Abstract

Topic: Movements and habitat use

Calving Timing and Space Use by Moose in Eeyou Istchee, Northern Quebec, Canada

Mikaela Borgeaud LeBlanc¹, Manuelle Landry-Cuerrier¹, Vincent Brodeur², Murray M. Humphries¹

McGill University, 21111 Chem. Lakeshore, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Qc, Canada
Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs, 951 boul. Hamel, Chibougamau, Qc, Canada

Abstract
In boreal forests of the Cree territory of Eeyou Istchee in Northern Quebec, Canada, moose are of harvest importance and impacts of forestry and fire related disturbances on moose calving behaviours are of concern. The cryptic nature of moose calving, including timing, habitat-specificity, and cow-calf interactions, has limited our understanding of this critical contribution to moose population dynamics. GPS-collars, with a subset including animal-borne video and environmental data collection systems (AVEDs), were deployed on 89 female moose over five years and across multiple calving seasons for some females to describe fine-scale calving behaviours, including date-of-calving and space use. We compared calving dates identified by six movement-based methods using GPS collar location data (typically used to infer calving dates of moose and other ungulates) to direct AVED observations of calves and calving, and identified three of the six methods to be accurate and precise. We then applied these three methods to infer parturition of the remaining females. Calving dates ranged from May 12th to June 22nd, which is similar to previous studies (May 14th to June 9th). Classification of videos from AVEDs revealed that females were seen walking, standing, feeding, and ruminating more frequently the day before calving compared to more frequent laying down and licking calf the day following calving. Subsequent space use analyses, including movement, fidelity and home range assessments, showed that females usually calved within 4 km of previously used calving sites showing strong fidelity and altered their movement rates one day prior to parturition to seek core calving home range areas of 0.04 km2. Selection analysis with Manly selection ratios and generalized linear models showed individual variability and preference for elevated areas, mixed and coniferous stands and further distances from water. Quantifying individual-level calving timing, movement, fidelity and habitat selection increases our understanding of moose calving behaviours which serves to inform wildlife management and the potential long-term impacts of disturbances and environmental changes on critical calving habitats.