BIOLOGICAL DATA AND HABITAT REQUIREMENTS
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Alces alces | Moose 



TIMING OF MAJOR LIFE HISTORY EVENTS : 
Mating - September through October 
Gestation - 8 months 
Calving Season - May through June; occasional twinning occurs if 
                 females receive more than adequate nutrition 
Lifespan - 20 or more years; average 16 years
Age of Maturity - capable of reproducing at 16 months; however,
                  females usually produce first calf at 2 to 3 years;
                  moose reach full maturity at 5 or 6 years, with
                  maximum fecundity of 10 to 11 years
Antlers - only males have antlers, which are shed between November and
          January
Home Range - varies from 116 square miles (300 sq km) in Alaska to 8 to
             15 square miles (20-40 sq km) in northeastern North America
             [6,34,43]. 


PREFERRED HABITAT : 
Moose habitat preferences vary with the season.  In summer moose can be
found in open plant communities where forage is abundant, such as
riparian communities and cutover stands older than 15 years.  Moose seem
to use bogs and other aquatic areas more frequently in summer and in
disproportion to their availability [5].  During winter moose prefer
forested areas and move into denser, conifer-dominated forests as the
winter progresses.  In mountainous areas of the West, moose concentrate
at elevations below 3,500 feet (1,067 m) during winter.  During summer
they move to higher elevations, usually above 5,000 feet (1,524 m)
[11,29,37].  Moose distribution in winter is limited by the availability
of woody food plants and by snow conditions, such as depth, density,
hardness, and duration [14,46].


COVER REQUIREMENTS : 
Moose need a variety of habitats from dense coniferous forests to more
open aquatic and riparian communities with some cover.  Moose seek dense
forests during mid to late winter as snows deepen and harden.  Cover
becomes more essential than forage during winter [24,33,35,38].
Pierce and Peek [37] noted that, in winter, moose in the Clearwater
Drainage of Idaho use dense stands characterized by broken canopies and
dominated by subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) and grand fir, with
Pacific yew as the dominant understory and preferred forage.  Allen and
others [1] reported the quality of winter cover increases as the
proportion of conifers increases.  Ideal winter range is composed of
conifers taller than 18 feet (6 m), with a canopy closure of 75 percent
or greater.  Cover becomes critical during severe winters in areas where
snow depth exceeds 40 inches (100 cm) because at these depths moose are
impeded [1,43,46].  For calving, cows need dense cover bordering younger
stands which provide substantial food.  Cow/calf movements are
restricted because calves cannot wade through deep snow.


FOOD HABITS : 
Moose are generalist, ruminant herbivores.  Their foods encompass
several hundred species worldwide, but moose usually eat about 25 to 30
species in any one locale [43].  Thoughout their range in North America,
moose most commonly browse on alder (Alnus spp.), cottonwood (Populus
spp.), willow, birch, aspen, and balsam fir.  Following is a list of
other species frequently found in moose diets: serviceberry (Amelanchier
spp.), mountain ash (Sorbus spp.), bush honeysuckle (Diervilla
lonicera), dogwood, mountain maple (Acer spicatum), Rocky Mountain maple
(Acer glabrum), viburnum (Viburnum spp.), current (Ribes spp.),
ceanothus (Ceanothus spp.), huckleberry (Vaccinium spp.), cherry (Prunus
spp.), Pacific yew, and wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis).  Moose
also eat various species of mushrooms, sedges (Carex spp.), grasses,
such as bluegrass (Poa spp.) and brome (Bromus spp.), lichens (Peltigera
spp.), and forbs, such as fireweed (Epilobium spp.) and lupine (Lupinus
spp.)  [1,13,16,28,34,36,38,40].  Some preferred aquatic species include
water horsetail (Equisetum fluviatile), burreed (Sparganium spp.), and
pondweed (Potomageton spp.) [47].  In Newfoundland Dodds [15] noted
competition between snowshoe hares (Leupus americanus) and moose for
browse.


PREDATORS : 
Moose predators include humans, wolves (Canis lupus), grizzly bears (Ursus
arctos), and black bears (U. americanus) [27,34].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
In the past wildlife managers have assumed that clearcuts were
beneficial to moose because such cuts favor abundant browse production.
In general this is true; however, moose require at least some cover
during every season and usually will not venture into large, open areas
with no hiding cover.  Stelfox and others [41] reported that moose used
clearcuts after 17 years only if adequate shelter was available in
interspersed stands nearby.  Matchett [29] reported that moose select
cutover areas that are more vegetated than not; these are usually at
least 10 to 30 years old.  He concluded that for the Yaak River Drainage
in western Montana, cutting units should be less than 49 acres (20 ha),
and cutting units over large areas should exhibit a diversity of
silvicultural methods.  Three hundred and twenty feet (100 m) of timber
should be left between cutting units, and road closures should be
imposed.  Costain [11] recommended maintaining timber in stream bottoms
with a minimum of 300 feet (91 m) between cutting units.  In most cases
moose will not use clearcuts until adequate cover has been established,
usually in 15 years.  Moose select for edges along islands of residual
timber within cuts, as opposed to edges of large cuts [30].  Pierce and
Peek [37] recommended maintaining grand fir old-growth with a yew
understory because of the importance of this type to wintering moose.

In western Canada hundreds of moose are killed each year by trains.
This factor may be holding moose populations below their potential [10].


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Alces alces | Moose