Return of Caribou to Ungava

Bergerud, A.T.; Luttich, Stuart N.; Camps, Lodewijk

doi:10.2307/j.ctt817j4

Cited by 51 publications

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“…This result is consistent with our understanding of this animal. For forest‐dwelling caribou, predation is widely recognized as the chief limiting factor; apparent competition following habitat degradation is the key agent in their decline (Bergerud & Elliot, ; Bergerud et al., ; Festa‐Bianchet et al., ; Rettie & Messier, ). Thin snowcover and extensive landscape disturbances, such as forest harvesting, are conducive to higher densities of moose and white‐tailed deer (Latham et al., ; Mech, McRoberts, Peterson, & Page, ; Rempel, Elkie, Rodgers, & Gluck, ), species that can serve as alternate ungulate prey for predators.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High edge density created by human disturbance is often attractive to predators (Houle, Fortin, Dussault, Courtois, & Ouellet, ; McPhee, Webb, & Merrill, ) and is often risky for ungulates (Bergman et al., ). We speculate, therefore, that more constrained home ranges may afford female caribou lower likelihood of detection and encounter by wolves and black bears (Leclerc, Dussault, & St‐Laurent, ), the major predators of adults and juveniles (Bergerud et al., ; Pinard et al., ; Seip, ). Smaller home ranges were prominent at the southern fringe of the species’ range, adjacent to a zone of extirpation (Figure ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Smaller home ranges were prominent at the southern fringe of the species’ range, adjacent to a zone of extirpation (Figure ). Along this southern front, anthropogenic disturbances are more extensive (Environment Canada, ; MNRF, 2014a; Vors et al., ) and the densities of moose (Bergerud et al., ), white‐tailed deer (Boucher, Crête, Ouellet, Daigle, & Lesage, ; Schneider & Wasel, ) and wolves (Fuller, ; Kittle et al., ; Ripple & Beschta, ) tend to be higher.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(), the distribution of females at calving, more so than the extent of movements, is the primary feature that distinguishes the two ecotypes. In spring, migratory females “space away” from the distribution of predators by aggregating north of tree line, whereas sedentary females “space out” by dispersing into the boreal forest and making themselves rare to predators (Bergerud et al., ). For the location and extent of local population ranges, we used the federal assessment of critical habitat in Canada (Environment Canada, ) and the provincial assessment (MNRF, 2014b) for four of the more recently delineated ranges in the Far North of Ontario.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Annual home ranges of female caribou across the boreal forest vary nearly 30‐fold in size (Table )—appreciable biogeographic variation that remains unexplained. This knowledge gap is surprising, given the species’ threatened status (COSEWIC, ) and the significance of space in its life history (Bergerud, Luttich, & Camps, ), ecotypic designations (Pond, Brown, Wilson, & Schaefer, ) and conservation (Lafontaine, Drapeau, Fortin, & St‐Laurent, ; Muhly, Serrouya, Neilson, Li, & Boutin, ; Vors, Schaefer, Pond, Rodgers, & Patterson, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The biogeography of home range size of woodland caribou Rangifer tarandus caribou

Wilson

Pond

Brown

et al. 2018

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim: Population-limiting factors represent the core of conservation biology. Because animal space use is affected by ecological constraints that can vary among populations, limiting factors might be revealed from intraspecific variation in home range size. We evaluated biogeographic variation in the home range size of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), a threatened species inhabiting the boreal forest, in relation to land cover, topography, snowcover and disturbance across the species' range.Location: Twenty-five populations in Canada, spanning the contiguous boreal forest (an east-west extent of 4,400 km), including the southern fringe of the species' range, adjacent to a broad region of extirpation. Methods:We compiled the average annual home range size of adult female caribou (5-68 home ranges per population) and 18 putative predictor variables in each population range. We uncovered major gradients using principal components analysis and then evaluated models of home range size using multiple regression, with orthogonal variables representing vegetation, human disturbance and snowcover.Results: Average home range size varied 28-fold among populations (range: 312-8,838 km 2 ). Home range area was most strongly and negatively correlated with anthropogenic disturbance in the population range (R 2 = 0.391), a variable in all seven top models (ΔAIC c ≤ 5.99). Among populations, where human disturbance in the population range was low (≤10%), mean home range sizes consistently exceeded 1,400 km 2 . Conversely, where human disturbance was high (>55%), especially at the species' southern range margin, mean home range sizes did not exceed 1,500 km 2 . Main Conclusions:In the boreal forest, female caribou may constrict their home ranges amid human-caused disturbances. We speculate that smaller home ranges may lower the risk of encounter by predators, a key limiting factor. Among populations, smaller home ranges may serve as a signal of anthropogenic habitat loss. K E Y W O R D Santhropogenic disturbance, boreal forest, intraspecific variation, Rangifer tarandus, space use

