Exposure to historical burn rates shapes the response of boreal caribou to timber harvesting
Abstract Studying the response of wildlife to anthropogenic disturbances in light of their evolutionary history may help explain their capacity to adapt to novel ecological conditions. In the North American boreal forest, wildfire has been the main natural disturbance driving ecosystem dynamics for...
Published in: | Ecosphere |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2739 https://doaj.org/article/7001edd7e612409abbc8e4c2cf9df870 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:7001edd7e612409abbc8e4c2cf9df870 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:7001edd7e612409abbc8e4c2cf9df870 2023-05-15T18:04:24+02:00 Exposure to historical burn rates shapes the response of boreal caribou to timber harvesting Alexandre Lafontaine Pierre Drapeau Daniel Fortin Sylvie Gauthier Yan Boulanger Martin‐Hugues St‐Laurent 2019-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2739 https://doaj.org/article/7001edd7e612409abbc8e4c2cf9df870 EN eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2739 https://doaj.org/toc/2150-8925 2150-8925 doi:10.1002/ecs2.2739 https://doaj.org/article/7001edd7e612409abbc8e4c2cf9df870 Ecosphere, Vol 10, Iss 5, Pp n/a-n/a (2019) evolutionary history maladaptive choices naïve habitat use threatened ungulate timber harvesting wildfires Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2739 2022-12-31T01:13:09Z Abstract Studying the response of wildlife to anthropogenic disturbances in light of their evolutionary history may help explain their capacity to adapt to novel ecological conditions. In the North American boreal forest, wildfire has been the main natural disturbance driving ecosystem dynamics for thousands of years. Boreal caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) is a threatened ungulate for which widespread decline has been associated with the rapid expansion of timber harvesting across its range. Although caribou may not be adapted to this new type of disturbance, cutovers share many similarities with wildfires by producing large landscapes of whole‐stand removal associated with an increased predation risk for caribou. We hypothesized that caribou with more evolutionary experience of fire disturbance should better perceive the cues associated with disturbances and adjust their behavior toward human disturbance accordingly. Given the extensive distribution of caribou populations in the boreal forest, we assessed how their historical exposure to wildfires could explain their behavioral response toward both burned and cutover areas. Our results indicate that caribou from regions with high historical burn rates displayed a consistent avoidance of recent burns (<5 yr old), and that this behavior translated in a similar avoidance of recent cutover, providing support to the cue similarity hypothesis. On the contrary, caribou with less evolutionary experience of wildfires were more likely to select recently disturbed (<5 yr‐old and 6–20 yr‐old) habitats. In the context that timber harvesting and its associated road network has been linked to increased mortality in boreal caribou populations, we discuss how this naïve habitat use of clearcuts can be exacerbated by historical disturbance regimes and become maladaptive for this endangered species. Article in Journal/Newspaper Rangifer tarandus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Ecosphere 10 5 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
evolutionary history maladaptive choices naïve habitat use threatened ungulate timber harvesting wildfires Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
evolutionary history maladaptive choices naïve habitat use threatened ungulate timber harvesting wildfires Ecology QH540-549.5 Alexandre Lafontaine Pierre Drapeau Daniel Fortin Sylvie Gauthier Yan Boulanger Martin‐Hugues St‐Laurent Exposure to historical burn rates shapes the response of boreal caribou to timber harvesting |
topic_facet |
evolutionary history maladaptive choices naïve habitat use threatened ungulate timber harvesting wildfires Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Abstract Studying the response of wildlife to anthropogenic disturbances in light of their evolutionary history may help explain their capacity to adapt to novel ecological conditions. In the North American boreal forest, wildfire has been the main natural disturbance driving ecosystem dynamics for thousands of years. Boreal caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) is a threatened ungulate for which widespread decline has been associated with the rapid expansion of timber harvesting across its range. Although caribou may not be adapted to this new type of disturbance, cutovers share many similarities with wildfires by producing large landscapes of whole‐stand removal associated with an increased predation risk for caribou. We hypothesized that caribou with more evolutionary experience of fire disturbance should better perceive the cues associated with disturbances and adjust their behavior toward human disturbance accordingly. Given the extensive distribution of caribou populations in the boreal forest, we assessed how their historical exposure to wildfires could explain their behavioral response toward both burned and cutover areas. Our results indicate that caribou from regions with high historical burn rates displayed a consistent avoidance of recent burns (<5 yr old), and that this behavior translated in a similar avoidance of recent cutover, providing support to the cue similarity hypothesis. On the contrary, caribou with less evolutionary experience of wildfires were more likely to select recently disturbed (<5 yr‐old and 6–20 yr‐old) habitats. In the context that timber harvesting and its associated road network has been linked to increased mortality in boreal caribou populations, we discuss how this naïve habitat use of clearcuts can be exacerbated by historical disturbance regimes and become maladaptive for this endangered species. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Alexandre Lafontaine Pierre Drapeau Daniel Fortin Sylvie Gauthier Yan Boulanger Martin‐Hugues St‐Laurent |
author_facet |
Alexandre Lafontaine Pierre Drapeau Daniel Fortin Sylvie Gauthier Yan Boulanger Martin‐Hugues St‐Laurent |
author_sort |
Alexandre Lafontaine |
title |
Exposure to historical burn rates shapes the response of boreal caribou to timber harvesting |
title_short |
Exposure to historical burn rates shapes the response of boreal caribou to timber harvesting |
title_full |
Exposure to historical burn rates shapes the response of boreal caribou to timber harvesting |
title_fullStr |
Exposure to historical burn rates shapes the response of boreal caribou to timber harvesting |
title_full_unstemmed |
Exposure to historical burn rates shapes the response of boreal caribou to timber harvesting |
title_sort |
exposure to historical burn rates shapes the response of boreal caribou to timber harvesting |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2739 https://doaj.org/article/7001edd7e612409abbc8e4c2cf9df870 |
genre |
Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
Ecosphere, Vol 10, Iss 5, Pp n/a-n/a (2019) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2739 https://doaj.org/toc/2150-8925 2150-8925 doi:10.1002/ecs2.2739 https://doaj.org/article/7001edd7e612409abbc8e4c2cf9df870 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2739 |
container_title |
Ecosphere |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
5 |
_version_ |
1766175774330585088 |