Critical summer foraging tradeoffs in a subarctic ungulate
- Author:
- Ehlers L., Coulombe G., Herriges J., Bentzen T., Suitor M., Joly K. & Hebblewhite M.
- Year:
- 2021
- Journal:
- Ecology and Evolution
- Pages:
- 11: 17835–17872
- Url:
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8349
Summer diets are crucial for large herbivores in the subarctic and are affected by
weather, harassment from insects and a variety of environmental changes linked to
climate. Yet, understanding foraging behavior and diet of large herbivores is challenging in the subarctic because of their remote ranges. We used GPS video-camera
collars to observe behaviors and summer diets of the migratory Fortymile Caribou
Herd (Rangifer tarandus granti) across Alaska, USA and the Yukon, Canada. First, we
characterized caribou behavior. Second, we tested if videos could be used to quantify changes in the probability of eating events. Third, we estimated summer diets at
the finest taxonomic resolution possible through videos. Finally, we compared summer diet estimates from video collars to microhistological analysis of fecal pellets.
We classified 18,134 videos from 30 female caribou over two summers (2018 and
2019). Caribou behaviors included eating (mean = 43.5%), ruminating (25.6%), travelling (14.0%), stationary awake (11.3%) and napping (5.1%). Eating was restricted by
insect harassment. We classified forage(s) consumed in 5,549 videos where diet composition (monthly) highlighted a strong tradeoff between lichens and shrubs; shrubs
dominated diets in June and July when lichen use declined. We identified 63 species,
70 genus and 33 family groups of summer forages from videos. After adjusting for
digestibility, monthly estimates of diet composition were strongly correlated at the
scale of the forage functional type (i.e., forage groups composed of forbs, graminoids,
mosses, shrubs and lichens; r = 0.79, p < .01). Using video collars, we identified (1) a
pronounced tradeoff in summer foraging between lichens and shrubs and (2) the costs
of insect harassment on eating. Understanding caribou foraging ecology is needed to
plan for their long-term conservation across the circumpolar north, and video collars
can provide a powerful approach across remote regions.
Keywords: animal-borne video cameras, behavior patterns, caribou, citizen-science, insect harassment,
summer diet.
- Id:
- 34313
- Submitter:
- zdenek
- Post_time:
- Monday, 18 April 2022 19:11