Mountain goat resource selection in relation to mining‐related disturbance

White, Kevin S.; Gregovich, David P.

doi:10.2981/wlb.00277

Cited by 18 publications

(32 citation statements)

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“…, DeVoe et al. , White and Gregovich ), yet provide new insights for introduced mountain goats that highlight seasonal differences in resource selection and the importance of spatial grain in predicting habitat selection.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal resource selection by introduced mountain goats in the southwest Greater Yellowstone Area

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) are among the least studied North American ungulates.Aided by successful translocations from the early to mid-1900s, introduced populations have greatly expanded within non-native ranges, yet there remains a paucity of empirical studies concerning their habitat requirements and potential distributions. The lack of studies presents a formidable challenge to managers tasked with monitoring mountain goat expansion and mitigating for any potential negative impacts posed to native species and communities. We constructed summer and winter resource selection models using GPS data collected during 2011-2014 from 18 (14 female and four male) mountain goats in the Snake River Range of the southwest Greater Yellowstone Area. We used generalized linear mixed models and evaluated landscape and environmental covariates at multiple spatial grains (i.e., neighborhood analyses within 30-, 100-, 500-, and 1000-m buffers) within four related suites. The multi-grain resource selection function greatly improved model fit, indicating that mountain goat resource selection was grain dependent in both seasons. In summer, mountain goats largely selected rugged and steep areas at high elevations and avoided high solar radiation, canopy cover, and time-integrated normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). In winter, mountain goats selected lower elevations characterized by steep and rugged slopes on warm aspects and avoided areas with high canopy cover, NDVI amplitude, and snow water equivalent. Slope was the dominant predictor of habitat use in both seasons, although mountain goats selected for steeper slopes in winter than in summer. Regional extrapolations depicted suitable mountain goat habitat in the Snake River, Teton, Gros Ventre, Wyoming, and Salt Ranges centered around steep and rugged areas. Winter range was generally characterized by the steepest slopes within a more broadly distributed and generally less steep summer range. Further research should examine the spatial and temporal overlap with native populations to further our understanding of resource selection dynamics and the potential for introduced mountain goats to alter intraguild behavioral processes of sympatric species, namely the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal resource selection by introduced mountain goats in the southwest Greater Yellowstone Area

et al. 2017

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“…For robust habitat models with high predictive power (i.e., mean r s ≥ 0.70), these RSF predictions should be strongly correlated with patterns of observed caribou use in the absence of any development effects. Thus, we assessed patterns of observed and expected caribou use to determine whether the presence of development altered this expectation (White and Gregovich , Plante et al ). This approach is considered a quasi‐treatment‐control experiment given that caribou use in the absence of development can be estimated from patterns of habitat selection.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Caribou Use of Habitat Near Energy Development in Arctic Alaska

et al. 2019

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Increasing demands for energy have generated interest in expanding oil and gas production on the North Slope of Alaska, USA, raising questions about the resilience of barren‐ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus) populations to new development. Although the amount of habitat lost directly to energy development in the Arctic will likely be relatively small, there are significant concerns about habitat that may be indirectly affected because of caribou avoidance behaviors. Behavioral responses to energy development for wildlife have been documented, but such responses are often assumed to dissipate over time, despite scant information on the ability of animals to habituate. To understand the long‐term effects of energy development on barren‐ground caribou, we investigated the behavior of the Central Arctic Herd in northern Alaska, which has been exposed to oil development on its summer range for approximately 40 years. Using recent (2015–2017) location data from global positioning system (GPS)‐collared females, we conducted a zone of influence analysis to assess whether caribou reduced their use of habitat near energy development, and if so, the distance the effects attenuated. We conducted this analysis for the calving, post‐calving, and mosquito harassment periods when caribou exhibit distinct resource selection patterns, and contrasted our results to past research that investigated the responses of the Central Arctic Herd immediately following the construction of the oil fields. Despite the long‐term presence of energy development within the Central Arctic Herd summer range, we found that female caribou exhibited avoidance responses to infrastructure during all time periods, although the effects waned across the summer. Caribou reduced their use of habitat within 5 km of development during the calving period, within 2 km during the post‐calving period, and within 1 km during the mosquito harassment period; these areas were predicted to overlap 12%, 15%, and 17% of important calving, post‐calving, and mosquito period habitat, respectively. During the calving period, the indirect effects we observed were similar to those observed in past research, whereas during the post‐calving and mosquito periods, we detected avoidance responses that had not been previously reported. These findings corroborate a growing body of evidence suggesting that habituation to industrial development in caribou in the Arctic is likely to be weak or absent, and emphasizes the value of minimizing the footprint of infrastructure within important seasonal habitat to reduce behavioral effects to barren‐ground caribou. © 2019 The Authors. The Journal of Wildlife Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Wildlife Society.

