The effects of high ungulate densities on foraging choices by beaver (Castor canadensis) in the mixed-wood boreal forest

Canadian Journal of Zoology

Volumn 86, Issue 6, 2008, Pages 484-496

  Hood, G A ^a,b   Bayley, S E ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA   (Canada)

^b UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

BOREAL FOREST; FOOD AVAILABILITY; FOOD PREFERENCE; FORAGING BEHAVIOR; INTERSPECIFIC COMPETITION; MIXED FOREST; POPULATION DECLINE; POPULATION DENSITY; RODENT; UNGULATE;

ALBERTA; CANADA; ELK ISLAND NATIONAL PARK; NORTH AMERICA;

CASTOR CANADENSIS; POPULUS; SALIX; UNGULATA;

EID: 46749146595     PISSN: 00084301     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1139/Z08-029     Document Type: Article

References (59)

1. Baker, B.W. 2003. Beaver (Castor canadensis) in heavily browsed environments. Lutra, 46: 173-181.
2. Baker, B.W., and Cade, B.S. 1995. Predicting biomass of beaver food from willow stem diameters. J. Range Manag. 48: 322-326. doi:10.2307/4002484.
3. Baker, B.W., Ducharme, H.C., Mitchell, D.C.S., Stanley, T.R.M., and Peinetti, H.R. 2005. Interaction of beaver and elk herbivory reduces standing crop of willow. Ecol. Appl. 15: 110-118. doi:10.1890/03-5237.
4. Barnes, W.J., and Dibble, E. 1988. The effects of beaver in riverbank forest succession. Can. J. Bot. 66: 40-44. doi:10.1139/b88-005.
5. Basey, J.M., and Jenkins, S.H. 1995. Influences of predation risk and energy maximization on food selection by beavers (Castor canadensis). Can. J. Zool. 73: 2197-2208. doi:10.1139/z95-260.
6. Basey, J.M., Jenkins, S.J., and Busher, P.E. 1988. Optimal central-place foraging by beavers tree-size selection in relation to defensive chemicals of quaking aspen. Oecologia (Berl.), 76: 278-282. doi:10.1007/BF00379963.
7. Basey, J.M., Jenkins, S.H., and Miller, G.C. 1990. Food selection by beavers in relation to inducible defenses of Populus tremuloides. Oikos, 59: 57-62. doi:10.2307/3545122.
8. Belovsky, G.E. 1984. Summer diet optimization by beaver. Am. Midl. Nat. 111: 209-222. doi:10.2307/2425316.
9. Belovsky, G.E. 1997. Optimal foraging and community structure: the allometry of herbivore food selection and competition. Evol. Ecol. 11: 641-672. doi:10.1023/A:1018430201230.
10. Bergman, C.M., Fryxell, J.M., Gates, C.C., and Fortin, D. 2001. Ungulate foraging strategies: energy maximizing or time minimizing? J. Anim. Ecol. 70: 289-300. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2656.2001.00496.x.
11. Blyth, C.B. 1995. Dynamics of ungulate populations in Elk Island National Park. M.S. thesis, Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta. Edmonton.
12. Blyth, C.B., and Hudson, R.J. 1987. A plan for the management of vegetation and ungulates, Elk Island National Park. Elk Island National Park and University of Alberta, Edmonton.
13. Bond-Lamberty, B., Wang, C., and Gower, S.T. 2002. Aboveground and belowground biomass and sapwood area allometric equations for six boreal tree species of northern Manitoba. Can. J. For. Res. 32: 1441-1450. doi:10.1139/x02-063.
14. Bork, E.W., Hudson, R.J., and Bailey, A.W. 1997. Populus forest characterization in Elk Island National Park relative to herbivory, prescribed fire, and topography. Can. J. Bot. 75: 1518-1526. doi:10.1139/b97-866.
15. Bryant, J.P., Povenza, F.D., Pastor, J., Reichardt, P.B., Clausen, T.P., and du Toit, J.T. 1991. Interactions between woody plants and browsing mammals mediated by secondary metabolites. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 22: 431-446. doi:10.1146/annurev.es.22.110191.002243.
16. Cairns, A.L. 1976. Distribution and food habits of moose, wapiti, deer, bison, and snowshoe hare in Elk Island National Park, Alberta. M.Sc. thesis, Department of Biology, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.
