The pine marten (Martes martes) occupies the northernmost extent of its distribution in Norway, where microtine rodents are an important food item. The relationship between microtine rodent abundance and pine marten population dynamics is not well understood. In this paper, we examined this relationship and tested if environmental factors (e.g. snow depth, elevation, mature spruce forest density and agricultural land density) modulate pine marten population dynamics. We calculated pine marten abundance indices using data collected from 593 unique snow transects surveyed between 2003 and 2014 in Hedmark, Norway. We employed a Partial Rate Correlation Function to identify potential cyclicity in pine marten populations. We did not observe any cyclical patterns in pine marten populations within our short time series. Instead, their population appeared to be directly density-dependent. Although the population growth rate of pine marten tended to increase with increasing elevation, it was not affected by individual variables including a microtine rodent abundance index and snow depth. However, the annual growth rate of pine marten populations was positively affected by the interaction between the microtine rodent abundance index and increasing elevation. Pine marten abundance increased with microtine rodent abundance, elevation, snow depth and density of mature spruce forest, but decreased with increasing agricultural land density. Pine martens are opportunistic diet generalists that can switch between prey and cache food for later consumption. They are also strongly territorial with delayed implantation and are slow to respond to environmental changes due to their relatively low reproductive potential. These life-history traits may mitigate the effects of fluctuating microtine rodent abundance on pine marten reproduction and survival. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that microtine rodents still serve as important prey which can influence the population dynamics of pine martens in higher elevation habitats where alternative prey may be less available.

The European pine marten Martes martes is often associated with late seral stage coniferous forest stands. Earlier research has indicated that this species may be negatively influenced by clearcutting practices. However, the effects of current clearcutting methods on pine marten occurrence in conjunction with changing environmental conditions are not well known. In this study, we combined four complete years of nationwide data collected during a long‐term camera trap (CT) monitoring program in Norway. We employed a multi‐scale occupancy model to investigate the relationship of pine marten occurrence to clearcuts (regenerating stands ≤ 10 years old) and forests ≥ 120 years old. We also examined pine marten detection in relation to habitat features (i.e. dominant microsite characteristics) and to varying snow depths and temperatures. We found no relationship between pine marten occurrence and the proportions of old forest and clearcuts at the landscape scale. At the habitat‐patch scale, pine marten occurrence was positively associated with the presence of old forest patches and terrain ruggedness, but not with clearcuts ≤ 100 m from sites. At CT sites near clearcuts, the detection probability was negatively correlated with snow depth. In contrast, pine marten occurrence was positively associated with snow depth at CT sites > 100 m from clearcuts. Furthermore, the detection probability increased with temperature and the presence of boulders at CT sites. Boulders may provide important access points for foraging, and cover for resting and predator avoidance. While previous studies indicate that pine martens prefer older forest and avoid clearcuts, the current level and scale of clearcutting in Norway does not appear to influence its occurrence at the landscape scale.

Abstract Background Temperatures in arctic-boreal regions are increasing rapidly and pose significant challenges to moose (Alces alces), a heat-sensitive large-bodied mammal. Moose act as ecosystem engineers, by regulating forest carbon and structure, below ground nitrogen cycling processes, and predator-prey dynamics. Previous studies showed that during hotter periods, moose displayed stronger selection for wetland habitats, taller and denser forest canopies, and minimized exposure to solar radiation. However, previous studies regarding moose behavioral thermoregulation occurred in Europe or southern moose range in North America. Understanding whether ambient temperature elicits a behavioral response in high-northern latitude moose populations in North America may be increasingly important as these arctic-boreal systems have been warming at a rate two to three times the global mean. Methods We assessed how Alaska moose habitat selection changed as a function of ambient temperature using a step-selection function approach to identify habitat features important for behavioral thermoregulation in summer (June–August). We used Global Positioning System telemetry locations from four populations of Alaska moose (n = 169) from 2008 to 2016. We assessed model fit using the quasi-likelihood under independence criterion and conduction a leave-one-out cross validation. Results Both male and female moose in all populations increasingly, and nonlinearly, selected for denser canopy cover as ambient temperature increased during summer, where initial increases in the conditional probability of selection were initially sharper then leveled out as canopy density increased above ~ 50%. However, the magnitude of selection response varied by population and sex. In two of the three populations containing both sexes, females demonstrated a stronger selection response for denser canopy at higher temperatures than males. We also observed a stronger selection response in the most southerly and northerly populations compared to populations in the west and central Alaska. Conclusions The impacts of climate change in arctic-boreal regions increase landscape heterogeneity through processes such as increased wildfire intensity and annual area burned, which may significantly alter the thermal environment available to an animal. Understanding habitat selection related to behavioral thermoregulation is a first step toward identifying areas capable of providing thermal relief for moose and other species impacted by climate change in arctic-boreal regions.

