Scientific Publication: Ya Ha Tinda Elk

The final publication of an elk study that SCI Foundation has supported for years has recently been published in The Journal of Wildlife Management.

This final publication is open-source and can be freely accessed here: https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jwmg.22386

SCI Foundation has helped to support researchers at the University of Alberta and University of Montana collaboratively to investigate how changes in the Ya Ha Tinda elk population are affected by humans (harvest, habitat management), natural factors (predation, climate) and natural vegetation dynamics. We worked to understand the changing migratory behavior of elk and the trophic dynamics within this predator-prey-montane grassland system and also a long-term perspective on grassland dynamics. Combined, our studies of the population at Ya Ha Tinda represent one of the longest elk population studies in a system with intact natural predators, including wolves and grizzly bears and human hunting.

A complete overview of the 20+ year Ya Ha Tinda Elk Monitoring Project can be found on the University of Montana’s website: https://www.umt.edu/yahatinda/

Thank you to donors of SCI Foundation who make this work possible.