, prior to our study. In the Alaska study area, we detected snow on 29 May 2016 at 4 den sites of reproductive female wolverines that denned in 2016. By then, snow remained only in occasional, widely scattered patches. Remnant snowdrifts remained at all 4 den sites. High‐latitude tundra habitats in Alaska may lose PSS sooner than montane habitats at the southern extent of wolverine distribution. To manage wolverines and their habitat and incorporate PSS in models of future wolverine habitat, we must understand the relationship of wolverines to snow and measure PSS at an appropriate resolution and scale that is biologically meaningful for the species. © 2017 The Wildlife Society.

Incorporating local ecological knowledge to explore wolverine distribution in Alberta, Canada

“…More recently, climate has been debated as a crucial component for the persistence of wolverines (Aubry et al , Copeland et al ). Although there is evidence that wolverines live, move, and den in places where snow covers the ground into late spring (Aubry et al , Copeland et al , Magoun et al ), we did not find strong support for the importance of spring snow coverage within Alberta. Instead, the temperature index, based on elevation and latitude, was the most important climate variable in our models.…”

Distribution and occupancy of wolverines on tundra, northwestern Alaska

“…In contrast, we expect zone A will continue to have relatively low wolverine numbers because of suboptimal habitat for wolverine reproduction and high human use relative to other areas. We cannot predict at this time how climate change might affect wolverines and their food resources in this area except to acknowledge that climate warming is occurring relatively rapidly on Alaska's North Slope with potential to affect wolverines both positively and negatively (Magoun et al ). Zone B is likely to remain a transition area between northern and southern areas.…”

“…In NPR‐A there are 3 key factors with potential to influence wolverine populations: climate change, industrial development, and hunting and trapping. Alaska's climate is warming at twice the rate as the rest of North America and greater increases in warming in the northernmost parts of the state (Chapin et al ) are bringing a suite of ecological changes that may affect wolverines (Tape et al , Wheeler and Hik , Tape et al , Magoun et al ). Additionally, plans for oil, gas, mining, and road development means potential for increasing infrastructure in NPR‐A (U.S. Bureau of Land Management [BLM] 2017).…”

Population genetics of the wolverine in Finland: the road to recovery?

“…The positive attitude towards wolverines outside the reindeer husbandry area also facilitates the establishment of wolverines into less optimal habitat (Pohja- Mykrä and Kurki 2008). In addition, local accumulations of snow are often sufficient to provide den sites (Pulliainen 1968;Magoun et al 2017), even in regions where the average snow depth is low.…”