. The Canadian field-naturalist. 70 The Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol. 96. Figure 1. Map of Elk Island National Park, Alberta, north of Highway 16 (136 km^) showing cross-country ski and snowshow trails. types, and a large number of lakes and sloughs, form a mosaic of small stands and openings on the irregular topography. For over 50 years the park has held large popula- tions of Elk, Moose, and Bison (Bison bison), and some Mule (O. hemionus) and White-tailed deer (Telfer 1978). Without important natural predators, these ungulates have had a major effect on vegetation composition, structure a
. The Canadian field-naturalist. 70 The Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol. 96. Figure 1. Map of Elk Island National Park, Alberta, north of Highway 16 (136 km^) showing cross-country ski and snowshow trails. types, and a large number of lakes and sloughs, form a mosaic of small stands and openings on the irregular topography. For over 50 years the park has held large popula- tions of Elk, Moose, and Bison (Bison bison), and some Mule (O. hemionus) and White-tailed deer (Telfer 1978). Without important natural predators, these ungulates have had a major effect on vegetation composition, structure and possibly production (Holsworth 1960; Telfer 1978). Numbers of Elk and Moose have been regulated through trapping and shooting by park personnel. During an aerial survey in the northern park area in February 1979, we counted 452 Elk, 253 Moose, and 49 deer. The bulk of the Bison herd was within an enclosure over winter; only 42 were seen outside it during our aerial survey. Methods Moose and Elk distributions were determined by different methods within four time frames: (1) aerial counts from winters 1970-71 to 1977-78; (2) pellet- group counts for October-March 1978-79; (3) track counts during the ski season, January-March 1979; and (4) aerial counts over 3-hour periods during win- ter 1978-79. During January-March 1979, a question- naire survey of skiers was used to estimate: (1) total numbers of skiers on each of 21 trail sections (Figure 1) during the January-March ski season; (2) mean number of skiers/trail section during days covered by track counts; and (3) total number of skiers/trail sec- tion on days of aerial counts. The data were analyzed largely by comparing animal distribution at distances within and beyond 500 m from trails. This was done because: (1) loca- tions of animals seen during past aerial surveys were allegedly accurate within ± km (E. S. Telfer, Can- adian Wildlife Service, Edmonton, personal commun- ication); (2) there was high innate variabilit
Size: 1283px × 1948px
Photo credit: © Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorottawafieldnaturalistsclub, bookcentury1900, bookcolle
