Moose Management in Southwest Montana: Insights From Four Years of Field Research

From 2007-2010, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks conducted research on moose ecology on the Mount Haggin Wildlife Management Area in southwestern Montana. In this presentation, we will briefly review our methodology and results, but will largely focus on the management implications of this research and potential ideas for future research. The goals of this research were to determine the habitat selection of cow moose during winter with an emphasis on willow community importance and to examine population-scale willow browse utilization through browse patterns. We also sought to contribute to a foundation for future research on moose in Montana. Using browse surveys on willow (Salix spp.) and GPS collars on cow moose, we were able to determine the current intensity of willow browse and basic habitat use of cow moose (e.g. home range size and location), and to model variables associated with both browse utilization and habitat selection. Management implications of the browse surveys include suggestions regarding sample sizes and sample site placement for future monitoring of willow community health or browse utilization. Additionally, species preference by moose has implications for riparian restoration. The habitat selection analysis showed the importance of willow and conifer communities and has implications for habitat conservation and aerial survey methods. Future research on moose ecology in Montana should focus on the impact of changing habitat and climate on habitat selection and population dynamics, the role of predation on populations of moose, and improving aerial or other survey techniques to more accurately monitor moose population trends

Winter Ecology Of The Shiras Moose On The Mount Haggin Wildlife Management Area

Moose (Alces alces shirasi) populations across Montana have expanded in the last century, both in geographic range and in population size. This expansion has had a negative impact on moose winter range in some locations where moose have overutilized key browse species. Excessive and unsustainable browsing has the potential to reduce local biodiversity and carrying capacity of moose and other ungulates. The browse species of interest in this study were willow (Salix spp), a highly palatable and abundant browse source for moose on many winter ranges, including our study area in southwestern Montana. The objectives of this study were to determine patterns of willow community use by selected female moose during winter and to quantify willow utilization across the study area to examine population scale habitat use through browse patterns. To accomplish these objectives we deployed GPS collars on 18 cow moose, 6 each in the winters of 2007, 2008, and 2009-2010. We also completed large scale, systematic browse surveys in the springs of 2008, 2009 and 2010. Results indicated cow moose spent the plurality of the winter within willow communities (48.4%, 48.2%, 51.8%, and 49.8% of locations in the winters of 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively), but the estimated percentage of browsed willow twigs across the study area was low (11.5%, 8.0%, and 8.3% in 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively). Our data suggest that while moose have the potential to significantly impact willow communities, this did not appear to be the case on the Mount Haggin WMA at current moose densities

HETEROGENEITY AND POWER TO DETECT TRENDS IN MOOSE BROWSE UTILIZATION OF WILLOW COMMUNITIES

Monitoring of browse utilization of plant communities is consistently recommended as an important component of monitoring moose (Alces alces) populations across regions. We monitored winter browse utilization by moose within a willow (Salix spp.) -dominated winter range of Montana in 2008–2010. We sought to improve our understanding of: 1) spatiotemporal heterogeneity of intensity of moose browsing across the winter range, 2) species-specific selection of willow by moose during winter, and 3) appropriate sample sizes, placement, and stratification of monitoring sites for estimating browse utilization. During 3 consecutive winters we monitored 108–111 transect segments, each 50 m in length, in a systematic distribution across willow communities and assessed the effects of covariates potentially predictive of variation in browsing. Mean annual estimated browse utilization across all segments was 11.5% of sampled twigs in 2008 (95% CI = 9.4 – 13.7%), 8.0% in 2009 (95% CI = 6.2 – 9.8%), and 8.3% in 2010 (95% CI = 6.5 – 10.1%). Modeling of variation in browse utilization revealed positive relationships with the proportion of preferred species (β = 0.44,P = 0.05) and previously browsed willow plants (β = 3.13, P < 0.001), and a negative relationship with willow patch width (β = 0.002, P < 0.001). We found that planeleaf (Salix planifolia), Wolf ʼs (S. wolfii), and Boothʼs willow (S. boothii) were the most consistently preferred species, whereas Drummondʼs (S. drummondiana) and Geyer willow (S. geyeriana) willow were moderately preferred; Lemmonʼs willow (S. lemmonii) was used less than expected. Power analyses indicated that detecting a 10% increase in browse utilization with 95% confidence in consecutive years required measuring 38–41, 50-m segments. Because systems with low and heterogeneous browse utilization of willow present challenges for efficient monitoring, we encourage power analyses as a means of evaluating sampling protocols, in addition to consideration of covariates predictive of spatiotemporal heterogeneity

A statistical approach to white-nose syndrome surveillance monitoring using acoustic data.

