Abstract—The marking behavior and mediated communication of male moose in central Yakutia are studied. During rut, moose damage tree and shrub vegetation with their antlers and dig “rut” pits in the ground. Eight species of tree and shrub marked with by have been found. Among them, hardwood representatives predominate. The maximum thickness of a marked tree does not exceed 24 cm, the thickness of trunks averaging 12.5 ± 2.7 cm. The moose marking activity concerns four types of damage to the marked tree or shrub trunks. Moose signal marks on the ground represent strongly smelling animal secretions left in depressions in the ground. Their dimensions average 50.3 ± 8.0 cm long and 32.7 ± 8.7 cm wide.
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Funding
This work was carried out with the support of the basic project VI.51.1.11 “The Structure and Dynamics of Populations and Communities of Animals in the Cold Region of the Northeastern Part of Russia in Modern Conditions of Global Climate Change and Anthropogenic Transformation of Northern Ecosystems: Factors, Mechanisms, Adaptation, Conservation” (reg. no. AAAA-А17-117020110058-4) and a State Assignment of the Institute for Biological Problems of the Cryolithozone, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, under project no. V.54.1.2 “Revealing the Causal Foundations of the Dynamics of Soil Cover, Flora, and Fauna of the Permafrost Zone on the Territory of Distribution of Light Rocks in Central Yakutia for the Development of Fundamental Principles of Their Protection in the Face of Increasing Anthropogenic Pressure and Global Changes” (0376-2019-0006); reg. number AAAA-A19-119040990002-1.
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Argunov, A.V. Marking Activities of the Moose (Alces alces) in Central Yakutia. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 48, 1394–1400 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359021080033
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359021080033