Evaluating trade-offs between forage, biting flies, and footing on habitat selection by wood bison (Bison bison athabascae)

Habitat selection is a behavioural process that ultimately affects animal fitness. Forage availability and predation risk are often studied in the context of habitat selection for large ungulates, while other biological and environmental factors such as insect harassment and footing are less studied. Here we examine trade-offs in summer habitat selection between forage availability for wood bison (Bison bison athabascae Rhoads, 1898) with that of biting fly harassment and soil firmness, which affects activity budgets and predation risk, respectively, and contrast this to winter when flies are absent and soils frozen. Using path analysis, we demonstrate that graminoid availability was not related to summer habitat selection, but was positively related to selection in winter. Habitat selection in summer was negatively related to biting fly abundance and positively related to firmer footing. Our results suggest that bison observe trade-offs in summer between maximizing forage intake and minimizing harassment from that of biting flies, while avoiding areas of soft substrates that affect locomotion and vulnerability to predators. In contrast, during the winter bison focus on areas with greater graminoid availability. While forage is a key aspect of habitat selection, our results illustrate the importance of considering direct and indirect effects of multiple biological and environmental factors related to ungulate habitat selection.

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