Winter Activity Patterns of Moose in Interior Alaska
Risenhoover KL. 1986. Winter Activity Patterns of Moose in Interior Alaska. The Journal of Wildlife Management. 50(4):727-734
Moose (Alces alces) diel activity patterns were studied in Denali National Park and Preserve (DNPP), Alaska, during the winter-spring period, 1983-84. Mean active time/24-hour day increased from 5.8 hours in early February to 7.8 hours by late April. Moose averaged 5-6 feeding periods/24 hours. Bedding periods averaged 178 minutes and feeding periods 68 minutes. Feeding and bedding periods alternated in a polyphasic pattern and were generally synchronized among individuals. Activities associated with resting and foraging constituted 99.3% of moose winter time budgets. Moose, on average, spent 66.9% of bedding periods ruminating and 76.2% of feeding periods harvesting and ingesting forage. Variations in daily activity levels were related to daily movements by moose. Distance travelled increased exponentially as the duration of foraging periods increased. Seasonal changes in levels of activity appear to reflect behavioral and physiological adaptations of moose to temporal changes in forage quality and patterns of forage distribution.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Risenhoover, Kenneth
- Units
- DENA
- Keywords
- Activity Level, Alces alces, Behavior, Denali National Park And Preserve, Feeding, Moose (Alces alces), Mount Mckinley National Park, Mt. McKinley National Park