17. Cairns, A.L., and Telfer, E.S. 1980. Habitat use by four sympatric ungulates in boreal mixed wood forest: bison-wapiti interrelationships in Elk Island National Park, Alberta. J. Wildl. Manag. 44: 849-857. doi:10.2307/3808313.
18. Charnov, E.L. 1976. Optimal foraging, the marginal value theorem. Theor. Popul. Biol. 9: 129-136. doi:10.1016/0040-5809(76)90040-X. PMID:1273796.
19. Donkor, N.T., and Fryxell, J.M. 1999. Impact of beaver foraging on structure of lowland boreal forests of Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario. For. Ecol. Manag. 118: 83-92. doi:10.1016/S0378-1127(98)00487-3.
20. Doucet, C.M., Walton, R.A., and Fryxell, J.M. 1994. Perceptual cues used by beavers foraging on woody plants. Anim. Behav. 47: 1482-1484. doi:10.1006/anbe.1994.1200.
21. Edge, W.D., and Marcum, C.L. 1989. Determining elk distribution with pellet-group and telemetry techniques. J. Wildl. Manag. 53: 621-624. doi:10.2307/3809186.
22. Fryxell, J.M. 1992. Space use by beavers in relation to resource abundance. Oikos, 64: 474-478. doi:10.2307/3545163.
23. Fryxell, J.M. 1999. Functional responses to resource complexity: an experimental analysis of foraging by beavers In Herbivores: between plants and predators. Edited by V.K. Brown, R. Drent, and H. Olff. Blackwell, Oxford, England. pp. 371-396.
24. Fryxell, J.M. 2001. Habitat suitability and source-sink dynamics of beavers. J. Anim. Ecol. 70: 310-316. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2656.2001.00492. x.
25. Fryxell, J.M., and Doucet, C.M. 1991. Provisiong time and centralplace foraging in beavers. Can. J. Zool. 69: 1308-1313. doi:10.1139/z91-184.
26. Fryxell, J.M., and Doucet, C.M. 1993. Diet choice and the functional response of beavers. Ecology, 74: 1297-1306. doi:10.2307/1940060.
27. Gallant, D., Berube, C.H., Tremblay, E., and Vasseur, L. 2004. An extensive study of the foraging ecology of beavers (Castor canadensis) in relation to habitat quality. Can. J. Zool. 82: 922-933. doi:10.1139/z04-067.
28. Grover, A.M., and Baldassarre, G.A. 1995. Bird-species richness within beaver ponds in south-central New York. Wetlands, 15: 108-118.
29. Hardin, G. 1960. The competitive exclusion principle. Science (Washington, D.C.), 131: 1292-1297. doi:10.1126/science.131.3409.1292. PMID:14399717.
30. Hardy and Associates. 1986. Ecological land classification of Elk Island National Park. Parks Canada Report prepared by Hardy Associates (1978) Ltd., Calgary, Alta.
31. Hebblewhite, M., White, C.A., Nietvelt, C.G., MacKenzie, J.A., Hurd, T.E., Fryxell, J.M., Bayley, S.E., and Paquet, P.C. 2005. Human activity mediates a trophic cascade caused by wolves. Ecology, 86: 2135-2144. doi:10.1890/04-1269.
32. Holt, R.D., Grover, J., and Tilman, D. 1994. Simple rules for interspecific dominance in systems with exploitative and apparent competition. Am. Nat. 144: 741-771. doi:10.1086/285705.
33. Hood, G.A. 2007. The impact of fire, climate, and herbivory on the configuration of riparian vegetation and maintenance of beaver ponds in Elk Island National Park. Ph.D. thesis, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton.
34. Hood, G.A., and Bayley, S.E. 2008. Beaver (Castor canadensis) mitigate the effects of climate on the area of open water in boreal wetlands in western Canada. Biol. Conserv. 141: 556-567. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2007. 12.003.
35. Hood, G.A., Bayley, S.E., and Olson, W. 2007. Effects of prescribed fire on habitat of beaver (Castor canadensis) in Elk Island National Park, Canada. For. Ecol. Manag. 239: 200-209. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2006.12.005.
36. Ivlev, V.S. 1961. Experimental ecology of the feeding of fishes. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn.