Semi-jacketed lead-cored or copper-based homogenous rifle bullets are commonly used for hunting big game. Ever since their introduction in the 1990’s, copper-based bullets have not been widely accepted by hunters due to limited supply, higher expense, and the perception that they exhibit inferior killing efficiency and correspondingly higher wounding rates. Here, we present data showing that animal flight distances for roe deer, red deer, brown bear, and moose dispatched with lead- or copper-based hunting bullets did not significantly differ from an animal welfare standardized animal flight distance based on body mass. Lead-cored bullets typical fragment on impact, whereas copper-based bullets retain more mass and expand more than their leaden counterparts. Our data demonstrate that the relative killing efficiency of lead and copper bullets is similar in terms of animal flight distance after fatal shots. Hunters that traditionally use lead bullets should consider switching to copper bullets to enhance human and environmental health.

Shooting is an important tool for managing terrestrial wildlife populations worldwide. To date, however, there has been few quantitative methods available enabling assessment of the animal welfare outcomes of rifle hunting. We apply a variety of factors to model flight distance (distance travelled by an animal after bullet impact) and incapacitation from the moment of bullet impact. These factors include body mass, allometric and isometric scaling, comparative physiology, wound ballistics and linear kinematics. This approach provides for the first time a method for quantifying and grading the quality of shooting processes by examining only body mass and flight distance. Our model is a universally applicable tool for measuring animal welfare outcomes of shooting regimes both within and among species. For management agencies the model should be a practical tool for monitoring and evaluating animal welfare outcomes regarding shooting of mammalian populations.

The importance of individuals to the dynamics of populations may depend on reproductive status, especially for species with complex social structure. Loss of reproductive individuals in socially complex species could disproportionately affect population dynamics by destabilizing social structure and reducing population growth. Alternatively, compensatory mechanisms such as rapid replacement of breeders may result in little disruption. The impact of breeder loss on the population dynamics of social species remains poorly understood. We evaluated the effect of breeder loss on social stability, recruitment and population growth of grey wolves (Canis lupus) in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska using a 26-year dataset of 387 radiocollared wolves. Harvest of breeding wolves is a highly contentious conservation and management issue worldwide, with unknown population-level consequences. Breeder loss preceded 77% of cases (n = 53) of pack dissolution from 1986 to 2012. Packs were more likely to dissolve if a female or both breeders were lost and pack size was small. Harvest of breeders increased the probability of pack dissolution, likely because the timing of harvest coincided with the breeding season of wolves. Rates of denning and successful recruitment were uniformly high for packs that did not experience breeder loss; however, packs that lost breeders exhibited lower denning and recruitment rates. Breeder mortality and pack dissolution had no significant effects on immediate or longer term population dynamics. Our results indicate the importance of breeding individuals is context dependent. The impact of breeder loss on social group persistence, reproduction and population growth may be greatest when average group sizes are small and mortality occurs during the breeding season. This study highlights the importance of reproductive individuals in maintaining group cohesion in social species, but at the population level socially complex species may be resilient to disruption and harvest through strong compensatory mechanisms.

