Seasonal Climate Variation and Caribou Availability: Modeling Sequential Movement Using Satellite-Relocation Data ...

• Main Authors: Russell, Don, Kofinas, Gary P., Thor West, Colin, Griffith, Brad, Nicolson, Craig, Berman, Matthew, Dugan, Darcy
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries 2013
• Subjects: Arctic; Canada; Rangifer tarandus; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17615/td41-1k18; https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/articles/1j92gh502

ABSTRACT. Livelihood systems that depend on mobile resources must constantly adapt to change. For people living in permanent settlements, environmental changes that affect the distribution of a migratory species may reduce the availability of a primary food source, with the potential to destabilize the regional social-ecological system. Food security for Arctic indigenous peoples harvesting barren ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) depends on movement patterns of migratory herds. Quantitative assessments of physical, ecological, and social effects on caribou distribution have proven difficult because of the significant interannual variability in seasonal caribou movement patterns. We developed and evaluated a modeling approach for simulating the distribution of a migratory herd throughout its annual cycle over a multiyear period. Beginning with spatial and temporal scales developed in previous studies of the Porcupine Caribou Herd of Canada and Alaska, we used satellite collar locations to compute and ...