Seismic consequences : large mammal community dynamics in a boreal working landscape ...

• Main Author: Tattersall, Erin Ruth
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2019
• Subjects: Rangifer tarandus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0378282; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0378282

Anthropogenic landscape change modifies the face of our planet, creating new playing fields on which wildlife communities respond to altered landscapes. Individual species react to disturbance, which trigger subsequent responses in their interactions with other species and thus propagate effects across ecological communities. In Alberta’s boreal forest, resource extraction has created a working landscape: a heterogeneous mosaic of natural and industrial features. The most pervasive industrial features are seismic lines – long trails cut for oil and gas exploration. Mammal community responses to seismic lines have contributed to population declines for the iconic woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), thus motivating mitigation strategies in the form of habitat restoration. Although restoration is promised to recover caribou and restore landscape functionality, effective restoration should change wildlife responses to seismic lines, yet such responses are rarely evaluated. Further, interspecific ...