Document

Title

The Holocene biogeographic history of elk (Cervus elaphus) in western Washington
Document Type: Journal Article
Author(s): J. L. Harpole; R. Lee Lyman
Publication Year: 1999

Cataloging Information

Keyword(s):
  • Cascades Range
  • Cervus elaphus
  • distribution
  • elk
  • fire management
  • mammals
  • Native Americans
  • paleoecology
  • population density
  • Washington
  • wildfires
  • wildlife habitat management
Topic(s):
Region(s):
Record Maintained By:
TTRS Staff; https://talltimbers.org/contact-us
Record Last Modified: June 1, 2018
FRAMES Record Number: 51300
Tall Timbers Record Number: 28137
TTRS Location Status: Not in file
TTRS Call Number: Available
TTRS Abstract Status: Okay, Fair use, Reproduced by permission

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by the Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of the Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.

Description

Many mammalian species found today in Washington state experienced a dynamic biogeographic history during the Holocene epoch (last 10,000 years).The elk (Cervus elaphus) was one of those species. Seventy archacological sites in Washington west of the crest of the Cascade Mountains have produced eighty-eight assemblages of elk remains. The oldest assemblage dates between 6000 and 7000 years ago, but most date to the last 2000 years. Documented assemblages are not a representative sample of the spatial and temporal districution of elk as a result of how the archaeological record in western Washington has been sampled and the poor preservation of faunal materials in many sites. Available data indicate, however, that elk were widespread between 2000 and 150 years ago. Comparison of the distribution of elk between 2000 and 150 years ago to their late nineteenth and early twentieth century distribution indicates a shift in geographic range over the past 150 years. This shift is attributable to land modification and increased human predation after the middle of the nineteenth century. © 1999 by the Northwest Scientific Association. All rights reserved.

Citation:
Harpole, J. L., and R. L. Lyman. 1999. The Holocene biogeographic history of elk (Cervus elaphus) in western Washington. Northwest Science, v. 73, no. 2, p. 106-113.