A study of the interactions between moose (Alces alces), elk (Cervus canadensis) and buffalo (Bison bison) was carried out during the summer of 1959 in Elk Island National Park, Alberta. The interactions studied were the possibility of competition for food and habitat, transmission of disease and dominance relations. A description of the Park is given. The distribution, habitat selection and food habits of each of the three species are discussed. The greatest interaction between these animals occurs through their effects on the range. Data, collected over the past years, on the incidence of brucellosis and its effect on the reproductive rate and health of the animals are presented. The high incidence of brucellosis in buffalo indicates that they are the source of the organism infecting moose and elk. Buffalo were found to be dominant over moose and elk. The effects of the existing dominance relations could not be evaluated. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

This study of elk winter habitat selection was conducted from June 1975 to May 1977. Surveys were conducted from November to April to observe elk use of habitat, patterns of use within clearcuts, and elk reaction to human activities and vehicle traffic. Programmes of habitat mapping, vegetation description and pellet group counts were conducted during the rest of the study period. The two winters of the study were mild. Snow depths never exceeded 45 cm, the depth hypothesized to initiate elk movement to areas of lower snowdepth. During these mild snow conditions elk selected clearcuts for feeding but utilized forested habitats for resting and escape cover. Subsequent studies in the same area (McLellan 1978) showed contrasting avoidance of clearcuts for two months during deep snow conditions where snowdepths exceeded 50 cm. Within clearcuts elk were observed to select moderate slopes further than 200 m from active roads for feeding and resting. Feeding activities within clearcuts showed selection for ridges, grass/forb vegetation and burned areas. Elk showed varying responses to slash accumulations during feeding activity. Elk selected the largest clearcut site and no preference for areas near edge of clearcuts was shown. Elk showed a strong avoidance reaction to human activity and vehicle traffic, fleeing to forest cover when disturbed. Recommendations for forest management are included. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2006. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

The size of elk herds in Eastern Oregon has become a controversial issue. Trade-offs exist between the numbers of elk and domestic livestock on a given area of land, and also between elk and commercial timber harvesting policies. Disputes arise from differing views as to proper use of the natural resource base, specifically, public forested and grazing lands. Economic comparisons between elk and alternative uses of the land are complicated by the non-market nature of the elk resource, as this necessitates using a method to value the resource which may not be familiar to many decision makers. The objectives of this thesis were: (1) to analyze the demand for antlerless elk tags in eastern Oregon and to use the analysis to examine alternative pricing policies for allocating these antlerless tags, (2) to evaluate alternative elk management strategies from an economic perspective, and (3) to optimize societal benefits from the land base over time. Objective (1) was met by using the travel cost method. Results indicate that state hunting revenues would rise substantially if tag prices were increased so as to equilibrate quantities demanded and supplied. Objective (2) was met by using a computer simulation model to ascertain the impacts of harvesting and management policies upon the herd's stability and productivity. The results, placing emphasis on the antlerless animals, indicate that a slight reduction in current herd levels is economically desirable. This result is caused in part by the decreasing returns to scale from the elk herd as measured by total harvest per 1000 summer adult elk. Limitations of these conclusions with respect to bull elk demand are documented. Finally, objective (3) is met by formulating the dynamic relationships between elk, domestic livestock, and timber as a system of dynamic Lagrangian multipliers. This allows optimal inter-temporal allocation of resources by discounting future returns from these resources and equating marginal benefits of present and future use. The decision rules are examined, and economic implications of the multipliers are discussed. Although a theoretical model, some data is discussed, as are directions for future research. / Graduation date: 1983

No description available.

No description available.

The effects of late spring defoliation on the winter forage quality of bluebunch wheatgrass (Agropyron spicatum [Pursh] Scribn. & Smith), Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis Elmer) and elk sedge (Carex geyeri Boott) and the response of wintering Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni Bailey) to changes in winter range forage quality were examined. The study included two experiments; a hand clipping experiment conducted on bluebunch wheatgrass and a sheep grazing experiment conducted on bluebunch wheatgrass, Idaho fescue, and elk sedge. Four treatments were applied to bluebunch wheatgrass in the clipping experiment: 1) the entire basal area of individual plants was clipped to a 7.6 cm stubble height during the mid boot phenological stage, 2) one-half the basal area of individual plants was clipped to a 7.6 cm stubble height during the mid boot stage, 3) the entire basal area of individual plants was clipped to a 7.6 cm stubble height during the inflorescence emergence stage, and 4) plants were left unclipped as a control. In early November, forage samples from each of the three clipping treatments exhibited increases in percent crude protein and percent in vitro dry matter digestibility compared to the unclipped control treatment. Clipping the entire basal area of bluebunch wheatgrass plants to a 7.6 cm stubble height during the mid boot or inflorescence emergence stage was more detrimental to plant vigor than clipping one-half the plant basal area during the mid boot stage or leaving the plants unclipped. There was some evidence that clipping one-half the plant basal area during the mid boot stage may improve plant vigor compared to no clipping. Differences in crude protein, in vitro dry matter digestibility, and dry matter yield from winter forage samples of bluebunch wheatgrass, Idaho fescue and elk sedge were detected between plots grazed by domestic sheep during the boot stage of bluebunch wheatgrass and plots where sheep grazing was excluded. No differences in winter elk utilization of bluebunch wheatgrass, Idaho fescue, or elk sedge were detected between the late spring sheep grazing treatment and sheep exclusion treatment. Plot occupancy by wintering elk was similar between plots grazed by sheep and plots where sheep grazing was excluded. Although, wintering elk did not appear to respond to the livestock grazing treatment, results from this study suggest small improvements in the winter forage quality of perennial grasses such as bluebunch wheatgrass can result following late spring defoliation. Forage conditioning treatments which produce even small improvements in forage quality may be important to the nutritional status of wintering elk. / Graduation date: 1997

