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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
1

Winter habitat selection and use of clearcuts by elk in the White River drainage of southeastern British Columbia

Churchill, Brian Phillip January 1982 (has links)
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

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