Energetic considerations and habitat quality for elk in arid grasslands and coniferous forests
- Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
The author used static modeling to explore the recent success of elk (Cervus elaphus) colonizing the arid shrub-steppe of Washington. Forage-based estimates of metabolizable energy available to elk in the shrub-steppe were compared to energy available in 2 mesic forest communities that historically have served as more typical summer elk habitat. Although precipitation and primary productivity were substantially lower in the shrub-steppe, the estimated calories available in shrub-steppe forage over a 300-km{sup 2} area were 271 and 86%, respectively, of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) and cedar-hemlock (Thuja-Tsuga) forests of similar size. Low intercommunity variability in forage production, lack of a significant nonforage overstory, and the large size and relative abundance of foraging areas in the shrub-steppe mitigated reduced primary production. In the shrub-steppe, 92% of the habitat represented potential foraging habitat as determined by minimum forage biomass, whereas only 10 and 40% of the forested habitats, respectively, could be considered prime foraging areas. Whereas forage energy was concentrated in openings within conifer forests, it was more uniformly dispersed over the habitat mosaic in the shrub-steppe. These results provide a bioenergetic framework for understanding the recent success of elk colonizing the arid shrub-steppe of Washington and are consistent with observed patterns of movement and habitat use for elk in shrub-steppe habitat.
- OSTI ID:
- 5811909
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Wildlife Management; (United States), Vol. 55:2; ISSN 0022-541X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
FORESTS
ECOLOGY
RANGELANDS
WILD ANIMALS
POPULATION DYNAMICS
ARID LANDS
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
FORAGE
HABITAT
HEMLOCKS
METABOLISM
PINES
PRODUCTIVITY
WASHINGTON
ANIMAL FEEDS
ANIMALS
CONIFERS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ECOSYSTEMS
FEDERAL REGION X
FOOD
NORTH AMERICA
PINOPHYTA
PLANTS
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
TREES
USA
540210* - Environment
Terrestrial- Basic Studies- (1990-)