Ecosystem management for biological conservation should include consideration of landscape-scale processes such as the habitat requirements of focal species. Moose (Alces alces americana) have been identified as an appropriate target for... more
Ecosystem management for biological conservation should include consideration of landscape-scale processes such as the habitat requirements of focal species. Moose (Alces alces americana) have been identified as an appropriate target for focal attention in mainland Nova Scotia. Currently, the population is at risk, and strategies for conservation should include the protection of sufficient habitat to meet the spatial requirements of the population. Delineation of spatial habitat requirements calls for an understanding of species-habitat associations and the distribution of suitable habitat across the landscape. To this end, habitat suitability in Nova Scotia was assessed relative to four criteria: (1) food availability; (2) conifer cover; (3) mixed-wood cover; and, (4) aquatic resources. Model predictions were tested by comparing habitat suitability values to provincial pellet inventory data. Road density was found to be more important than habitat composition in determining moose p...
Modern Eurasian telemetacarpal deer represent a poor remnant of the rich evolutionary radiation of the subfamily Capreolinae from the past. The evolutionary radiation of capreolines took place during the Late Miocene in the middle... more
Modern Eurasian telemetacarpal deer represent a poor remnant of the rich evolutionary radiation of the subfamily Capreolinae from the past. The evolutionary radiation of capreolines took place during the Late Miocene in the middle latitudes of Eurasia, but their diversity was significantly depleted by the subsequent climate changes. The multivariate cluster analysis of diagnostic craniodental characters (including antlers) of modern and fossil telemetacarpal deer and some cervid forms with uncertain systematic position demonstrates that such Late Miocene and Pliocene genera as Cervavitus, Pliocervus, and Lucentia should be regarded as capreolines, demonstrating a diversified evolutionary radiation of the subfamily Capreolinae in the past. Lucentia represents the primitive two-pointed stage of antler evolution of Capreolinae and possibly belongs to the phylogenetic branch that includes Procapreolus and Pliocervus. The Capreolus- Rangifer-Odocoileus phylogenetic branch has a more distant phylogenetic relationship with the Lucentia-Procapreolus-Pliocervus group. The cluster analysis shows that modern Capreolus may represent an early evolutionary off-shoot of the Rangifer-Odocoileus lineage. The obtained for Capreolus results do not fit the genetic data, suggesting that the set of recorded craniodental characters may be improved. The Cervavitus-Alces group is the most detached phylogenetic branch of Capreolinae. According to the present study, holometacarpal "Cervocerus novorossiae” from the Late Tertiary of China is nested within the subfamily Cervinae. Among the most notable plesiomorphic craniodental characters of Capreolinae should be mentioned the parallel and sloped backwards long pedicles, the Palaeomeryx fold in lower molars, the protoconal fold in upper molars, and the high position of the first antler ramification.
Three elk (Alces alces) bones found in 1955 in Zug-Gartenstadt, Switzerland, two shoulder blades and a tibia fragment, have been analysed anew: They date to the Late Ice Age around 12400 BP (12776-12220 calBC) according to two C14 dates -... more
Three elk (Alces alces) bones found in 1955 in Zug-Gartenstadt, Switzerland, two shoulder blades and a tibia fragment, have been analysed anew: They date to the Late Ice Age around 12400 BP (12776-12220 calBC) according to two C14 dates - the finds are currently the oldest known elk bones in Switzerland after the Last Glacial Maximum and represent the expansion of elk habitats in the Bølling interstadial. The tibia fragment shows cut marks and has been crushed for bone marrow extraction. The dating of the bones corresponds to late Magdalenian sites in the vincinity.
J. Reinhard, R. Huber, D. Drucker, W. Müller, Von Irrtümern, Übersehenem und moderner Analytik. Neue Erkenntnisse zu den spätglazialen Elchknochen von Zug-Gartenstadt. Tugium 35, 2019, 129-138.
The deer ked (Lipoptena cervi) is an Old World dipteran ectoparasite of moose (Alces alces) and other Cervidae. It has undergone significant expansion in distribution on moose of Scan-dinavia in recent decades. This has been accompanied... more
The deer ked (Lipoptena cervi) is an Old World dipteran ectoparasite of moose (Alces alces) and other Cervidae. It has undergone significant expansion in distribution on moose of Scan-dinavia in recent decades. This has been accompanied by much published research dealing with the range expansion and possible factors involved, problems for moose, exposure of northern populations of reindeer (Rangifer rangifer tarandus), and public health issues. Apparently, Lipoptena cervi was introduced into northeastern United States in the late 1800s, presumably on an unknown species of European deer, and it soon spread to white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). We review the current situation in Scandinavia and North America and document the first record of L. cervi on moose in northeastern United States.
The deer ked (Lipoptena cervi) is an Old World dipteran ectoparasite of moose (Alces alces) and other Cervidae. It has undergone significant expansion in distribution on moose of Scandinavia in recent decades. This has been accompanied by... more
The deer ked (Lipoptena cervi) is an Old World dipteran ectoparasite of moose (Alces alces) and other Cervidae. It has undergone significant expansion in distribution on moose of Scandinavia in recent decades. This has been accompanied by much published research dealing with the range expansion and possible factors involved, problems for moose, exposure of northern populations of reindeer (Rangifer rangifer tarandus), and public health issues. Apparently, Lipoptena cervi was introduced into northeastern United States in the late 1800s, presumably on an unknown species of European deer, and it soon spread to white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). We review the current situation in Scandinavia and North America and document the first record of L. cervi on moose in northeastern United States.
Ecosystem management for biological conservation should include consideration of landscape-scale processes such as the habitat requirements of focal species. Moose (Alces alces americana) have been identified as an appropriate target for... more
Ecosystem management for biological conservation should include consideration of landscape-scale processes such as the habitat requirements of focal species. Moose (Alces alces americana) have been identified as an appropriate target for focal attention in mainland Nova Scotia. Currently, the population is at risk, and strategies for conservation should include the protection of sufficient habitat to meet the spatial requirements of the population. Delineation of spatial habitat requirements calls for an understanding of species-habitat associations and the distribution of suitable habitat across the landscape. To this end, habitat suitability in Nova Scotia was assessed relative to four criteria: (1) food availability; (2) conifer cover; (3) mixed-wood cover; and, (4) aquatic resources. Model predictions were tested by comparing habitat suitability values to provincial pellet inventory data. Road density was found to be more important than habitat composition in determining moose p...