37. Jacobs, J. 1974. Quantitative measurement of food selection: a modification of the forage ratio and Ivlev's electivity index. Oecologia (Berl.), 14: 413-417. doi:10.1007/BF00384581.
38. Jenkins, S.H. 1979. Seasonal and year-to-year differences in food selection by beavers. Oecologia (Berl.), 44: 112-116. doi:10.1007/BF00346408.
39. Jenkins, S.H. 1980. A size-distance relation in food selection by beavers. Ecology, 61: 740-746. doi:10.2307/1936743.
40. Kay, C.E. 1994. The impact of native ungulates and beaver on riparian communities in the intermountain west. Nat. Resour. Environ. Iss. 1: 23-44.
41. Kuzyk, G.W., and Hudson, R.J. 2007. Animal-unit equivalence of bison, wapiti, and mule deer in the aspen parkland of Alberta. Can. J. Zool. 85: 767-773. doi:10.1139/Z07-058.
42. Martell, K.A., Foote, A.L., and Cumming, S.G. 2006. Riparian disturbance due to beavers (Castor canadensis) in Alberta's boreal mixwood forests: implications for forest management. Ecoscience, 13: 164-171. doi:10.2980/i1195-6860-13-2-164.1.
43. Naiman, R.J., Melillo, J.M., and Hobbie, J.E. 1986. Ecosystem alteration of boreal forest streams by beaver (Castor canadensis). Ecology, 67: 1254-1269. doi:10.2307/1938681.
44. Naiman, R.J., Johnston, C.A., and Kelley, J.C. 1988. Alteration of North American streams by beaver. Bioscience, 38: 753-762. doi:10.2307/1310784.
45. Nietvelt, C.G. 2001. Herbivory interactions between beaver (Castor canadensis) and elk (Cervus elaphus) on willow in Banff National Park, Alberta. M.Sc. thesis, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton.
46. Nolet, B.A., Hoekstra, A., and Ottenheim, M.M. 1994. Selective foraging on woody species by the beaver Castor fiber, and its impact on a riparian willow forest. Biol. Conserv. 70: 117-128. doi:10.1016/0006-3207(94) 90279-8.
47. Pruss, S.D. 2002. Ecology of coyotes (Canis latrans) in Elk Island National Park. Ph.D. thesis, Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton.
48. Richards, S.A., Nisbet, R.M., Wilson, W.G., and Possingham, H.P. 2000. Grazers and diggers: exploitation competition and coexistence among foragers with different feeding strategies on a single resource. Am. Nat. 155: 266-279. doi:10.1086/303316. PMID:10686165.
49. Roberts, T.H., and Arner, D.H. 1984. Food habits of beaver in eastcentral Mississippi. J. Wildl. Manag. 48: 1414-1419. doi:10.2307/3801808.
50. Schmitt, R.J. 1996. Exploitation competition in mobile grazers: trade-offs in use of a limited resource. Ecology, 77: 408-425. doi:10.2307/2265618.
51. Schoener, T.W. 1979. Generality of the size-distance relation in models of optimal foraging. Am. Nat. 114: 902-914. doi:10.1086/283537.
52. Schwanke, R., and Baker, K. 1977. The beaver of Elk Island National Park. Available from Parks Canada, Calgary, Alta.
53. Shapiro, S.S., Wilk, M.B., and Chen, H.J. 1968. A comparative study of various tests of normality. J. Am. Stat. Assoc. 63: 1343-1372. doi:10.2307/2285889.
54. Singer, F.J., Zeigenfluss, L.C., Cates, R.G., and Barnett, D.T. 1998. Elk, multiple factors, and persistence of willows in national parks. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 26: 419-428.
55. Skinner, D. 1984. Selection of winter food by beavers at Elk Island National Park. M.Sc. thesis, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton.
56. SPSS Inc. 2002. SPSS for Windows. Release 11.5 [computer program]. SPSS Inc., Chicago.
57. StatSoft Inc. 2003. STATISTICA (data analysis software system). Version 6.1 [computer program]. StatSoft Inc., Tulsa, Okla.
58. White, C.A., Feller, M.C., and Bayley, S. 2003. Predation risk and the functional response of elk-aspen herbivory. For. Ecol. Manag. 181: 77-97. doi:10.1016/S0378-1127(03)00119-1.
59. Wilson, W.G., Osenberg, C.W., Schmitt, R.J., and Nisbet, R.M. 1999. Complementary foraging behaviors allow coexistence of two consumers. Ecology, 80: 2358-2372.