Distance of life : moose dispersal from birth to death

Abstract: Moose is the most important big game animal in Sweden, with a great impact on its environment, yet little is known of their movements early in life and therefore we studied a moose population in northern Sweden – their dispersal from birth to death. We found that mean dispersal distance was 11,5 km ± 2 km (mean distance in kilometers ± 95% C.I.) and ranged between 120 meters and 76 km. Males dispersed further than females (p<0,0136), the mean distance for females (n=70) was 7,5 km ± 2,5 km and 14,5 ± 3,5 km for males (n=90). Moreover, dispersal significantly increased with age (p=0,0001). We also tested if sex interacted with age as an explaining variable for dispersal but no evidence was found (p=0,8637). To evaluate whether these patterns should be considered in the harvest and management of moose, we compared mean moose dispersal distance with the mean size (i.e. radius) of a VVO (hunting area). There was a clear significance that moose dispersed further than the radius of a mean-sized VVO. Our findings show that moose population in northern Sweden is highly dynamic in the sense of their spatial distribution and there’re also clear demographical divergences in their dispersal. This is important to both moose managers, who have serious ecological factors to govern and also to moose hunters, who will not shoot their “own” moose. Both factors show the importance of managing moose at the appropriate scale.