ABSTRACT Fragments from bullets used for moose ( Alces alces ) hunting contaminate meat, gut piles, and offal and expose humans and scavengers to lead and copper. We sampled bullets ( n = 1,655) retrieved from harvested moose in Fennoscandia (Finland, Sweden, and Norway) to measure loss of lead and copper. Concordant questionnaires ( n = 5,255) supplied ballistic information to complete this task. Hunters preferred lead‐based bullets (90%) to copper bullets (10%). Three caliber classes were preferred: 7.62 mm (69%), 9.3 mm (12%), and 6.5 mm (12%). Bullets passed completely through calves (76%) more frequently compared to yearlings (63%) or adults (47%). Metal deposition per bullet type (bonded lead core, lead core, and copper) did not vary among moose age classes (calves, yearlings, and adults). Average metal loss per bullet type was 3.0 g, 2.6 g, and 0.5 g for lead‐core, bonded lead‐core, and copper bullets, respectively. This corresponded to 18–26, 10–25, and 0–15% metal loss for lead‐core, bonded lead‐core, and copper bullets, respectively. Based on the harvest of 166,000 moose in Fennoscandia during the 2013/2014 hunting season, we estimated that lead‐based bullets deposited 690 kg of lead in moose carcasses, compared with 21 kg of copper from copper bullets. Bone impact increased, whereas longer shooting distances decreased, lead loss from lead‐based bullets. These factors did not influence loss of copper from copper bullets. In conclusion, a significant amount of toxic lead from lead‐based bullets is deposited in the tissue of harvested moose, which may affect the health of humans and scavengers that ingest it. By switching to copper bullets, Fennoscandian hunters can eliminate a significant source of lead exposure in humans and scavengers. © 2017 The Wildlife Society.

Illegal killings account for approximately one half of the total mortality of wolves in Scandinavia between 1999 and 2009. Through this period, the wolf population increased to roughly 260 individuals with an annual growth rate of 13.5 % as opposed to the potential of 29.5 %. Barring other interventions, if no poaching had occurred, the projections indicate that the population could have reached almost 1000 animals. During the same decade, attitudes in the public toward wolves have remained stable and positive. In a socio-ecological perspective, the potentially high wolf population growth rate can easily outpace the much slower social dynamics of evolving public attitudes toward wolves. We surveyed a representative sample of the Norwegian public and people living inside the designated wolf zone to ascertain whether reducing wolf population growth rates through poaching may unintentionally have contributed to allowing the public opinion to adjust to the renewed presence of wolves and maintain a high level of acceptance. Findings partly support this hypothesis but also that the greater majority of the public oppose illegal hunting. The results suggest complex links between preferences for wolf population sizes, acceptance for poaching, and beliefs about consequences of illegal hunting. We argue that attitudes are unstable and sensitive to how conflicts develop and are resolved. Scandinavian wolf populations now border on genetic unsustainability. Current policy with extremely low population goals leave minimal room for experimentation. Paradoxically, the only way to maintain positive public attitudes and reduce poaching may be to increase population sizes and simultaneously increase legal hunting quotas.

This paper describes the two main approaches to modern conservation of species and habitats. It shows how the protection of species and habitats can be complemented by conservation through use of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The latter approach has socioeconomic advantages but is also more complex and requires new tools to assist its implementation. We show that appropriate tools are being developed, as concepts within international conventions and through design of an internet system for decisionsupport to all levels of society, from landmanager to national governments and beyond.