Traditional pathogen surveillance methods for white-nose syndrome (WNS), the most serious threat to hibernating North American bats, focus on fungal presence where large congregations of hibernating bats occur. However, in the western USA, WNS-susceptible bat species rarely assemble in large numbers and known winter roosts are uncommon features. WNS increases arousal frequency and activity of infected bats during hibernation. Our objective was to explore the effectiveness of acoustic monitoring as a surveillance tool for WNS. We propose a non-invasive approach to model pre-WNS baseline activity rates for comparison with future acoustic data after WNS is suspected to occur. We investigated relationships among bat activity, ambient temperatures, and season prior to presence of WNS across forested sites of Montana, USA where WNS was not known to occur. We used acoustic monitors to collect bat activity and ambient temperature data year-round on 41 sites, 2011-2019. We detected a diverse bat community across managed (n = 4) and unmanaged (n = 37) forest sites and recorded over 5.37 million passes from bats, including 13 identified species. Bats were active year-round, but positive associations between average of the nightly temperatures by month and bat activity were strongest in spring and fall. From these data, we developed site-specific prediction models for bat activity to account for seasonal and annual temperature variation prior to known occurrence of WNS. These prediction models can be used to monitor changes in bat activity that may signal potential presence of WNS, such as greater than expected activity in winter, or less than expected activity during summer. We propose this model-based method for future monitoring efforts that could be used to trigger targeted sampling of individual bats or hibernacula for WNS, in areas where traditional disease surveillance approaches are logistically difficult to implement or because of human-wildlife transmission concerns from COVID-19

Genetic Control of Biosynthesis and Transport of Riboflavin and Flavin Nucleotides and Construction of Robust Biotechnological Producers†

Summary: Riboflavin [7,8-dimethyl-10-(1′-d-ribityl)isoalloxazine, vitamin B2] is an obligatory component of human and animal diets, as it serves as the precursor of flavin coenzymes, flavin mononucleotide, and flavin adenine dinucleotide, which are involved in oxidative metabolism and other processes. Commercially produced riboflavin is used in agriculture, medicine, and the food industry. Riboflavin synthesis starts from GTP and ribulose-5-phosphate and proceeds through pyrimidine and pteridine intermediates. Flavin nucleotides are synthesized in two consecutive reactions from riboflavin. Some microorganisms and all animal cells are capable of riboflavin uptake, whereas many microorganisms have distinct systems for riboflavin excretion to the medium. Regulation of riboflavin synthesis in bacteria occurs by repression at the transcriptional level by flavin mononucleotide, which binds to nascent noncoding mRNA and blocks further transcription (named the riboswitch). In flavinogenic molds, riboflavin overproduction starts at the stationary phase and is accompanied by derepression of enzymes involved in riboflavin synthesis, sporulation, and mycelial lysis. In flavinogenic yeasts, transcriptional repression of riboflavin synthesis is exerted by iron ions and not by flavins. The putative transcription factor encoded by SEF1 is somehow involved in this regulation. Most commercial riboflavin is currently produced or was produced earlier by microbial synthesis using special selected strains of Bacillus subtilis, Ashbya gossypii, and Candida famata. Whereas earlier RF overproducers were isolated by classical selection, current producers of riboflavin and flavin nucleotides have been developed using modern approaches of metabolic engineering that involve overexpression of structural and regulatory genes of the RF biosynthetic pathway as well as genes involved in the overproduction of the purine precursor of riboflavin, GTP