Influence of a Population Irruption by Roosevelt Elk on a Vegetation Index
Date
2014-05
Authors
Starns, Heath D.
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Abstract
Understanding the factors that influence population growth is central to the study of any species. Large herbivores can influence their food supplies through herbivory. Over 23 years just before and throughout an irruption by a Roosevelt elk population I assessed temporal and spatial patterns of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI).
My objectives were to determine if elk herbivory was associated with NDVI and whether the plant community foraged by the irruptive population was tolerant or resistant to elk grazing. Using Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper imagery, I obtained estimates of NDVI for three areas of Redwood National and State Parks, each inhabited by distinct populations of Roosevelt elk. Each population exhibited a different pattern of growth through the time series of the study. One population underwent the irruptive growth pattern while the other two populations did not. Using piece wise regression, I detected temporal changes in NDVI for the area used by the irruptive population that suggested a decline in forage biomass during the end of the dry season but I detected no decline in NDVI at the peak of the growing season. My findings suggest that the area used by the irruptive elk population may have undergone changes in plant community composition favoring plants that were resistant to elk grazing.
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Keywords
Irruption, NDVI, Herbivory
Citation
Starns, H. D. (2014). <i>Influence of a population irruption by Roosevelt elk on a vegetation index</i> (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.