Moose Die-Off Alarms Scientists

Shiva Mudide

Summary:

        Over the past twenty years across North America, Moose populations have been rapidly declining, and no one is absolutely certain why. For example Minnesota, which once had two thriving moose populations, are now on the decline. One of which is down to 3000 from 8000, and the other to a mere 100 from 4000 moose. A common hypothesis for this occurrence is climate change. Researchers say that winters have become substantially shorter across much of the moose's habitat, and in New Hampshire, this has resulted in a large increase of ticks.  Other theories include global warming making it difficult for the moose to live in warmer winters, as well as the epidemic of pine bark beetles, an invasive species that reduced forest populations, thus resulting in the moose having a greater exposure to human an animal predators. The moose plays a key role in its ecosystem, keeping plant populations normal, and providing a habitat for birds when the browse shrubs. Surprisingly, moose contribute to the economy, as moose-watching tourism is a $115-million-a-year business, and moose permits also generate revenue. This winter tick problem is especially alarming because the moose loose so much blood they become anemic, and even rip of their fur in frustration with the ticks. When it rains in the spring, they can become hypothermic due to lack of their warm coats. Since moose are the opposite of deer in the fact that deer can groom the ticks off, and moose, because they didn't evolve with ticks can't, the ticks have become extremely frightening. Scientists are continuing to track and monitor the deaths of moose, and have hopes to bring the population of these crucial animals back up.

Relevance:

        This relates to the ecology unit we studied, but more specifically it relates to our studies of density dependent and independent factors, symbiotic relationships (parasitism), and biodiversity. We learned that density dependent factors are factors that are affected by population density. Since the moose were crowded in areas in North America, the increase in ticks was able to kill many moose. Global warming was able to wipe out moose regardless of population because it would've had the same effect any population, thus it is a density independent factor. We also learned how parasitism is when one organism benefits at the expense of another. The ticks made the moose loose so much blood, and gave them so much disease that they rapidly died. Biodiversity is the number of different species in an ecosystem, and the moose play a large role in their ecosystem. However, the fact that the moose also affect the economy surprised me, which shows that the lowering of moose directly effects humans. Although the moose may not be a keystone species, one that if removed from an ecosystem is extremely detrimental to the other species, it is an important one.

Citation:

Author: Jim Robbins

Date of Publication: October 14, 2013

Article Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/science/earth/something-is-killing-off-the-moose.html?ref=earth