Investigation into possible factors affecting the recruitment of Rocky Mountain elk on the Valles Caldera national preserve
type: CreativeWork
description: The Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP) is a relatively new public land holding located in the Jemez Mountains in north-central New Mexico. For the past decade, low calf:cow ratios of elk (Cervus elaphus) have been recorded on the VCNP prompting concern by both the Valles Caldera Trust, the managing body for the VCNP, and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) managers who are responsible for ensuring a sustainable elk population. These studies were done to look at possible factors that may be contributing to the low recruitment of elk on the VCNP as well as simulate how the population may respond to different management actions. A serological survey was conducted on hunter-harvested elk from the VCNP during the 2010 and 2011 fall hunting seasons. We tested 119 (2010, n =74; 2011, n = 45) for brucellosis, bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), bluetongue (BT), epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD), parainfluenza-3 (PI-3) and 5 serovars of Leptospirosis. Exposure rates were highest for PI-3 (34.5%) and IBR (10.1%) for total samples. Exposure for BVDV was found in 2.5% of the total samples. Exposure to EHD and BT was in 1.7% and 0.8% of the total samples. Exposure to the Leptospirosis serovars hardjo (n=2) and canicola (n=1) were found in the samples tested. All samples tested negative for brucellosis. The low to medium positive exposure to all the diseases except brucellosis indicate these diseases are present within the VCNP elk population but are not likely causing the low recruitment rates. A secondary study was done to address the hypothesis that the observed low calf:cow ratios on the VCNP may be the result of low calf survival rates. To determine cause-specific mortality and estimate survival, we radio marked elk calves (n =140) born within the VCNP from 2009-2011. Two approaches were done to estimate 14 day survival, overall summer survival (t = 13 weeks), and annual survival. First, biological covariates wer…
abstract: The Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP) is a relatively new public land holding located in the Jemez Mountains in north-central New Mexico. For the past decade, low calf:cow ratios of elk (Cervus elaphus) have been recorded on the VCNP prompting concern by both the Valles Caldera Trust, the managing body for the VCNP, and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) managers who are responsible for ensuring a sustainable elk population. These studies were done to look at possible factors that may be contributing to the low recruitment of elk on the VCNP as well as simulate how the population may respond to different management actions. A serological survey was conducted on hunter-harvested elk from the VCNP during the 2010 and 2011 fall hunting seasons. We tested 119 (2010, n =74; 2011, n = 45) for brucellosis, bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), bluetongue (BT), epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD), parainfluenza-3 (PI-3) and 5 serovars of Leptospirosis. Exposure rates were highest for PI-3 (34.5%) and IBR (10.1%) for total samples. Exposure for BVDV was found in 2.5% of the total samples. Exposure to EHD and BT was in 1.7% and 0.8% of the total samples. Exposure to the Leptospirosis serovars hardjo (n=2) and canicola (n=1) were found in the samples tested. All samples tested negative for brucellosis. The low to medium positive exposure to all the diseases except brucellosis indicate these diseases are present within the VCNP elk population but are not likely causing the low recruitment rates. A secondary study was done to address the hypothesis that the observed low calf:cow ratios on the VCNP may be the result of low calf survival rates. To determine cause-specific mortality and estimate survival, we radio marked elk calves (n =140) born within the VCNP from 2009-2011. Two approaches were done to estimate 14 day survival, overall summer survival (t = 13 weeks), and annual survival. First, biological covariates wer…
author: Bernal, Lance
language: eng
keywords: Disease, Elk, Elk calf, Mortality, Predator, Population management, Recruitment, Survival
date published: 2013-05
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:04:49Z
provider: Texas Technology University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Texas Tech University

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2346/48867