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“…A majority of mountain goats in North America live in northern temperate coastal areas in environments characterized by cool, wet summers, and snowy winters. In coastal areas, mountain goats typically exhibit seasonal migrations from high‐elevation alpine summer habitat to lower elevation forested environments (Fox, Smith, & Schoen, ; Shafer et al., ; White & Gregovich, ). Seasonal migration to low‐elevation, forested habitats during winter benefits mountain goats due to the reduced snow depths in such areas (Fox, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Seasonal migration to low‐elevation, forested habitats during winter benefits mountain goats due to the reduced snow depths in such areas (Fox, ). Mountain goats are highly adapted for life in steep, rugged terrain, and exhibit strong selection for such terrain during both summer and winter (Fox et al., ; Shafer et al., ; White & Gregovich, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Resource selection function models (sensu Boyce, Vernier, Nielsen, & Schmiegelow, ; Fieberg, Matthiopoulos, Hebblewhite, Boyce, & Frair, ) were developed for a 300‐km 2 study area in the Kakuhan Range, AK (60–100 km north of the JIA) by White and Gregovich (), and used to estimate the amount of summer range habitat. RSF models predicted the relative probability of use of mountain goats for given 5‐m pixels across the landscape and were based on empirically derived mechanistic relationships between mountain goat use and availability for multiple covariates such as elevation, distance to cliffs, slope, terrain ruggedness, and solar exposure (an index of plant productivity in wet, coastal environments).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Projecting the future of an alpine ungulate under climate change scenarios

White

Gregovich

Levi

2017

Global Change Biology

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Climate change represents a primary threat to species persistence and biodiversity at a global scale. Cold adapted alpine species are especially sensitive to climate change and can offer key "early warning signs" about deleterious effects of predicted change. Among mountain ungulates, survival, a key determinant of demographic performance, may be influenced by future climate in complex, and possibly opposing ways. Demographic data collected from 447 mountain goats in 10 coastal Alaska, USA, populations over a 37-year time span indicated that survival is highest during low snowfall winters and cool summers. However, general circulation models (GCMs) predict future increase in summer temperature and decline in winter snowfall. To disentangle how these opposing climate-driven effects influence mountain goat populations, we developed an age-structured population model to project mountain goat population trajectories for 10 different GCM/emissions scenarios relevant for coastal Alaska. Projected increases in summer temperature had stronger negative effects on population trajectories than the positive demographic effects of reduced winter snowfall. In 5 of the 10 GCM/representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios, the net effect of projected climate change was extinction over a 70-year time window (2015-2085); smaller initial populations were more likely to go extinct faster than larger populations. Using a resource selection modeling approach, we determined that distributional shifts to higher elevation (i.e., "thermoneutral") summer range was unlikely to be a viable behavioral adaptation strategy; due to the conical shape of mountains, summer range was expected to decline by 17%-86% for 7 of the 10 GCM/RCP scenarios. Projected declines of mountain goat populations are driven by climate-linked bottom-up mechanisms and may have wide ranging implications for alpine ecosystems. These analyses elucidate how projected climate change can negatively alter population dynamics of a sentinel alpine species and provide insight into how demographic modeling can be used to assess risk to species persistence.

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Mountain goat resource selection in relation to mining‐related disturbance

Abstract: BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Cited by 18 publications

References 35 publications

Seasonal resource selection by introduced mountain goats in the southwest Greater Yellowstone Area

Seasonal resource selection by introduced mountain goats in the southwest Greater Yellowstone Area

Caribou Use of Habitat Near Energy Development in Arctic Alaska

Projecting the future of an alpine ungulate under climate change scenarios

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