A wildfire burned over 40,000 ha of conifer and mixed conifer-hardwood forest in the Silver Creek drainage of southwestern Oregon in the fall of 1987 allowing me to assess big game use of a large natural burn. I used fecal pellet group counts to estimate habitat use and effects of forest management activities on Roosevelt elk (Cervus elaphus roosevelti) and black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) within the Silver Fire Recovery Project Area (SFRPA) of the Siskiyou National Forest. Pellet decay rate and differences in observers' abilities to detect deer and elk pellet groups (interobserver variability) were estimated to test validity of pellet group counts. Pellet group persistence was estimated during a 10-month period. There were no differences in pellet group persistence between elk and deer (P < 0.05). Observers differed in ability to detect elk (F = 2.7; df = 4, 530; P = 0.03) and deer (F = 10.7; df = 4, 883; P < 0.0001) pellet groups. Interobserver variability related to elk pellet groups was low and was attributed to differences in numbers of transects searched by each observer. Two observers detected greater mean numbers of deer pellet groups than did other observers. I counted 775 elk pellet groups and 3,888 deer pellet groups on four study areas within the SFRPA. I analyzed habitat use for two periods: June to mid-October (summer-fall), and mid- October through May (fall-spring). I used stepwise logistic regression to create models predicting categories of habitat use during each period. Management variables were added to the habitat models to estimate effect of management on predicted categories of habitat use. Total overstory canopy cover was negatively related to deer use during both use periods. Distance to road was the only significant management variable affecting deer habitat use during the fall-spring period (P = 0.03). Slash cover had a negative effect on probability of habitat use by deer during the summer-fall period (P = 0.02). Elk use was negatively affected by steep slopes and hardwood canopies during both periods, while grass seeding positively affected elk use during both summer-fall (P = 0.05) and fall-spring (P = 0.03) use periods. Clearcutting had a negative effect on probability of elk use during the fall-spring period (P = 0.04). / Graduation date: 1995

The North American elk or wapiti is an indigenous species to Canada. Understanding of the reproductive physiology of elk is limited, as little research has been conducted in this field as compared to domestic farmed species. In order to make available the tools to study reproductive physiology of the elk this thesis describes the cloning and expression of elk pituitary glycoprotein hormone cDNAs. The common gonadotropin a-subunit, and FSH, LH and TSH b-subunit elk cDNAs were amplified by reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). There was a high degree of nucleotide similarity between the elk a and b subunits when compared with reported sequences from other species. The cDNAs for the pituitary glycoprotein hormone genes were used as probes to investigate seasonal expression in the female elk pituitary gland. Steady state levels of the common a-subunit mRNA was observed regardless of the reproductive season, but a significant increase in expression occurred during the breeding season. The FSH and LH b-subunit genes were expressed at low levels in pituitary glands of animals during presumed anestrous and pregnancy, but levels considerably increased during estrus. In contrast, levels of TSH b-subunit mRNA were similar regardless of the reproductive status. The FSH cDNAs were also transfected into a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) mammalian expression system, aimed at the production of recombinant elk FSH. Transfected CHO cell lines were screened for expression of a- and FSH b-subunit mRNA by Northern blot. Activity of FSH was equivalent to ~100 mIU/ml of recombinant human FSH (Gonal-FTM), identified by FSH receptor signaling in an in vitro cell based assay. In conclusion, this work represents an advance towards understanding the molecular basis of seasonal reproduction in elk. This information and the availability of elk recombinant FSH will be useful for the application of advanced reproductive technologies required for the rapid expansion of healthy, disease resistant, and genetically superior animals, which are important for domestic production and wildlife management.

The present study was undertaken to acquire additional management information for both the North and South Cache units. It was recognized that effectiveness of elk management could be increased if such information were available as population data, age composition figures, effectiveness of the winter feeding program, herd productivity and mortality, summer and winter distribution, and the inter-specific role of deer and domestic livestock with the elk. The present study was commenced during late fall of 1951. Formal field work continued through the spring of 1953, though limited field work extended through the early 1954 winter. The study has been dedicated to the procurement of elk management information on both the North and South Cache units.