Managers of recovering wolf (Canis lupus) populations require knowledge regarding the potential impacts caused by the loss of territorial, breeding wolves when devising plans that aim to balance population goals with human concerns. Although ecologists have studied wolves extensively, we lack an understanding of this phenomenon as published records are sparse. Therefore, we pooled data (n = 134 cases) on 148 territorial breeding wolves (75 M and 73 F) from our research and published accounts to assess the impacts of breeder loss on wolf pup survival, reproduction, and territorial social groups. In 58 of 71 cases (84%), >= 1 pup survived, and the number or sex of remaining breeders (including multiple breeders) did not influence pup survival. Pups survived more frequently in groups of >6 wolves (90%) compared with smaller groups (68%). Auxiliary nonbreeders benefited pup survival, with pups surviving in 92% of cases where auxiliaries were present and 64% where they were absent. Logistic regression analysis indicated that the number of adult-sized wolves remaining after breeder loss, along with pup age, had the greatest influence on pup survival. Territorial wolves reproduced the following season in 47% of cases, and a greater proportion reproduced where one breeder had to be replaced (56%) versus cases where both breeders had to be replaced (9%). Group size was greater for wolves that reproduced the following season compared with those that did not reproduce. Large recolonizing (>75 wolves) and saturated wolf populations had similar times to breeder replacement and next reproduction, which was about half that for small recolonizing (<= 75 wolves) populations. We found inverse relationships between recolonizing population size and time to breeder replacement (r = -0.37) and time to next reproduction (r = -0.36). Time to breeder replacement correlated strongly with time to next reproduction (r = 0.97). Wolf social groups dissolved and abandoned their territories subsequent to breeder loss in 38% of cases. Where groups dissolved, wolves reestablished territories in 53% of cases, and neighboring wolves usurped territories in an additional 21% of cases. Fewer groups dissolved where breeders remained (26%) versus cases where breeders were absent (85%). Group size after breeder loss was smaller where groups dissolved versus cases where groups did not dissolve. To minimize negative impacts, we recommend that managers of recolonizing wolf populations limit lethal control to solitary individuals or territorial pairs where possible, because selective removal of pack members can be difficult. When reproductive packs are to be managed, we recommend that managers only remove wolves from reproductive packs when pups are >= 6 months old and packs contain >= 6 members (including >= 3 ad-sized wolves). Ideally, such packs should be close to neighboring packs and occur within larger ( >= 75 wolves) recolonizing populations.

Effective management of ungulates requires regular estimates of population abundance, but these are often expensive and hard to obtain. We therefore examined if change-in-ratio (CIR) estimation methods, in combination with age- and sex-specific data on moose Alces alces observed and killed, could be a cheap alternative for estimating moose abundance in Norway. We used the large number of moose observations reported by moose hunters and estimated pre-harvest adult population size based on annual changes in adult sex ratio. Similarly, we estimated 1) annual recruitment rate based on the proportion of calves observed during the hunting season, 2) the harvest rate, and 3) the natural mortality rate based on variation in recruitment rate and harvest rate. During 1991-2000, annual variation in abundance was correlated with two of three independent indices of moose density, indicating that the CIR methods provide relatively precise estimates of abundance. Similarly, the estimated average natural mortality rate was similar to natural mortality rates of radio-collared moose in Scandinavia, and the estimated abundance was close to what we expected based on the annual harvest. However, large annual variation in estimated rates of natural mortality indicated that over- and underestimation of population abundance occurred for some years. This was likely due to the fact that harvesting occurred during periods of moose observations. Because we had no independent estimates of abundance, we were unable to estimate the bias. Hence, we concluded that variation in CIR abundance is a sensitive index of moose density, but that more studies are needed to determine the accuracy of CIR estimates as measurements of abundance. Future studies should focus on smaller populations with independent estimates on abundance, and base CIR estimation on changes in sex ratio within the hunting season to reduce the number of possible confounding effects.

Abstract Ever since the present phase of wolf Canis lupus population growth began in southern Scandinavia in 1983 there has been controversy surrounding their origins. Genetical analyses have clarified that the wolves originate from the Finnish-Russian populations, but the debate continues about how they came to be in southern Scandinavia, with many wolf-opponents claiming they have been released in a clandestine action. By comparing the geography of Scandinavia to known wolf dispersal behaviour our analysis focuses on whether it is possible for wolves to have recolonised southern Scandinavia without human assistance. From 298 published dispersal distances for North American wolves, 10 were over 500 km, with the longest being 886 km in a straight line. When also including data on actual distance moved, several wolves have been recorded to travel more than 4,000 km, often within only a few months. However, the published data are biased towards short-distance movements. Any wolves travelling from the Finnish-Russian border to the site of the 1983 reproduction would have to have travelled > 1,000 km, with potential routes being overland, or over the ice covered Baltic Sea during winter. From their present distribution, wolves have shown a clear ability to cross areas of sea-ice of up to 70 km. Therefore, it is possible for wolves to have colonised south Scandinavia through natural dispersal, although it requires movements at the extreme edge of what has been documented. As wolves expand in both southern Scandinavia and Finland, the distance between the populations will decrease, although contact will require passing through 500 km of the conflict-full reindeer-herding areas or crossing of the Baltic Ice.