Kate Lonner Winter Ecology Spring 2015 Mountain Research Station, University of Colorado, Boulder

 The word moose come from the Algonquin Indian word meaning "eater of twigs” (Colorado Parks & Wildlife)  Moose are loners – rarely travel with more than 1 or 2 other companions (National Park Service)  Their preferred diet contains willow, aspen, and aquatic plants (National Park Service)  Prefer less than 3 feet of snow for easier travel and more accessible vegetation (National Park Service)

 I am interested in moose travel and if they prefer a certain type of vegetation  Where do they like to walk, graze, rest, and other business?  If there is a preference, it will help to track moose and know what to focus on to maintain their preferred habitats

 Null: Moose have no travel preference in regards to vegetation structure.  Alternative: Moose do have a preference on where they travel in regards to vegetation structure.  Predicted outcome: Due to the preferred diet consumed by moose, I hypothesize that they will more likely travel through aspen and willow trees.

 Found moose tracks  6 random 5 m transects along tracks  6 random 5 m transects along control  Pseudoreplicates

 There was more abundant vegetation in the site along the tracks.  Some transects in each site had greater numbers of each tree and some had fewer number, there was no pattern.

 Anova test Site type (tracks vs. control): p-value = 0.042, Tree type: p-value = 6.14 *10 9 Interaction: p-value =  Type of Vegetation at Each Site

 Anova test Site type (tracks vs. control): p-value = 0.042, there is a significant relationship that suggests where the moose are wandering is different from the control Tree type: p-value << , there is significant data that suggests that the proportion of trees is uneven, the forest isn't uniform Interaction: p-value = 0.446, there is NO significant data that suggests there is a difference in vegetation between the two sites

 More abundant vegetation in the tracks.  There is no relationship between where the moose walked and the vegetation composition.  My hypothesis that the moose would rather walk through aspen and willow trees due to their preferred was incorrect  This can be due to different factors including lack of replication, depth of snow, and the reason why the moose are traveling

 United States. National Park Service. (2015, February 27). Moose. Retrieved February 28, 2015, from oose.htm  "COLORADO PARKS & WILDLIFE." Colorado Parks & Wildlife. Web. 28 Feb  Thank you to Tim Kittle for this wonderful class and to Genevieve for helping me collect data