Landscape-Scale Factors Affecting Feral Horse Habitat Use During Summer Within The Rocky Mountain Foothills

Abstract

Public lands occupied by feral horses in North America are frequently managed for multiple uses with land use conflict occurring among feral horses, livestock, wildlife, and native grassland conservation. The factors affecting habitat use by horses is critical to understand where conflict may be greatest. We related horse presence and abundance to landscape attributes in a GIS to examine habitat preferences using 98 field plots sampled within a portion of the Rocky Mountain Forest Reserve of SW Alberta, Canada. Horse abundance was greatest in grassland and cut block habitats, and lowest in conifer and mixedwood forest. Resource selection probability functions and count models of faecal abundance indicated that horses preferred areas closer to water, with reduced topographic ruggedness, situated farther from forests, and located farther away from primary roads and trails frequented by recreationalists, but closer to small linear features (i.e. cut lines) that may be used as beneficial travel corridors. Horse presence and abundance were closely related to cattle presence during summer, suggesting that both herbivores utilise the same habitats. Estimates of forage biomass removal (44 %) by mid-July were near maximum acceptable levels. In contrast to horse-cattle associations, horses were negatively associated with wild ungulate abundance, although the mechanism behind this remains unclear and warrants further investigation. Our results indicate that feral horses in SW Alberta exhibit complex habitat selection patterns during spring and summer, including overlap in use with livestock. This finding highlights the need to assess and manage herbivore populations consistent with rangeland carrying capacity and the maintenance of range health.

A preliminarily assessment of landscape factors affecting habitat use by Przewalski horses and habitat evaluation in Hustai National Park, Mongolia

“…Aversion to roads by Przewalski horses might reflect the tendency of wild animals to avoid encounters with humans and cars (Frid and Dill, 2002). As reported previously in feral horses (Ganskopp and Vavra, 1987;Girard et al, 2013;Kaczensky et al, 2008;King and Gurnell, 2005), Przewalski horses use flatter areas at the large scale, where they could more easily notice the movement of predators.…”

“…Likewise, lowland areas at the local scale correspond to valleys with streams (Crane et al, 1997;Girard et al, 2013). Przewalski horses could prefer forest because they use the shade of trees for temperature regulation during summer (Mysterud and Østbye, 1999), and they climbed to windy hillside located close to such forest in this park to avoid attack from flies (King and Gurnell, 2010).…”

“…Thus, we included in the model seven explanatory variables that may influence Przewalski horses' habitat use: distance to a river, distance to forest, distance to a road, slope, elevation variability (difference of elevation with surroundings), number of plant communities, and presence-absence of dominant forage plant categories. We did not include forage abundance as an explanatory factor in the model because plant biomass in our study area is fully abundant during summer, and under such conditions, forage should not regulate horse use patterns (Girard et al, 2013).…”

An exploration into political ecology and nonhuman agency: The case of the wild horse in western Canada

“…5 Regarding the alleged behavioural competition between moose and horses, Salter and Hudson report them feeding on the same meadow within 25m of each other, but exhibiting ecological separation (different food sources) while sharing habitat (Salter and Hudson 1980, 268). Some government resource managers take a possessive and protective stance striving to 5 An article entitled "Landscape-scale factors affecting feral horse habitat use during summer within the Rocky Mountain Foothills" was published by Girard et al (2013) after completion but prior to publication of this manuscript. Its findings do not change any of my conclusions but further highlight the need for more research into the ecology and behaviour of western Canada's wild horses.…”

“…An article entitled “Landscape‐scale factors affecting feral horse habitat use during summer within the Rocky Mountain Foothills” was published by Girard et al () after completion but prior to publication of this manuscript. Its findings do not change any of my conclusions but further highlight the need for more research into the ecology and behaviour of western Canada's wild horses.…”