Northern boreal caribou conservation should focus on anthropogenic disturbance, not disturbance-mediated apparent competition

Superbie, Clara; Stewart, Kathrine M.; Regan, Charlotte E.; Johnstone, J. F.; McLoughlin, Philip D.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109426

Cited by 7 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…It supports the notion that long-term monitoring of endangered species is vital in any human-dominated landscape, as their population is showing a declining trend worldwide [ 7 ]. Forty percent of camera trap sites were occupied by both AMD and human activities, supporting the conclusion that animals and humans can coexist at fine spatial scales [ 1 , 21 ] while only 30% were shared by both AMD and livestock. Hence, we found strong proof AMD spatially avoided livestock in the reserve and adjacent territories, which confirmed the negative influences of livestock [ 14 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

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Alpine Musk Deer (Moschus chrysogaster) Adjusts to a Human-Dominated Semi-Arid Mountain Ecosystem

Zhang

Sun

et al. 2022

Animals

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Comprehension of whether human and livestock presence affects wildlife activity is a prerequisite for the planning and management of humans and livestock in protected areas. Xinglong Mountain Nature Reserve (XMNNR) in northwest China, as a green island in a semi-arid mountain ecosystem, is one of the scattered and isolated areas for Alpine musk deer (AMD), an endangered species. AMD cohabits their latent habitat area with foraging livestock and humans. Hence, habitat management within and outside the distribution areas is crucial for the effective conservation of AMD. We applied camera traps to a dataset of 2 years (September 2018–August 2020) to explore seasonal activity patterns and habitat use and assess the impacts of AMD habits in XMNNR. We investigated AMD responses to livestock grazing and human activities and provided effective strategies for AMD conservation. We applied MaxENT modeling to predict the distribution size under current conditions. The activity patterns of the AMD vary among seasons. The optimum habitat average distance to cultivated land ranges of AMD (150~3300 m during grass period/100~3200 m during withered grass period), distances to the residential area ranges (500~5700 m during the grass period/1000~5300 m during the withered grass period), elevation ranges (2350~3400 m during the grass period/2360~3170 m during the withered grass period), aspect ranges (0~50° and 270~360°), normalized vegetation index ranges (0.64~0.72 during the grass period/0.14~0.60 during the withered grass period), and land cover types (forest, shrub, and grassland). Results present that the predicted distributions of AMD were not confined to the areas reported but also covered other potential areas. The results provide evidence of strong spatial-temporal avoidance of AMD in livestock, but gradually adjusting to human activities. These camera trap datasets may open new opportunities for species conservation in much wider tracts, such as human-dominated landscapes, and may offer guidance and mitigate impacts from livestock, as well as increase artificial forest planting and strengthen the investigation of the potential population resources of AMD.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

“…Comprehension of whether human and livestock presence affects wildlife activity is a prerequisite for conservation planning in protected areas, especially in human-dominated landscapes [ 1 , 2 ]. Human disturbance and livestock grazing may impose disturbance on wildlife survival by altering habitat quality [ 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alpine Musk Deer (Moschus chrysogaster) Adjusts to a Human-Dominated Semi-Arid Mountain Ecosystem

Zhang

Sun

et al. 2022

Animals

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“…We suggest that such behavioral data can provide early indicators of population and community responses to environmental changes, yielding warnings of impending changes in vital rates and species interactions, and enriching our understanding of cumulative environmental effects in complex ecological systems (Burton & Chetkiewicz, 2021 ; Greggor et al, 2016 ). Early warnings and improved understanding are urgently needed in efforts to protect and recover threatened species, such as woodland caribou in Canada, as their declines continue despite considerable conservation investment (Hebblewhite, 2017 ; Superbie et al, 2022 ). Our approach opens the door to further evaluation of behavioral responses to anthropogenic disturbances and management actions across large scales, and better integration of indicators of behavior with other camera trap measures such as activity, co‐occurrence, and abundance (Burgar et al, 2019 ; Frey et al, 2022 ; Naidoo & Burton, 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral “bycatch” from camera trap surveys yields insights on prey responses to human‐mediated predation risk

