This paper presents a spatial simulation model built to observe interactions between wintering ungulates and the availability of forage. The model included several different rules for search and movement to resources. These were extremely important in the survival of ungulates over the course of the model run. The differences seen between rules was most noticeable at low resource availability. Differences in outcomes between fragmented and aggregated resource arrangement only occurred when movement was limited with higher mortality in fragmented landscapes. The simulation results suggest that, of the three movement rules compared, the closest-resource-site rule would be the best choice for simulating winter ungulate foraging. The authors conclude that a spatially explicit model like this offers a vast array of other outputs that could be examined and compared with data. Models developed for specific landscapes and species could be valuable in enhancing the understanding of the interactions between landscape dynamics and large herbivores.
Citations and enhanced abstracts for journals articles and documents focused on rangeland ecology and management. RSIS is a collaboration between Montana State University, University of Idaho, and University of Wyoming.