Moose Management and Research
Publications & Reports
Management
Managing moose involves looking at predators, habitat, human harvest, other non-harvest mortality (severe winters, vehicles and trains), and the composition of populations – cows, calves and bulls – and these elements are touched upon in this section. Population density, habitat, and harvest vary from area to area, so each Game Management Unit (GMU) is presented separately in this section.
In some areas, habitat limits the potential size of moose populations, and concentration of moose and open habitat creates the potential for excessive harvests in accessible areas. In other regions it is unknown whether predators or habitat are more limiting moose populations, although some are clearly held back by bear and wolf predation. Moose mortality due to vehicles is significant in some areas where human population and vehicle traffic continues to increase. Land clearing activities associated with agriculture, development and road construction has been responsible for the increase in moose browse that attract moose to highways. The number of moose killed by trains seems to be related to snowfall and varies widely from year to year.
Without fire or other disturbance, forests mature and browse - and moose populations - decrease. Fire, mechanical manipulation, and post-logging site work, which encourage hardwood regeneration, are beneficial for moose habitat and have been conducted on some sites. Ice-scouring also helps to rejuvenate willow stands. After logging, if site preparation is not conducted or is done inadequately, blue-joint grass initially crowd out hardwood and spruce seedlings, creating less desirable moose habitat and slowing forest succession.
Currently, ADF&G has intensive management areas in Units 9D, 13, 16B, 19A, 19D-East, 20E and parts of parts of 12, 20B, 20D, and 25C, where the primary management objective is to provide high harvests of ungulates for human use.
See the status and trends section for details about management practices in specific areas.
Research
A number of moose research projects are being conducted in Alaska, looking at nutritional needs, habitat use, and predator-prey relationships. Alaska has been a leader in moose research. The Kenai Moose Research Center has captive moose and over the past three decades, hundreds of moose research projects have been conducted there. See Alaska's Kenai Moose Research Center, a World Leader in Moose Science.
- GeoSpatial Survey Operations Manual (PDF 7.3 MB)
- Moose nutrition
- Moose research in Gustavus
- Assessing moose habitat
Working for Wildlife Video
Additional Research Projects
- Age-specific natural mortality rates of male vs. female moose
- Comparative nutritional status among 6 high-density, high-yield moose subpopulations in Interior Alaska
- Evaluation of moose-habitat relationships in Southeast Alaska
- Identification of factors affecting calf production, calf survival, and survival of female adult moose in Game Management Unit 13
- Response of moose and their predators to wolf reduction and short-term bear removal in a portion of Unit 19D East
Project Information
Comparative nutritional status among 6 high-density, high-yield moose subpopulations in Interior Alaska
Project 1.67. Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Grant. Project Duration: July 1, 2008–June 30, 2013. Principal Investigator: Kalin A. Kellie. Fairbanks.
High-density populations of moose near Fairbanks and Delta Junction have provided a proximate and sizeable moose harvest for Alaska hunters. In the last 3 years, harvest in Game Management Units (GMUs) 20A, 20B and 20D has increased to over 30% of the statewide harvest due to liberal antlerless hunts initiated in part to alleviate poor nutrition. The hunting public values these moose populations and closely scrutinizes their management. These GMUs (20A, 20B and 20D) are Intensive Management areas where management for increased yield is mandated. ADF&G biologists regularly explain and advocate harvest strategies in advisory committee meetings, at the Board of Game and to the press. Finally, major portions of these areas have recently burned and we have little information on the short-term effects of burns on moose populations that are nutritionally limited. Research on population dynamics at high density in these areas is timely for the development and defense of sound moose harvest strategies.
Where moose are at high density, measurement of population nutrition is vital to management strategies. In this project, we compare nutrition among 4 high-density and high-yield subpopulations surrounding Central 20A. We will measure short-yearling weights and conduct browse surveys to provide managers with a nutritional context for these subpopulations relative to the well-documented dynamics in Central 20A. We will examine long-term trends in winter density and reproduction from on-going annual population surveys and twinning surveys. This study will also study immigration and emigration from areas currently managed as subpopulations, detailing the relationship between harvested moose, movements, and population indices gathered during other seasons.
Finally, this study will provide a reference for the effects of recent burns (6-10 years old) on the dynamics of nutritionally-limited moose. Seasonal burn use, relative nutrition, available browse biomass and population trends in recent burns are unknown and likely to differ greatly from moose dynamics in older habitat. Documentation of high-density dynamics occurring in recent burns will better equip us to model moose populations in a climate where burn frequency may be increasing.