Research On Winter Habitat Selection And Movement Characteristics Of Moose In Northeastern China

In our study,we chosen six sites in moose distribution area of the Greater Khingan and Lesser Khingan Mountains,including Mohe County,Shuanghe National Nature Reserve,Hanma National Nature Reserve,Nanwenghe National Nature Reserve,Wuerqihan District and Zhanhe District.We analyzed thehabitat selection and movement characteristics of moose under interspecific interactions in winter by locating 96 3-km transects,surveyed 131610-m×10-m subplots,followed 35 snow tracks(including 35 snow tracks of female moose and 49 snow tracks of male moose)and collected320 fecal samples by using wildlife ecology research techniques,ecological modeling method,population ecology techniques,movement ecology techniques,nutritional ecology techniques and so on in winter in Northeast of china from December 2011 to March 2015.The main results were revealed as followings:1.The habitat selection of moose under interspecific interactions.We studied the habitat selection of moose under interspecific interactions at different spatial scales by using resource selection function model,generalized additive model and generalized linear model.The results showed that the main common factors influencing the habitat selection of moose were mixed broadleaf-conifer forest and the potential occurrence probability of roe deer.Due to spatial heterogeneity,there were obvious differences in the choice of moose for mixed broadleaf-conifer forest.At the regional scale,the moose avoided mixed broadleaf-conifer forest.At the local scale,the moose avoided mixed broadleaf-conifer forest in Wuerqihan,however,it showed preference for mixed broadleaf-conifer forest in Zhanhe and Hanma.The heterogeneity of food resources led to the differences in the competitive intensity of moose and roe deer.On the regional scale,the spatial distribution of moose revealed avoidance of roe deer;in the local scale,the spatial distribution of moose revealed avoidance of roe deer in Hanma,however,there were overlap in the spatial distribution area for moose and roe deer in Zhanhe and Nanwenghe.The spatial heterogeneity of the resources and the differences in interspecific interactions led to the differences in the selection factors of the moose at different spatial scales.2.The movement characteristics of moose driven by behavior and environmentUsing the tortuosity entropy(TorEn)as the index of moose movement path tortuosity,we analyzed the relationships between tortuosity entropy of male and female moose movement paths and several behaviors as well as tortuosity entropy and habitat variables by using the generalized additive model and the generalized additive mixed effect model at different spatial scale.The results showed that the forage and excretion behavior were the main factors driving the male and female moose movement at different spatial scales,the increase in frequency of forage and excretion behavior led to an increase in the tortuosity of male and female moose movement paths.The main factors affecting the movement characteristics of female moose were shrubs,coniferous forest and the distance to river.In shrub and coniferous forest,the movement path of female moose was more tortuous.When closer to the river,the movement path of female moose was less tortuous.The snow depth and coniferous forest were the main factors affecting the movement characteristics of male moose.When snow was deep,the movement path of female moose was more tortuous.In coniferous forest,the movement path of female moose was more tortuous.At the local scale,elevation was the common factor affecting the movement characteristics of female moose in Nanwenghe and Wuerqihan.At low altitudes,the movement path of female moose was less tortuous in Nanwenghe,but it was more tortuous in Wuerqihan.The distance to the road were the common factor that affects the movement characteristics of male moose in Mohe and Zhanhe.When closer to the road,the movement path of male moose was more tortuous.the potential occurrence probability of roe deer was the common factor affecting the movement characteristics of male moose in Hanma,Nanwenghe and Zhanhe.When the potential occurrence probability of roe deerwas high,the movement path of male moose was more tortuous in in Hanma and Nanwenghe,but it was less tortuous in Zhanhe.For the male and female moose,in the regional scale,coniferous forest,snow depth and shrub were the common factors that affect the movement characteristics of male and female moose.In coniferous forest,the movement path of male and female moose were more tortuous.When snow was deep,the movement path of male and female moose were more tortuous.In shrub,the movement path of female moose was more tortuous in,but the movement path of male moose was less tortuous,it may be the cause of sexual segregation mechanism.There were significant differences in other influencing factors.At the local scale,there were also significant differences in the influencing factors of moose's movement characteristics between different sexes.3.The movement characteristics of moose driven by food quality and environment stress.We analyzed the relationships between tortuosity entropy(TorEn)of movement paths and nitrogen content in the fecal samples as well as tortuosity entropy and cortisol content in the fecal samples of male and female moose by using linear regression at different spatial scale.The tortuosity entropy(TorEn)of female moose movement paths was significantly negative correlated with nitrogen content in the fecal samples,showing that the decline of food quality could lead to the increase of the tortuosity of female moose movement paths,female moose could strengthen the movement to obtain richer food resources;The relationship between the tortuosity entropy(TorEn)of male moose movement paths and nitrogen content in the fecal samples was not significant,which may be due to ungulates had generally body dimorphism,the female adult tended to choose the higher quality of food,while the male adults tended to choose richer food resources;The tortuosity entropy(TorEn)of male moose movement paths was significantly positively correlated with the content of cortisol in the feces,showing that the increase of environmental stress caused by the decline in food quality,interspecific competition and human disturbance(see Chapter 4)could lead to that the movement path of male and female moose were more tortuous.