Snowmachine Impacts: The ES classes have been involved in three different studies related to the impacts of snow machines on wildlife.
Dave Mossop approached the ES class in 1999 to conduct a survey related to nutrient movement from high country to valley bottom through the ptarmigan feeding and resting process. The rock ptarmigan feeds primarily on birch and willow buds and catkins when available. Ptarmigan have a diurnal activity pattern and each day collect and store enough food in their crop sack to last the long winter night. At night they burrow into the snow reducing heat loss. To meet daily energy demands on a midwinter day a ptarmigan needs about 60 g of food (dry weight), consisting mostly of willow buds and twigs. Most of this plant matter passes through the ptarmigan and is deposited in their winter snow cavities. |
These plants are often exposed in the high country. The birds feed on these exposed higher elevation plants during the day then fly into the valleys where they spend the nights under the deeper valley snows. While Dave thought this process represented a substantial flow of nutrients from the uplands into the valley floors.
He proposed we run two to three kilometer transects from the Coal Lake road near the pass between Golden Horn and Mt MacIntyre. This was to be done to identify ptarmigan droppings before green-up. A survey in January showed large flocks of ptarmigan but when when the area was visited in later March, the high elevation area was crisscrossed with snow machine tracks. No ptarmigan were found in the area. As a result the survey was called off.
The second study related to snow machine impacts took place at Rat Lake on the Klondike Highway between the Cutoff and Carcross. Rat lake is a shallow, mostly grass and sedge covered wetland. The highway run next to Rat Lake but at an elevation that gives a good "bird eye" view of the lake. ES students photographed and mapped snowmachine tracks with GPS then went back in the early summer to see if these was evidence of the snowmachine tracks left in the vegetation. There was clear impressions on the plants that snowmachines had run over the plants. Examination of the plants showed less growth and a yellower appearance that the plants next to the track paths. ES students conclude that snowmachines impacted plant life, but they were unable to determine if there were long term impacts.
The third study was conducted when ES classes took part in winter snowshoe of ski trips. On these trips students recorded tracks that followed or crossed the tracks. For the largest part such trips followed snowmachine trails. The Butte Creek trail, trails around Mt Loren and the trail into Mystery Lake showed similar patterns. Caribou and moose crossed trails but did not follow them. Fox, coyote and wolves changed direction and folowed trails when they encountered then. These data formed part of teh studnet trip journals while on these trails.
He proposed we run two to three kilometer transects from the Coal Lake road near the pass between Golden Horn and Mt MacIntyre. This was to be done to identify ptarmigan droppings before green-up. A survey in January showed large flocks of ptarmigan but when when the area was visited in later March, the high elevation area was crisscrossed with snow machine tracks. No ptarmigan were found in the area. As a result the survey was called off.
The second study related to snow machine impacts took place at Rat Lake on the Klondike Highway between the Cutoff and Carcross. Rat lake is a shallow, mostly grass and sedge covered wetland. The highway run next to Rat Lake but at an elevation that gives a good "bird eye" view of the lake. ES students photographed and mapped snowmachine tracks with GPS then went back in the early summer to see if these was evidence of the snowmachine tracks left in the vegetation. There was clear impressions on the plants that snowmachines had run over the plants. Examination of the plants showed less growth and a yellower appearance that the plants next to the track paths. ES students conclude that snowmachines impacted plant life, but they were unable to determine if there were long term impacts.
The third study was conducted when ES classes took part in winter snowshoe of ski trips. On these trips students recorded tracks that followed or crossed the tracks. For the largest part such trips followed snowmachine trails. The Butte Creek trail, trails around Mt Loren and the trail into Mystery Lake showed similar patterns. Caribou and moose crossed trails but did not follow them. Fox, coyote and wolves changed direction and folowed trails when they encountered then. These data formed part of teh studnet trip journals while on these trails.