Standardizing health information of moose (Alces alces) across its range to unlock population scale research

Moose (Alces alces) populations vary across their range with historical and current trends dependent on specific management regimes. But across its range, moose are increasingly facing direct impacts posed by escalating overlap with competitors and their diseases. Preliminary evidence suggests that diseases and parasites may play a disproportionate role in population declines of moose in select areas, fueling research interest in how continued moose viability may is jeopardized by increasing health threats. While researchers explore diseases and parasites in moose in studies limited largely in scope to local areas, any large-scale standardized guidance to conduct regional health studies is lacking. Nor does the scientific community have data infrastructure needed to convene comparable moose health records in preparation of population-scale analyses. In this project, we will convene leading experts in moose health from around North America to (1) summarize investigation protocols (including data collection, definitions, methods, and collation), (2) identify and examine existing (historical) data sets regarding moose health investigations, (3) produce an open repository of protocols available to any agency researcher so they may more efficiently conduct analyses in their home jurisdictions, and (4) if possible, plan a shared (and voluntary) digital repository for moose health data that can facilitate future larger regional- or continental-scale analyses. Outcomes will provide the first basis to assess the impact of disease in moose across ecologically meaningful and broad scales and understand how adjustments to landscapes may impact this iconic North American species.