What do caribou eat? A review of the literature on caribou diet
Historically, the study of caribou and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus (Linnaeus, 1788)) diet has been specific to herds and few comprehensive circumpolar analyses of Rangifer diet exist. As a result, certain diet items may play an outsized role in the caribou diet Zeitgeist, e.g., lichen. We challenge...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Canadian Science Publishing
2022
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2021-0162 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2021-0162 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2021-0162 |
id |
crcansciencepubl:10.1139/cjz-2021-0162 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcansciencepubl:10.1139/cjz-2021-0162 2024-09-30T14:31:11+00:00 What do caribou eat? A review of the literature on caribou diet Webber, Quinn M.R. Ferraro, Kristy M. Hendrix, Jack G. Vander Wal, Eric 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2021-0162 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2021-0162 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2021-0162 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 100, issue 3, page 197-207 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 2022 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2021-0162 2024-09-19T04:09:47Z Historically, the study of caribou and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus (Linnaeus, 1788)) diet has been specific to herds and few comprehensive circumpolar analyses of Rangifer diet exist. As a result, certain diet items may play an outsized role in the caribou diet Zeitgeist, e.g., lichen. We challenge this notion and test the relevant importance of various diet items within the context of prevailing hypotheses. We provide a systematic overview of 30 caribou studies reporting caribou diet and test biologically relevant hypotheses about spatial and temporal dietary variation. Our results indicate that in the winter caribou primarily consume lichen, but in warmer seasons and when primary productivity is lower, caribou primarily consume graminoids and other vascular plants. In more productive environments, where caribou have more competitors and predators, consumption of lichen increase. Overall, our description of caribou diet reveals that it is highly variable, but in circumstances where caribou can consume vascular plants, then they will. As climate change affects Boreal and Arctic ecosystems, the type and volume of food consumed by caribou have become an increasingly important focus for conservation and management of caribou. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Rangifer tarandus Canadian Science Publishing Arctic Canadian Journal of Zoology |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Historically, the study of caribou and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus (Linnaeus, 1788)) diet has been specific to herds and few comprehensive circumpolar analyses of Rangifer diet exist. As a result, certain diet items may play an outsized role in the caribou diet Zeitgeist, e.g., lichen. We challenge this notion and test the relevant importance of various diet items within the context of prevailing hypotheses. We provide a systematic overview of 30 caribou studies reporting caribou diet and test biologically relevant hypotheses about spatial and temporal dietary variation. Our results indicate that in the winter caribou primarily consume lichen, but in warmer seasons and when primary productivity is lower, caribou primarily consume graminoids and other vascular plants. In more productive environments, where caribou have more competitors and predators, consumption of lichen increase. Overall, our description of caribou diet reveals that it is highly variable, but in circumstances where caribou can consume vascular plants, then they will. As climate change affects Boreal and Arctic ecosystems, the type and volume of food consumed by caribou have become an increasingly important focus for conservation and management of caribou. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Webber, Quinn M.R. Ferraro, Kristy M. Hendrix, Jack G. Vander Wal, Eric |
spellingShingle |
Webber, Quinn M.R. Ferraro, Kristy M. Hendrix, Jack G. Vander Wal, Eric What do caribou eat? A review of the literature on caribou diet |
author_facet |
Webber, Quinn M.R. Ferraro, Kristy M. Hendrix, Jack G. Vander Wal, Eric |
author_sort |
Webber, Quinn M.R. |
title |
What do caribou eat? A review of the literature on caribou diet |
title_short |
What do caribou eat? A review of the literature on caribou diet |
title_full |
What do caribou eat? A review of the literature on caribou diet |
title_fullStr |
What do caribou eat? A review of the literature on caribou diet |
title_full_unstemmed |
What do caribou eat? A review of the literature on caribou diet |
title_sort |
what do caribou eat? a review of the literature on caribou diet |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2021-0162 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2021-0162 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2021-0162 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 100, issue 3, page 197-207 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2021-0162 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
_version_ |
1811635831264247808 |