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

The biogeography of home range size of woodland caribou Rangifer tarandus caribou

Wilson

Pond

Brown

et al. 2018

Diversity and Distributions

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“All the problems in the community are multifaceted and related to each other”: Inuit concerns in an era of climate change

Ready

Collings

2020

American J Hum Biol

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Objective: Human dimensions of climate change research in the Arctic often proposes ways for local communities to adapt to changes to their environment, foregrounding problems posed by climate change while treating social, political, and economic factors as background conditions. We explore the relevance of this research paradigm for Inuit by examining how Inuit from Kangiqsujuaq present and discuss the major issues facing their community. Methods: We thematically code and analyze the responses of 107 Inuit to three free-response questions about the problems facing their community and the best things about their community. The data were collected as part of a questionnaire for a project focused on food security and food sharing conducted in Kangiqsujuaq, Nunavik, in 2013 to 2014. Results: Few respondents mentioned issues relating to climate change among the most pressing problems faced by their community. Rather, a suite of interconnected social and economic issues, particularly substance abuse and the cost of living, emerged as the main concerns of Kangiqsujuarmiut. However, the environment was a central theme in respondents' favorite thing about their community.Conclusions: In light of the concerns identified by Inuit, we argue that much research on climate change makes incorrect a priori assumptions and consequently fails to capture aspects of Arctic socioecological systems that are essential for how Inuit are responding to climate change. An inductive, open-ended approach can help produce research more relevant to communities. | INTRODUCTIONRates of climate change in the Arctic are rapid and significant (ACIA, 2004), and research on climate change in the region is accordingly prolific. Alongside natural science research that focuses on topics including sea ice measurement and modeling, permafrost melt, vegetation changes, and of course, polar bears, a veritable industry attends to the human dimensions of climate change. The currently dominant paradigm in this area of scholarship draws on

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Critical summer foraging tradeoffs in a subarctic ungulate

Ehlers

Coulombe

Herriges

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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Summer diets are crucial for large herbivores in the subarctic and are affected by weather, harassment from insects and a variety of environmental changes linked to climate. Yet, understanding foraging behavior and diet of large herbivores is challenging in the subarctic because of their remote ranges. We used GPS video‐camera collars to observe behaviors and summer diets of the migratory Fortymile Caribou Herd (Rangifer tarandus granti) across Alaska, USA and the Yukon, Canada. First, we characterized caribou behavior. Second, we tested if videos could be used to quantify changes in the probability of eating events. Third, we estimated summer diets at the finest taxonomic resolution possible through videos. Finally, we compared summer diet estimates from video collars to microhistological analysis of fecal pellets. We classified 18,134 videos from 30 female caribou over two summers (2018 and 2019). Caribou behaviors included eating (mean = 43.5%), ruminating (25.6%), travelling (14.0%), stationary awake (11.3%) and napping (5.1%). Eating was restricted by insect harassment. We classified forage(s) consumed in 5,549 videos where diet composition (monthly) highlighted a strong tradeoff between lichens and shrubs; shrubs dominated diets in June and July when lichen use declined. We identified 63 species, 70 genus and 33 family groups of summer forages from videos. After adjusting for digestibility, monthly estimates of diet composition were strongly correlated at the scale of the forage functional type (i.e., forage groups composed of forbs, graminoids, mosses, shrubs and lichens; r = 0.79, p < .01). Using video collars, we identified (1) a pronounced tradeoff in summer foraging between lichens and shrubs and (2) the costs of insect harassment on eating. Understanding caribou foraging ecology is needed to plan for their long‐term conservation across the circumpolar north, and video collars can provide a powerful approach across remote regions.

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Return of Caribou to Ungava

Cited by 51 publications

References 0 publications

The biogeography of home range size of woodland caribou Rangifer tarandus caribou

The biogeography of home range size of woodland caribou Rangifer tarandus caribou

“All the problems in the community are multifaceted and related to each other”: Inuit concerns in an era of climate change

Critical summer foraging tradeoffs in a subarctic ungulate

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