Bighorn Sheep and Mountain Goat Research in Western National Park Units
Mountain goat and bighorn sheep are iconic symbols of many national lands in the West. Both species have limited distributions that can be difficult to observe and face multiple stressors including disease, increasing recreation in remote areas, and shifting weather regimes that influence their forage and thermoregulation. As species with relatively small population sizes, understanding relationships between the landscape and populations provides useful information.
In collaboration with multiple parks and Oregon State University, we are using genetic sampling, habitat use and movement models, and spatial capture-recapture methods to understand population status and trends and to connect anthropogenic and environmental stressors and resources to demographics in these relatively small populations.
PROJECTS
1) Mountain goats in Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park (Montana and Alberta, Canada)
The Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is made up of Glacier National Park (Montana) and Waterton Lakes National Park (Alberta, Canada). We are conducting research to understand the status of this mountain goat population via two projects in partnership with the International Peace Park Natural Resource and Citizen Science Programs. First, we have been working with Glacier National Park's citizen science dataset to quantify trends in mountain goat populations between 2008 and 2019. In the second project, park citizen scientists as well as USGS, Glacier National Park, and Waterton Lakes National Park collected fecal pellets across the full extent of the International Peace Park to evaluate genetic structure. Learning whether this population is a single population or multiple smaller subpopulations will provide the two parks making up the international park with important ecological understanding and information to inform visitor use and other management questions.
2) Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in Glacier National Park (Montana)
Long-term research on bighorn sheep in Glacier National Park has evaluated multiple questions around bighorn sheep ecology including around their habitat use and contacts and their genetic relatedness and diversity. Currently, we are working to understand how fire and other landscape change might influence movements between and within subpopulations identified in earlier research. These studies inform options for disease, habitat, and population management for Glacier National Park, Waterton Lakes National Park, and the Blackfeet Nation.
3) Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in Dinosaur National Monument (Border of Colorado and Utah)
Bighorn sheep are one of the largest and most visible animals in Dinosaur National Monument. As a reintroduced population that is likely consistently exposed to respiratory disease, Monument managers have questions of how to best support this population. We are using fecal pellets collected by volunteers and park staff over three years, along with GPS collar data collected by USGS, to assess the genetic structure of the bighorn sheep population in the monument and will estimate population size, and work to understand how current management and landscape conditions influence the distribution and density of the bighorn sheep.
4) Desert bighorn sheep in Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona)
In collaboration with park biologists, we are bringing together multiple data sources to evaluate bighorn sheep population size and distribution. We are leveraging five years of fecal pellet sampling with GPS collar datasets, observations, and disease records along the Colorado River to evaluate disease effects during a respiratory disease outbreak. We are also using spatial capture-recapture models to consider this sampling along a linear corridor as a monitoring tool for the park.
5) Mountain goats in Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming)
We assessed potential sources of mountain goats that have migrated in and experienced increasing population sizes in Grand Teton National Park to inform park decisions related to goat removal. Mountain goats are an invasive species in this area and there were concerns over competition with native bighorn sheep.
Bighorn Sheep in and near Glacier National Park
Mountain goat and bighorn sheep are iconic symbols of many national lands in the West. Both species have limited distributions that can be difficult to observe and face multiple stressors including disease, increasing recreation in remote areas, and shifting weather regimes that influence their forage and thermoregulation. As species with relatively small population sizes, understanding relationships between the landscape and populations provides useful information.
In collaboration with multiple parks and Oregon State University, we are using genetic sampling, habitat use and movement models, and spatial capture-recapture methods to understand population status and trends and to connect anthropogenic and environmental stressors and resources to demographics in these relatively small populations.
PROJECTS
1) Mountain goats in Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park (Montana and Alberta, Canada)
The Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is made up of Glacier National Park (Montana) and Waterton Lakes National Park (Alberta, Canada). We are conducting research to understand the status of this mountain goat population via two projects in partnership with the International Peace Park Natural Resource and Citizen Science Programs. First, we have been working with Glacier National Park's citizen science dataset to quantify trends in mountain goat populations between 2008 and 2019. In the second project, park citizen scientists as well as USGS, Glacier National Park, and Waterton Lakes National Park collected fecal pellets across the full extent of the International Peace Park to evaluate genetic structure. Learning whether this population is a single population or multiple smaller subpopulations will provide the two parks making up the international park with important ecological understanding and information to inform visitor use and other management questions.
2) Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in Glacier National Park (Montana)
Long-term research on bighorn sheep in Glacier National Park has evaluated multiple questions around bighorn sheep ecology including around their habitat use and contacts and their genetic relatedness and diversity. Currently, we are working to understand how fire and other landscape change might influence movements between and within subpopulations identified in earlier research. These studies inform options for disease, habitat, and population management for Glacier National Park, Waterton Lakes National Park, and the Blackfeet Nation.
3) Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in Dinosaur National Monument (Border of Colorado and Utah)
Bighorn sheep are one of the largest and most visible animals in Dinosaur National Monument. As a reintroduced population that is likely consistently exposed to respiratory disease, Monument managers have questions of how to best support this population. We are using fecal pellets collected by volunteers and park staff over three years, along with GPS collar data collected by USGS, to assess the genetic structure of the bighorn sheep population in the monument and will estimate population size, and work to understand how current management and landscape conditions influence the distribution and density of the bighorn sheep.
4) Desert bighorn sheep in Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona)
In collaboration with park biologists, we are bringing together multiple data sources to evaluate bighorn sheep population size and distribution. We are leveraging five years of fecal pellet sampling with GPS collar datasets, observations, and disease records along the Colorado River to evaluate disease effects during a respiratory disease outbreak. We are also using spatial capture-recapture models to consider this sampling along a linear corridor as a monitoring tool for the park.
5) Mountain goats in Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming)
We assessed potential sources of mountain goats that have migrated in and experienced increasing population sizes in Grand Teton National Park to inform park decisions related to goat removal. Mountain goats are an invasive species in this area and there were concerns over competition with native bighorn sheep.