Monitoring of forest game in Finland Pekka Helle Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) Oulu
Monitoring needed for sustainable hunting National and international legislation Careful planning of bag - sustainability Monitoring of populations and bag Maximum sustainable yield Optimum sustainable yield Prudence principle Duty of Natural Resources Institute Finland orders set by Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Number of species hunted in Finland (53) Waterfowl 17 Waders 1 Grouse etc. 7 Doves 1 Small & medium-size mammals 15 Baltic seals 2 Large predators 3 Moose and others artiodactyla 7 Hunting Act Nature Conservation Act
Ministry of agriculture & forestry EU Natural Resources Institute Finland Hunters Finnish Wildlife Agency
Monitoring methods include: line transect counts (ground, aerial), territory mapping, study plot method, voice counts, pellet counts, nest counts, colony counts, DNA-sampling (non-invasive method for some species), capture-recapture method, radio/satellite telemetry, etc. Statistical principles/tools - total counts seldom possible - random sampling if possible - stratified sampling (random/systematic, e.g. program DISTANCE for line transect data), TRIM (Trends and indices in monitoring data) - Bayes-based methods coming The very problem: - Voluntary people do the dirty work! - They cannot be forced too much! Repeatability! Errors of the estimate should be known!
Value of voluntary work done by hunters and birdwatchers in game monitoring programs estimated in 2008 based on an questionnaire: - Large predator observer network 40 person work years - moose (observation cards) 28 pwy - wildlife triangle counts 20 pwy - counts of waterfowl and species of agricultural land less work intensive Value of work about 1 200 000 annually Voluntary helpers also drive about 900 000 km per year without compensation!
Game sustainable hunting Monitoring of: Moose Wild forest reindeer Baltic seals Large predators Field game Waterfowl Some individual species (e.g. beaver) Forest mammals WILDLIFE TRIANGLE Grouse SCHEME ca 35 species
Basic source of information: observations done by hunting clubs (about 5000) also electronical possibility Wintering population (after hunting) about 75 000 yksilöä Population model: moose observations, sex ratio, % of calves, a bayesian method 1995 2014 www.riistahavainnot.fi Inds per 1 000 ha
Two sub-populations - aerial counts with helicopter
Observations collected by the network of trained voluntary persons (about 1 800) TASSU system (on internet) About 60 000 observations annually Data on females with cubs most valuable Other sources of information: - satellite tracking - fieldwok by Luke personel Brown bear
Lynx
Wolverine
Wolf www.riistahavainnot.fi www.largecarnivores.fi
Grey seal Halichoerus grypus Population size in Finland (green) and in the Baltic (blue) (aerial count in late spring when seals are gathered on small islets) Ringed seal Pusa hispida Population size in the Bothian Bay (aerial line transect during ice time, Finnish-Swedish co-operation)
Waterfowl monitoring 1986 Mallard Teal Wigeon Goldeneye Shoveler Garganey Tufted duck Pochard Goosander Red-breasted merganser Coot Joined project by Luke (hunters) and Luomus (ornithologists) About 400 permanent count points
FOREST GAME: WILDLIFE TRIANGLE SCHEME 4 + 4 + 4 = 12 km As randomly as possible in forested areas Helle, Ikonen & Kantola 2016: Wildlife monitoring in Finland: online information for game administration, hunters, and the wider public. Canadian Journal of Forest Research http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full/10.1139/cjfr-2015-0454
1989 WILDLIFE TRIANGLE SCHEME Transect lines permanent, randonly located on forested land, total 1 900 Grouse, line transect counts as earlier (grouse counts during 1964-88) New: snow track counts of mammals on the same lines About 1000 lines studied annually (=12 000 km per each summer and winter count) 770 760 750 740 730 720 710 700 690 680 670 Voluntary hunters do the field work! About 7 000 persons annually! 20 30 40 50 60 70
Late-summer census (July-August) 3-man line transect: main belt 60 m in breadth August prime time for counting grouse, broods still together Census efficiency high, 80% on average
Winter count in January-March Usually by skiing Main target: mammal tracks crossing the line Standardization: pre-check of the line or count done after a good snow-fall
Wildlife triangle counts 1989-2015
Black grouse Hazel grouse Rock ptarmigan Willow grouse Capercaillie
Species covered in winter: Mountain hare European hare Red squirrel Thank Flying you squirrel Beaver Muskrat Wolf Red fox Arctic fox Raccoon dog Brown bear Stoat Weasel American mink Polecat Pine marten Wolverine Badger Otter Lynx Wild boar White-tailed deer Moose Wild forest reindeer Roe deer Capercaillie Black grouse Hazel grouse Willow grouse Partridge Pheasant Goshawk Raven
Parameters August count: Grouse density of individuals density of adults density of juveniles brood size hen with or without brood (capercaillie, black grouse) adult sex ratio in Cc and Bg Winter count: Track density number of crossings per 24 h per 10 km
Track density no. of crossings / 10 km / 24 h -a relative measure of abundance Converting track density to population density ind./km 2 = 1.57 x (s / (m * d)) s = no. of crossings m = transect length d = average distance covered in 24 h (Priklonski et al.)
Painotuskerroin 1,0 0,8 0,6 0,4 0,2 10 20 30 40 50km r L L r 50 km
Earlier times: transfer of information by mail (forms and maps on paper slow and expensive) From 2014 Data input and reports via internet (about 75 % of all) www.riistakolmiot.fi Registrated field-workers and administration a lot of options for retrieving and processing the data Public site open for everyone reports by areas and species
Pine marten in 2016 Track density increase decrease
Capercaillie in 2016 density change
Capercaillie Black grouse Hazel grouse
Capercaillie
Linear trends 1989 2016, winter count data Roe deer Wolf Wild forest reindeer Wolverine Lynx European hare White-tailed deer Otter Moose Pine marten Red fox Red squirrel Least weasel Mountain hare Stoat 1989 2016
Wildlife triangles: playing with large numbers During 1988 2015, about 45 000 counts performed (24 000 in late-summer, 21 000 in winter) Total length covered more than 500 000 km 850 000 working hours done, roughly 420 person-years! It is voluntary work! About 330 000 grouse individuals observed Exact observation sites, extremely valuable data for studies of distribution, landscape and habitat selection with GIS tools about 50 000 locations in every winter census about 10 000 in late-summer census
Use of data: For hunting administration hunting regulations sustainability For planning etc. (environmental impact assessments) For research data used - about 60 scientific articles - in10 doctoral and 25 graduate theses - in about 150 popular articles 36 18.10.2016
Grouse Nation-wide monitoring started in 1964 The time series is internationally unique 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 Caper Black Hazel Willow 4 2 0 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
www.riistakolmiot.fi on-line information to game administration, hunters and wider public Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)
Input of data registrated, trained persons ID#, background information ID#
Own census
Visible for everyone
The timeliest grouse hunting regulation in the world Wildlife triangle counts 25.7. 2.8. Results compiled by Luke 3. 4.8. Evaluations of results by Wildlife Agency, ministry (MMM) and Luke 5. 7.8. Recommendations of hunting times 10.8. by Wildlife Agency to the ministry Concept of allowable hunting times 13.8. by the ministry to be commented Hunting regulation laid by ministry 27.8. Hunting season begins 10.9. 43 18.10.2016
To conclude: The monitoring instrument works nicely Everybody is happy: game administration hunters outdoor people ordinary citizens The biggest challence is how to keep the voluntary people motivated. Thank you for your interest! riistakolmiot.fi 44 18.10.2016