Burton

Beirne

Sun

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Human disturbance directly affects animal populations and communities, but indirect effects of disturbance on species behaviors are less well understood. For instance, disturbance may alter predator activity and cause knock‐on effects to predator‐sensitive foraging in prey. Camera traps provide an emerging opportunity to investigate such disturbance‐mediated impacts to animal behaviors across multiple scales. We used camera trap data to test predictions about predator‐sensitive behavior in three ungulate species (caribou Rangifer tarandus ; white‐tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus ; moose, Alces alces ) across two western boreal forest landscapes varying in disturbance. We quantified behavior as the number of camera trap photos per detection event and tested its relationship to inferred human‐mediated predation risk between a landscape with greater industrial disturbance and predator activity and a “control” landscape with lower human and predator activity. We also assessed the finer‐scale influence on behavior of variation in predation risk (relative to habitat variation) across camera sites within the more disturbed landscape. We predicted that animals in areas with greater predation risk (e.g., more wolf activity, less cover) would travel faster past cameras and generate fewer photos per detection event, while animals in areas with less predation risk would linger (rest, forage, investigate), generating more photos per event. Our predictions were supported at the landscape‐level, as caribou and moose had more photos per event in the control landscape where disturbance‐mediated predation risk was lower. At a finer‐scale within the disturbed landscape, no prey species showed a significant behavioral response to wolf activity, but the number of photos per event decreased for white‐tailed deer with increasing line of sight (m) along seismic lines (i.e., decreasing visual cover), consistent with a predator‐sensitive response. The presence of juveniles was associated with shorter behavioral events for caribou and moose, suggesting greater predator sensitivity for females with calves. Only moose demonstrated a positive behavioral association (i.e., longer events) with vegetation productivity (16‐day NDVI), suggesting that for other species bottom‐up influences of forage availability were generally weaker than top‐down influences from predation risk. Behavioral insights can be gleaned from camera trap surveys and provide complementary information about animal responses to predation risk, and thus about the indirect impacts of human disturbances on predator–prey interactions.

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“…There may also be variability in caribou responses to fire (Konkolics et al, 2021; Palm et al, 2022) and interactions with predators (Bergerud, 1974) as has been found in other ranges. Disturbance-mediated apparent competition is generally the accepted mechanism for boreal caribou declines across Canada (Festa-Bianchet et al, 2011; Serrouya et al, 2016; Wittmer et al, 2013), but recent studies have noted that apparent competition may be less important in environments where above ground productivity is low because of the absence or lower abundance of other ungulate competitors (Superbie et al, 2022). The James Bay Lowlands, which make up a considerable portion of the Missisa range (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Existing caribou habitat and demographic models need improvement for Ring of Fire impact assessment: A roadmap for improving the usefulness, transparency, and availability of models for conservation

Dyson

Endicott

Simpkins

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Environmental impact assessments often rely on best available information, which may include models that were not designed for purpose and are not accompanied by an assessment of limitations. We reproduced available models of boreal woodland caribou resource selection and demography and evaluated their suitability for projecting impacts of development in the Ring of Fire (RoF) on boreal caribou in the Missisa range (Ontario, Canada). The specificity of the resource selection model limited usefulness for predicting impacts, and high variability in model coefficients among ranges suggests responses vary with habitat availability. The aspatial demographic model projects decreasing survival and recruitment with increasing disturbance, but high variability among populations implies the importance of these impacts depends on the status of the Missisa population, which is not known. New models that are designed for forecasting the cumulative effects of development and climate change are required to inform RoF decisions. To demonstrate how open-source tools and reproducible workflows can improve the transparency and reusability of models we developed an R package for data preparation, resource selection, and demographic calculations. Open-source tools, reproducible workflows, and reuseable forecasting models can improve our collective ability to inform wildlife management decisions in a timely manner.

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Northern boreal caribou conservation should focus on anthropogenic disturbance, not disturbance-mediated apparent competition

Cited by 7 publications

References 66 publications

Alpine Musk Deer (Moschus chrysogaster) Adjusts to a Human-Dominated Semi-Arid Mountain Ecosystem

Alpine Musk Deer (Moschus chrysogaster) Adjusts to a Human-Dominated Semi-Arid Mountain Ecosystem

Behavioral “bycatch” from camera trap surveys yields insights on prey responses to human‐mediated predation risk

Existing caribou habitat and demographic models need improvement for Ring of Fire impact assessment: A roadmap for improving the usefulness, transparency, and availability of models for conservation

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