Ospika Goat Adaptive Management Trial
Mineral lick use by mountain goats: timing, frequency and duration of visits before and after harvesting
Mari D. Wood, Fraser B. Corbould, and Greg W. Blackburn
“A work in progress…..”
Peace/Williston
Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program
Peace/Williston Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program
“To enhance and protect fish and wildlife resources affected by the construction of the WAC Bennett and Peace Canyon dams on the Peace River, and the subsequent creation of the Williston and Dinosaur Reservoirs.”
Williston Reservoir Watershed, north-central BC
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• WAC Bennett dam built
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W.A.C. Bennett Dam
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in late 1960’s • PWFWCP established in 1988 • Joint initiative of BC Hydro and MWLAP • Funded by BC Hydro • Headquarters in Pr. George • 2 Wildlife, 3 Fish biologists
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Williston Reservoir: 1,770 sq km
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Williston Watershed: 70,000 sq km
Peace/Williston
Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program
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Prince George Prince George
Mackenzie Mountain Goat Project
Multi-phase collaborative initiative involving:
• • • • Ospika Goat Adaptive Management Trial (PWFWCP) Resource Inventory (Canfor) Habitat Supply Modeling (Canfor, MGMT) Policy Development (MGMT)
Mountain Goat Management Team (MGMT):
• • • • • • • Peace/Williston Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program Slocan Forest Products (now Canadian Forest Products) Abitibi Consolidated Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection Ministry of Forests Tsay Keh Dene Band Kwadacha Band
“Working together to develop and implement effective policy to support integrated management of forests and mountain goat habitat”
Low Elevation Mineral Licks
Nearest Summer Alpine Habitat (~10 km)
Mineral Lick
Objective: To monitor the short-term behavioural response of mountain goats to the removal of timber adjacent to mineral lick access trails
1. TIMING of lick use (radio-collared and non-collared goats) • seasonal and daily 2. FREQUENCY of lick visits (radio-collared goats) 3. DURATION of lick visits (radio-collared goats)
Study Design
Treatments
1. “Buffered” Harvest
• Retain forested buffer (~150m width) on both sides of lick access trail • Log in winter to avoid direct disturbance • Limit road width to ~15m
2. “Non-buffered” Harvest
• Retain no forested buffer adjacent to section of lick access trail – i.e. trail falls within clearcut
Control
• No forest harvesting
Study Area
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Elevations: 760 – 2,400m
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Ospika River Study Area
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BEC Zones: SBSmk2 ESSFmv4 ESSFwk2 AT Dominant Trees: White spruce Engelmann spruce Lodgepole pine Subalpine fir
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Williston Reservoir Watershed, north-central BC
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Prince George
Peace/Williston
Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program
2° CONTROL
NON-BUFFERED HARVESTING
BUFFERED HARVESTING 1° CONTROL
Lick 17 (1º Control)
West
_____ (“Treatment”) (Control)
East
Lick 30
Lick 40 (Control)
East
Lick 28 (Buffered Harvest)
?
Lick 28 (Buffered Harvest)
Pre-harvest
Trail
Post-harvest
Licks
2002
2003
Methods
Remote radio-telemetry stations
• Lotek SRX-400 data-logging radio-telemetry receivers
• Scan frequency 2 min • Signal strength measured on directional antennas • Datalogger locations: trail and lick April - Nov
Methods
Remote Cameras
Trail
• Active Infrared Trail monitoring systems (Trailmaster TM1550) • 35 mm waterproof instamatic cameras • Photo triggered when animal breaks infrared beam • System locations: 2 - 4 per access trail Apr - Nov
Preliminary Results –
Telemetry Monitoring of Radio-Collared Goats
• Study licks used • Timing of lick use Seasonal Daily • Frequency of lick visits • Duration of lick visits
2002 Pre-harvest; 2003 Post-harvest
Number of Study Licks Used
(East side Ospika Drainage)
2002 5 4 2
# licks used 1 2 3
2003 4 5 2
• ~40% collared goats used only one lick • Availability and use of alternate licks important
Seasonal Timing of Lick Use
Treatment vs. Control Lick
Before Logging
BUFFERED (Lick 28) - 2002
12 # of lick visits M13 F17 F9 F8 F6 F3 May June July Aug Sep Oct
After Logging
BUFFERED (Lick 28) - 2003
12 # of lick visits 10 8 6 4 2 0 May June July Aug Sep Oct M13 F17 F9 F8 F7 F3
Buffered Treatment
10 8 6 4 2 0
CONTROL (Lick 17) - 2002
20 # of lick visits M22 M11 M10 F21 F12 F5 May June July Aug Sep Oct
# of lick visits 20 15 10 5 0 May
CONTROL (Lick 17) - 2003
M32 M22 M11 M10 F21 F12 June July Aug Sep Oct F5
Control (Lick 17)
15 10 5 0
Daily Timing - To and From Licks
Daily tim ing of m ovem ents TO all licks (all anim als) 2002 100% 80% # of visits 60% 40% 20% 0% Lick 17 Lick 28 Lick 30 Lick 40 Dark Daw n/Dusk Daylight
TO licks
Daily tim ing of m ovem ents FROM all licks (all anim als) 2002 100% 80%
FROM licks
# of visits
60% 40% 20% 0% Lick 17 Lick 28 Lick 30 Lick 40
Dark Daw n/Dusk Daylight
2002 data
Frequency of Lick Visits
Treatment (Lick 28)
Goat ID # 2002 F3 5 F6* 1 F7* 0 F8 7 F9 4 F17* 2 M13 1 Total 20 2003 Change 4 -1 0 -1 2 +2 5 -2 5 +1 2 0 3 +2 21 +1
Control (Lick 17)
Goat ID # 2002 F5 6 F12 3 F21 3 M10 4 M11 3 M22 5 Total 24 2003 Change 8 +2 4 +1 7 +4 5 +1 5 +2 3 -2 32 +8
*Goats that used multiple licks
• No decrease in frequency of visits • No abandonment of lick
Duration of Lick Visits
Treatment vs. Control Lick
n Control 2002 2003 Buffered 2002 2003 22 29 20 21 Mean (hrs) 15 11 30 47
• Apparent increase in duration • Confounding factors: human disturbance (treeplanters, downloading activities, hunters), predators etc.
Camera Monitoring - Data Collection
Use of mineral licks
• Seasonal timing of lick use • Peak mineral lick use periods • Daily timing of visits Are collared goats are a representative sample?
Population data:
• Est. minimum population sizes • Age/sex ratios • Maximum group sizes (37 goats – 4th August 2002) • Productivity of collared females
Preliminary Results – Camera Monitoring
Use of access trails:
• Confirmation of trails as “goat trails” (primarily used by goats to access licks)
Species # photo records Goats 971 Black bear 26 Grizzly bear 19 Wolf 9 Moose 5 W-t deer 2 Elk 1 Lynx 1
Ospika Goat Adaptive Management Trial 2005/06 Activities
• Last year of data collection (Apr – Nov) • Data analysis and final report
Peace/Williston
Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program
The End