Delegated Aerial Ungulate Surveys 2009/2010 Survey Season

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(~34,800 ha) of the WMU. In general, the industrial footprint is widespread; oiland gas and forestry were the dominant disturbances. Road density was greaterthan 0.56 km/km 2 (> 555 km) within the WMU.Figure 9.Location of Wildlife Management Unit 326 in Alberta.46
6.4.2 <strong>Survey</strong> methodsPrior to the survey we used a geographic information system (GIS) to delineatesurvey blocks by creating a 2 minute latitude by 2 minute longitude grid overlaidon a map of WMU 326. This method of delineating survey blocks is consistentwith previous surveys of this unit.Moose Stratification – We classified 2 X 2 blocks into three strata (low, mediumand high probability of moose occurrence) using the Alberta VegetationInventory. These methods were generally consistent with those used previouslyfor this WMU.First, varying weights were assigned to each of the six dominant land cover types,according to their expected probability of moose occurrence. Deciduous anddeciduous‐dominated mixedwood were assumed to have the highest likelihood ofmoose, followed by cut blocks less than 30 years old, then coniferous‐dominatedmixedwood and lastly, conifer stand. Non‐forest, which included anthropogenicfeatures, was assumed to have zero probability of moose occurrence. Because nonforestalso included shrub habitat, the likelihood of moose occurrence may havebeen underestimated in this case. Also, in the future, greater weight should beassigned to cover within river valleys or flats.Second, an overall weighting was generated for each block based on the combinedweight from each land cover type. Blocks with the highest and lowest 20%weights were assigned to the ‘high’ and ‘low’ strata, respectively. The remainingblocks were assigned to the ‘medium’ strata. Generally, conifer blocks with >85%conifer coverage consist of relatively low quality habitat and have issues related tolow sightability due to dense cover. As a result, blocks with >85% conifercoverage were not assigned to strata and were not used in deriving a moosepopulation estimate for the WMU. This method is consistent with previoussurveys in WMU 326 (Allen, pers. comm.).Overall, 18 blocks were classified as low, 42 as medium and 20 were classified ashigh. 44 blocks (35% of blocks) had >85% conifer coverage and were therefore, un‐47
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Delegated Aerial Ungulate Surveys20
Page 3 and 4: EXECUTIVE SUMMARYAlberta Conservati
Page 6 and 7: LIST OF FIGURESFigure 1. Location o
Page 8 and 9: Table 18. Comparison of aerial surv
Page 10 and 11: moose (Alces alces), elk (Cervus el
Page 12 and 13: surveys do not necessarily allow th
Page 14 and 15: 3.5 ClassificationBeginning in 2008
Page 17 and 18: 4.1.1 Survey methodsFollowing stand
Page 19 and 20: 4.2 Southern mountain goatsPhoto: S
Page 21 and 22: 4.2.1 Survey methodsWe searched mou
Page 24 and 25: ecorded for each group of goats. Th
Page 26 and 27: 5.0 WINTER RANGE TREND SURVEYS5.1 H
Page 28 and 29: Figure 4.Location of the Hay‐Zama
Page 30 and 31: In general, survey conditions were
Page 32 and 33: 5.2 Wildlife Management Unit 136/14
Page 34 and 35: Figure 5.Location of Wildlife Manag
Page 36 and 37: 5.2.3 ResultsDuring the rotary‐wi
Page 38 and 39: 5.3.1 Study areaAll probable sheep
Page 40 and 41: Figure 6.Location of the Wildlife M
Page 42 and 43: 6.0 RANDOM STRATIFIED BLOCK SURVEYS
Page 44 and 45: 6.1.2 Survey methodsThe study area
Page 46 and 47: 6.2 Wildlife Management Unit 305 mu
Page 48 and 49: Figure 8.Location of Wildlife Manag
Page 50 and 51: The navigator was responsible for a
Page 52 and 53: 6.3 Wildlife Management Unit 326 el
Page 56 and 57: classified. We then randomly select
Page 58 and 59: Table 11. Comparison of aerial moos
Page 60 and 61: on the southeast, Highway 40 on the
Page 62 and 63: 6.5.2 Survey methodsWMU 340 was sur
Page 64 and 65: 6.6 Wildlife Management Unit 347 mo
Page 66 and 67: Figure 11.Location of Wildlife Mana
Page 68 and 69: were present to confirm gender. Wol
Page 70 and 71: 6.7.1 Study areaWMU 351 is delimite
Page 72 and 73: 6.7.2 Survey methodsAn aerial ungul
Page 74 and 75: Table 14.Comparison of aerial surve
Page 76 and 77: unit is bordered by highway 49 to t
Page 78 and 79: 6.8.2 Survey methodsWildlife staff
Page 80 and 81: Table 15.Comparison of aerial surve
Page 82 and 83: Cold Lake. Oil and gas extraction a
Page 84 and 85: surveyed from January 9 ‐ 11, 201
Page 86 and 87: 6.10 Wildlife Management Unit 510 m
Page 90 and 91: without antlers and classified acco
Page 92 and 93: 6.11 Wildlife Management Unit 536 m
Page 96 and 97: (Table 1). We did not correct for s
Page 98 and 99: Frair, J.L., E.H. Merrill, and M.S.
Page 100: Saker, K. 2000. WMU 501 Deer / Moos
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Delegated Aerial Ungulate Surveys 2009/2010 Survey Season

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