Habitat Selection by Female Elk During Minnesota's Agricultural Season. Issue 5 (11th March 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hinton, Joseph W.; Freeman, Alicia E.; St‐Louis, Véronique; Cornicelli, Louis; D'Angelo, Gino J.
• Is Part Of: Journal of wildlife management. Volume 84:Issue 5(2020)
• Page Start: 957
• Page End: 967
• Publication Date: 2020-03-11
• Subjects: agriculture -- Cervus canadensis -- conservation -- elk -- habitat selection -- home range -- Minnesota -- space use; Wildlife management -- Periodicals; Zoology -- Periodicals; 333.954
• DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.21850
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-541X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Understanding space‐use patterns by elk ( Cervus canadensis ) is essential to alleviating human‐elk conflicts, particularly when crop depredation by elk can make it harder to justify to the public the need to restore elk populations to regions with agricultural landscapes. In 2016–2017, we used global positioning system data from 20 female elk to investigate their selection for agricultural cover during the agricultural season (1 May–31 Oct) in northwestern Minnesota, USA. We estimated resource selection functions with resource availability defined at the home range scale. Elk space use was primarily determined by distance to forest cover in areas proximate to agricultural fields. During diurnal periods, elk selected areas with forest cover near agricultural fields planted with legumes and cereal. During nocturnal periods, elk selected for agricultural fields with little to no canopy and that were planted with legumes. We suggest that management of elk in northwestern Minnesota will require practices that discourage the use of agriculture by elk while improving natural habitats within areas managed for elk restoration. We suggest that forestry practices (i.e., thinning and burning) could improve cover and forage openings for elk in restoration areas. Furthermore, managers could work with agricultural producers where elk occur to plant crops favored by elk (i.e., legumes) outside known home ranges and plant fields within home ranges with crops that elk avoided (i.e., hay). Collectively, these practices may shift the ranges of elk herds into restoration areas and lower conflict between the public and elk restoration efforts. © 2020 The Wildlife Society. Abstract : Female elk in our study responded positively to edge density and interspersion of natural and agricultural land cover, suggesting that cover heterogeneity is important for providing sufficient cover and food resources to elk throughout the year. Management of elk in northwestern Minnesota will require management practices that discourage the use of agricultural areas by elk that create conflict between the public and elk restoration efforts while improving elk habitat in other areas to meet the foraging needs of female elk and their calves so that most of their life requisites are achieved on restoration areas rather than adjacent agricultural lands.