Nutrition and parturition date effects on elk: potential implications for research and management.

Abstract

Understanding and managing those mechanisms that affect population dynamics comprise, perhaps, the most fundamental aspect of wildlife management (Caughley 1977). Biologists generally categorize these mechanisms as either top-down (predator-driven) or bottom-up (habitat- or animal-density driven). Bottom-up influences involve imbalances between increasing animal density and key habitat resources. For large ungulates, abundance and nutritive value of forage are commonly thought to be the primary mediators of bottom-up regulation (Caughley 1979, McCullough 1984). Certainly, nutritional deficiencies can have extensive and often acute effects on reproduction, growth, development and survival (Verme and Ullrey 1984, Cook 2002).

Citation

Cook, John G.; Johnson, Bruce K.; Cook, Rachel C.; Riggs, Robert A.; DelCurto, Tim; Bryant, Larry D.; Irwin, Larry L. 2004. Nutrition and parturition date effects on elk: potential implications for research and management. In: Transactions of the 69th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference: 604-624