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| Photo Credit: www.greatcanadianparks.com |
Terra Nova National Park, located in central Newfoundland,
was created as part of Park’s Canada’s plan to protect a representative sample
of all the different ecoregions in Canada.
Terra Nova, founded in 1957, is 400 square kilometers of forest,
coastline, marine habitat, and barrens, set aside by the government of Canada
to be protected as a representation of the boreal ecoregion for all time and
for all Canadians; but it may not be representative for much longer. The park is changing and if something isn’t
done quickly than it may be lost forever.
One of the main culprits involved is the non-native moose
species (Alces alces).The moose was introduced to the island of Newfoundland in
1878 an 1904. Six Moose were
intentionally brought to the island as a food source for Newfoundlanders. One of the Moose’ favourite foods are the
balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and when
the moose arrived the island was an all you can eat buffet. When the Newfoundland Wolf was hunted to
extinction in 1932 it removed the only predator that the moose had on the
island. With what seemed as a limitless
food supply and no predators to keep the population in check, moose populations
exploded and present population estimates are 120,000 – 150,000 individuals.
With such extensive numbers much of the understory balsam fir are being
eradicated prior to reaching maturity.
*Update:
A healthy balsam fir population is an integral part of the boreal forest ecosystem. If Terra Nova’s moose population continues to over graze balsam fir the park will cease to be a representation of boreal forests and therefore will no longer be fulfilling its duty to the citizens of Newfoundland and Canada. Something needs to be done.
In 2011, Parks Canada held a moose hunt in Gros Morne and Terra Nova National Parks. 400 licenses were given out to Newfoundlanders to hunt moose in the two parks. Of those 400 licenses only 20 of them were in Terra Nova and of those 20 licenses only ten moose where shot. This first hunt was an trial by Terra Nova staff to assess the feasibility of a large-scale hunt. Park staff plan to increase the number of licenses in upcoming years and will base the success of the hunt on its effect on the regeneration of balsam fir. This is a step in the right direction and will hopefully conserve this special place for future generations.
As far we know, this is the first time that a moose cull has occurred in a Canadian National Park. However, in Ontario's Presqu'ile Provincial Park a similar problem of over browsing has occurred from hyper-abundant while-tailed deer population. Sharpshooters have been brought into the park to reduce populations in the hopes of reducing the population to a level where the landscape can maintain a natural carrying capacity (OMNR, 2011).
Related Reading and Reference:
McLaren, B.E., Roberts, B.A., Djan-Chekar, N., and Lewis, K.P. (2004). Effects
of overabundant moose on the Newfoundland landscape. Alces 40:45-59
OMNR. (2011). Presqu’ile Mainland Resource Management Implementation Plan. Queen’s
Printer for Ontario. 33 pp. + Appendices.
*Update:
A healthy balsam fir population is an integral part of the boreal forest ecosystem. If Terra Nova’s moose population continues to over graze balsam fir the park will cease to be a representation of boreal forests and therefore will no longer be fulfilling its duty to the citizens of Newfoundland and Canada. Something needs to be done.
In 2011, Parks Canada held a moose hunt in Gros Morne and Terra Nova National Parks. 400 licenses were given out to Newfoundlanders to hunt moose in the two parks. Of those 400 licenses only 20 of them were in Terra Nova and of those 20 licenses only ten moose where shot. This first hunt was an trial by Terra Nova staff to assess the feasibility of a large-scale hunt. Park staff plan to increase the number of licenses in upcoming years and will base the success of the hunt on its effect on the regeneration of balsam fir. This is a step in the right direction and will hopefully conserve this special place for future generations.
As far we know, this is the first time that a moose cull has occurred in a Canadian National Park. However, in Ontario's Presqu'ile Provincial Park a similar problem of over browsing has occurred from hyper-abundant while-tailed deer population. Sharpshooters have been brought into the park to reduce populations in the hopes of reducing the population to a level where the landscape can maintain a natural carrying capacity (OMNR, 2011).
Related Reading and Reference:
McLaren, B.E., Roberts, B.A., Djan-Chekar, N., and Lewis, K.P. (2004). Effects
of overabundant moose on the Newfoundland landscape. Alces 40:45-59
OMNR. (2011). Presqu’ile Mainland Resource Management Implementation Plan. Queen’s
Printer for Ontario. 33 pp. + Appendices.
Interesting blog! Is there any other protection strategies in place in Terra Nova National Park such as moose fencing enclosures? And have they completed any research to see if balsam fir numbers will increase if moose populations decrease.
ReplyDeleteCarissa and Ian
Their was discussion group created where park staff dicussed other potential ways of controlling moose populations in Terra Nova. Building a fence around the park to prevent moose from entering the park would be too expensive and difficult since much of the park's boundary is coastline. Small scale moose exclosures have shown that with the removal of moose herbivory balsam fir may not naturally reestablish areas since other herbivours such as rabbits also feed on balsam fir. In order to restore Terra Nova to its orginal state (pre-moose introduction) balsam fir replanting may need to occur.
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ReplyDeletehow would you handle animal rights protesters - have there been any at Gros Morne?
ReplyDeleteInteresting comment. The first moose cull in the National Parks was very small comparably to what needs to be done to reduce moose populations to a manageable number. The reason for the small number of moose licenses given out was to see how the public would react to a moose cull occurring in the parks at all. I believe that there are few people in Newfoundland that believe that their should be absolutely no hunting of moose. Most people have mixed feeling towards moose in the province. The main arguments are:
Deletea) that their are too many and they are killing people on the roads,
b) the moose is part of Newfoundland culture and a sustainable food hunt should occur
c) moose are an invasive species that are destroying our forest and there needs to be a reduction in moose populations and
d) moose are beautiful creatures and shouldn't be hunted at all.
The moose culls happened recently and I am unaware of any studies done on peoples attitudes towards moose culling in Newfoundland. That sounds like a project for Dr. Alistar Bath's human dimensions team.
This comment has been removed by the author.
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