Warm winters, hot moose

Temperature drives activity and habitat trade-offs across a cold-adapted species’ range

Bibliographic Data

ID15548860
AuthorsBenjamin K Sullender (0000-0001-9787-916X, University of Washington, corresponding author), Calum X Cunningham (0000-0003-1640-2533, University of Tasmania, corresponding author), Adele K Reinking (0000-0002-9082-4315, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, corresponding author), Glen E Liston (0000-0001-5743-035X, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, corresponding author), Rebecca L Levine (0000-0002-3913-2911, University of Wyoming, corresponding author), Tana Verzuh (0000-0003-4027-5415, University of Wyoming, corresponding author), Natalie T Boelman (0000-0003-3716-2372, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, corresponding author), Stan Boutin (0000-0001-6317-038X, University of Alberta, corresponding author), Michael J Suitor (0000-0001-7463-8320, Yukon Department of Environment, corresponding author), Kevin L Monteith (0000-0003-4834-5465, University of Wyoming, corresponding author), Mark Hebblewhite (0000-0001-5382-1361, University of Montana, corresponding author), Todd Brinkman (0000-0001-5375-4840, University of Alaska Fairbanks, corresponding author), Laura R Prugh (0000-0001-9045-3107, University of Washington, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume20
Issue12
Pages124064-124064
Publication date2025-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironmental Research Letters (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326
PublisherIOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1088/1748-9326/ae263a
OpenAlexW4416888555
LanguageEN
References cited92

Moose ( Alces alces ) are a cold-adapted species that may be vulnerable to overheating at relatively low temperatures in winter. Moose have two main strategies for thermal regulation: shifting activity patterns and selecting habitat that provides thermal refuge. In this study, we compared how moose use these two strategies in response to winter temperature across their latitudinal range. First, we used hidden Markov models to delineate encamped and traveling movement states for five populations of global positioning system-collared moose in relation to time of day, temperature, and snow depth. Next, we used step-selection functions to determine influential covariates of encamped locations. As air temperatures and snow depths increased, moose from all populations were more likely to remain in an encamped, relatively stationary state. All moose became less diurnal and more nocturnal at high temperatures, although the magnitude of changes in activity varied by population. Encamped northern moose selected shrubby habitat that presents foraging opportunities, whereas encamped southern moose selected for coniferous forest that provides poor forage but offers shade in southern regions. The only moose population to select for lower temperatures also experienced the warmest winter on record during our study period, which may explain this population’s low overall activity rates. Our results indicate that moose along their southern range extent are responding to elevated mid-winter temperatures by initially altering activity patterns and subsequently selecting for potential thermal refugia at the expense of foraging habitat, while northern moose were unlikely to shift habitat selection based on temperature unless faced with an anomalously warm winter. As climate change is implicated in range contraction and population declines, our findings suggest that high winter temperatures may be causing moose to not only reduce overall activity but also to forgo preferred foraging habitat in favor of prioritizing thermal refuge, thus forcing a trade-off between nutrition and thermoregulation

Climate change · Diel vertical migration · Foraging · Habitat · Microclimate · Population · Range (aeronautics · Snow · Avian ecology and behavior · Species Distribution and Climate Change · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

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