Conservation of Peary caribou based on a recalculation of the 1961 aerial survey on the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Arctic Canada
The estimate of 25 845 Peary caribou (Rangifer tarandus pearyi) on the Queen Elizabeth Islands (QEI) in the Canadian High Arctic in summer 1961 is the only nearly range-wide 'benchmark' for the past number of caribou. No variances or confidence intervals were calculated for this estimate a...
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Language: | English |
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Septentrio Academic Publishing
2005
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.4.1772 https://doaj.org/article/0948ec4e6d924254b9c3cac22c7773c6 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:0948ec4e6d924254b9c3cac22c7773c6 2023-05-15T14:55:35+02:00 Conservation of Peary caribou based on a recalculation of the 1961 aerial survey on the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Arctic Canada Frank L. Miller Samuel J. Barry Wendy A. Calvert 2005-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.4.1772 https://doaj.org/article/0948ec4e6d924254b9c3cac22c7773c6 EN eng Septentrio Academic Publishing https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1772 https://doaj.org/toc/1890-6729 doi:10.7557/2.25.4.1772 1890-6729 https://doaj.org/article/0948ec4e6d924254b9c3cac22c7773c6 Rangifer, Vol 25, Iss 4 (2005) aerial survey Canada caribou Canadian High Arctic Islands conservation distribution Animal culture SF1-1100 article 2005 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.4.1772 2022-12-31T05:33:12Z The estimate of 25 845 Peary caribou (Rangifer tarandus pearyi) on the Queen Elizabeth Islands (QEI) in the Canadian High Arctic in summer 1961 is the only nearly range-wide 'benchmark' for the past number of caribou. No variances or confidence intervals were calculated for this estimate and no estimates were calculated for Peary caribou on the three major islands of Ellesmere, Devon, and Axel Heiberg. We reexamined the 1961 raw data by grouping the QEI into five island-complexes ('eco-units') and calculating, for each unit, the estimated number of caribou and the standard error, and the 95% confidence interval of the estimate, using a 'bootstrap' technique with 100 000 replications. Our goal was to provide an ecological basis for evaluating subsequent changes in numbers rather than relying on single-island evaluations. Our bootstrap reanalysis produced an estimate of 28 288 ± 2205 SE with a 95% CI of 20 436—37 031 Peary caribou on the QEI in summer 1961. Substantial differences in density were apparent among the five eco-units, with about a 50-fold difference from 0.01 caribou • km-2 in the Eastern eco-unit to 0.5 caribou • km-2 in the Northwestern eco-unit. The 1961 findings, with our subsequent reexamination, are crucial to any evaluation of trends for the number of Peary caribou on the QEI and the relative importance of individual eco-units for these animals. These findings also allow a more accurate evaluation of the magnitude of the subsequent decline of Peary caribou on the QEI during the last four decades and may help predict future potential levels for caribou in each of the five eco-units. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic caribou Queen Elizabeth Islands Rangifer Rangifer tarandus Single Island Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Canada Heiberg ENVELOPE(13.964,13.964,66.424,66.424) Peary ENVELOPE(-63.867,-63.867,-65.250,-65.250) Single Island ENVELOPE(68.667,68.667,-69.817,-69.817) Rangifer 25 4 65 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
aerial survey Canada caribou Canadian High Arctic Islands conservation distribution Animal culture SF1-1100 |
spellingShingle |
aerial survey Canada caribou Canadian High Arctic Islands conservation distribution Animal culture SF1-1100 Frank L. Miller Samuel J. Barry Wendy A. Calvert Conservation of Peary caribou based on a recalculation of the 1961 aerial survey on the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Arctic Canada |
topic_facet |
aerial survey Canada caribou Canadian High Arctic Islands conservation distribution Animal culture SF1-1100 |
description |
The estimate of 25 845 Peary caribou (Rangifer tarandus pearyi) on the Queen Elizabeth Islands (QEI) in the Canadian High Arctic in summer 1961 is the only nearly range-wide 'benchmark' for the past number of caribou. No variances or confidence intervals were calculated for this estimate and no estimates were calculated for Peary caribou on the three major islands of Ellesmere, Devon, and Axel Heiberg. We reexamined the 1961 raw data by grouping the QEI into five island-complexes ('eco-units') and calculating, for each unit, the estimated number of caribou and the standard error, and the 95% confidence interval of the estimate, using a 'bootstrap' technique with 100 000 replications. Our goal was to provide an ecological basis for evaluating subsequent changes in numbers rather than relying on single-island evaluations. Our bootstrap reanalysis produced an estimate of 28 288 ± 2205 SE with a 95% CI of 20 436—37 031 Peary caribou on the QEI in summer 1961. Substantial differences in density were apparent among the five eco-units, with about a 50-fold difference from 0.01 caribou • km-2 in the Eastern eco-unit to 0.5 caribou • km-2 in the Northwestern eco-unit. The 1961 findings, with our subsequent reexamination, are crucial to any evaluation of trends for the number of Peary caribou on the QEI and the relative importance of individual eco-units for these animals. These findings also allow a more accurate evaluation of the magnitude of the subsequent decline of Peary caribou on the QEI during the last four decades and may help predict future potential levels for caribou in each of the five eco-units. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Frank L. Miller Samuel J. Barry Wendy A. Calvert |
author_facet |
Frank L. Miller Samuel J. Barry Wendy A. Calvert |
author_sort |
Frank L. Miller |
title |
Conservation of Peary caribou based on a recalculation of the 1961 aerial survey on the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Arctic Canada |
title_short |
Conservation of Peary caribou based on a recalculation of the 1961 aerial survey on the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Arctic Canada |
title_full |
Conservation of Peary caribou based on a recalculation of the 1961 aerial survey on the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Arctic Canada |
title_fullStr |
Conservation of Peary caribou based on a recalculation of the 1961 aerial survey on the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Arctic Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Conservation of Peary caribou based on a recalculation of the 1961 aerial survey on the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Arctic Canada |
title_sort |
conservation of peary caribou based on a recalculation of the 1961 aerial survey on the queen elizabeth islands, arctic canada |
publisher |
Septentrio Academic Publishing |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.4.1772 https://doaj.org/article/0948ec4e6d924254b9c3cac22c7773c6 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(13.964,13.964,66.424,66.424) ENVELOPE(-63.867,-63.867,-65.250,-65.250) ENVELOPE(68.667,68.667,-69.817,-69.817) |
geographic |
Arctic Canada Heiberg Peary Single Island |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada Heiberg Peary Single Island |
genre |
Arctic caribou Queen Elizabeth Islands Rangifer Rangifer tarandus Single Island |
genre_facet |
Arctic caribou Queen Elizabeth Islands Rangifer Rangifer tarandus Single Island |
op_source |
Rangifer, Vol 25, Iss 4 (2005) |
op_relation |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1772 https://doaj.org/toc/1890-6729 doi:10.7557/2.25.4.1772 1890-6729 https://doaj.org/article/0948ec4e6d924254b9c3cac22c7773c6 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.4.1772 |
container_title |
Rangifer |
container_volume |
25 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
65 |
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1766327618836103168 |