U.S.-Denmark Cooperative Research: Foraging Strategies of the World's Northernmost Ungulates--How Mammals Survive under Harsh Conditions

该奖项将支持合作研究， 大卫博士R.克莱因，阿拉斯加大学，费尔班克斯，和克里斯蒂安先生 湾，格陵兰渔业和环境研究所， 哥本哈根，丹麦。 他们将研究麝牛的觅食策略 O 在北格陵兰的皮里地 研究区域位于北纬83度， 麝牛，这是最北的有蹄类动物的人口在 世界 在这个纬度麝牛必须弥补 通过优化高质量牧草的摄入量， 在夏天减缓它们的活动，在冬天减缓它们的活动。 期间 夏天，麝牛的活动和植物物种吃草的意愿 被研究人员直接观察到。 的运动模式 动物在冬季将通过使用测量 活动监测项圈通过卫星传输数据。 研究麝牛的活动范围和栖息地限制是很重要的， 因为缺乏对北极哺乳动物的研究， 麝牛的正常放牧地面临着越来越大的压力 从能源和矿物的解释，从原住民的回归， 将土地归还给他们最近没有使用过的人。 这项研究将有助于 了解如何管理受限制的物种 资源条件。

This award would support collaborative research between Dr. David R. Klein, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and Mr. Christian Bay, Greenland Fisheries and Environmental Research Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark. They will study the foraging strategy of muskoxen o in Peary Land, North Greenland. The study area, at 83 N contains the muskoxen, which are the northernmost population of ungulates in the world. At this latitude the muskoxen must compensate for limitations in available forage by optimizing their intake of high quality forage in the summer and by slowing their activity in the winter. During the summer the muskoxens' movements and the plant species grazed upon will be directly observed by the researchers. The movement patterns of the animals in the winter will be measured through the use of activity-monitoring collars transmitting data via satellite. It is important to study the range and habitat limitations of muskoxen, because there is a dearth of research on arctic mammals, and because there is increasing pressure on the muskoxens' normal grazing lands from energy and mineral explanation and from the return of aboriginal peoples to lands not recently used by them. This study will contribute to an understanding of how to manage the species under restricted resource conditions.