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Åström, cecilia, 2022. The secret life of moose : patterns of foraging and behaviour based on video collars. Second cycle, A2E. Umeå: SLU, Dept. of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies

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Abstract

To understand how moose forage in the wild, we have to study them without disturbing them then. Video cameras placed on moose are a novel method to study wild individuals without being intrusive. I analyzed video footage from four moose collars, filmed up to nine times a day and filmed from 4 to 11 months, for maximum of 4,5 minutes a day. The moose were located in Norway: Sør-Trøndelag and in Finnmark. I tested three hypotheses: 1) weather affects video quality, 2) that diet composition of moose varies across the annual seasons and 3) diet composition varies between individuals and study sites. I found that during the vegetation period the most common video limiter of the video quality was water. The video footage showed that the moose were clearly browsers during the whole year, but they increased their foraging on Betula sp. and Salix sp. during the vegetation period. I conclude that animal-borne video cameras, are able to provide moose researchers with observations of expected changes in forage patterns during a year and provide detailed data even when they record only short periods of the day. This methodology also has the potential to reveal rare and previously undescribed behaviors. My findings will help to further refine the methodology for more large-scale investigations of the secret lives of moose.

Main title:The secret life of moose
Subtitle:patterns of foraging and behaviour based on video collars
Authors:Åström, cecilia
Supervisor:Spitzer, Robert
Examiner:Neumann Sivertsson, Wiebke
Series:Examensarbete / SLU, Institutionen för vilt, fisk och miljö
Volume/Sequential designation:2022:1
Year of Publication:2022
Level and depth descriptor:Second cycle, A2E
Student's programme affiliation:SY001 Forest Science - Master's Programme 300 HEC
Supervising department:(S) > Dept. of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies
Keywords:moose, alces alces, foraging, video footage, herbivory, browsing
URN:NBN:urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-17516
Permanent URL:
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-17516
Subject. Use of subject categories until 2023-04-30.:Animal ecology
Nature conservation and land resources
Language:English
Deposited On:11 Feb 2022 11:39
Metadata Last Modified:12 Feb 2022 02:01

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