Habitat loss accelerates for the endangered woodland caribou in western Canada
Abstract Habitat loss is often the ultimate cause of species endangerment and is also a leading factor inhibiting species recovery. For this reason, species‐at‐risk legislation, policies and plans typically focus on habitat conservation and restoration as mechanisms for recovery. To assess the effec...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.437 https://doaj.org/article/c08f48688a954696958e105a08d90706 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c08f48688a954696958e105a08d90706 2023-05-15T18:04:26+02:00 Habitat loss accelerates for the endangered woodland caribou in western Canada Mariana Nagy‐Reis Melanie Dickie Anna M. Calvert Mark Hebblewhite Dave Hervieux Dale R. Seip Sophie L. Gilbert Oscar Venter Craig DeMars Stan Boutin Robert Serrouya 2021-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.437 https://doaj.org/article/c08f48688a954696958e105a08d90706 EN eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.437 https://doaj.org/toc/2578-4854 2578-4854 doi:10.1111/csp2.437 https://doaj.org/article/c08f48688a954696958e105a08d90706 Conservation Science and Practice, Vol 3, Iss 7, Pp n/a-n/a (2021) habitat loss endangered species species at risk woodland caribou Ecology QH540-549.5 General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.437 2022-12-31T12:29:22Z Abstract Habitat loss is often the ultimate cause of species endangerment and is also a leading factor inhibiting species recovery. For this reason, species‐at‐risk legislation, policies and plans typically focus on habitat conservation and restoration as mechanisms for recovery. To assess the effectiveness of these instruments in decelerating habitat loss, we evaluated spatiotemporal habitat changes for an iconic endangered species, woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). We quantified changes in forest cover, a key proxy of caribou habitat, for all caribou subpopulations in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. Despite efforts under federal and provincial recovery plans, and requirements listed under Canada's Species at Risk Act, caribou subpopulations lost twice as much habitat as they gained during a 12‐year period (2000–2012). Drivers of habitat loss varied by ecotype, with Boreal and Northern Mountain caribou affected most by forest fire and Southern Mountain caribou affected more by forest harvest. Our case study emphasizes critical gaps between recovery planning and habitat management actions, which are a core expectation under most species‐at‐risk legislation. Loss of caribou habitat from 2000 to 2018 has accelerated. Linear features within caribou ranges have also increased over time, particularly seismic lines within Boreal caribou ranges, and we estimated that only 5% of seismic lines have functionally regenerated. Our findings support the idea that short‐term recovery actions such as predator reductions and translocations will likely just delay caribou extinction in the absence of well‐considered habitat management. Given the magnitude of ongoing habitat change, it is clear that unless the cumulative impacts of land‐uses are effectively addressed through planning and management actions that consider anthropogenic and natural disturbances, we will fail to achieve self‐sustaining woodland caribou populations across much of North America. Article in Journal/Newspaper Rangifer tarandus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles British Columbia ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) Canada Conservation Science and Practice 3 7 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
habitat loss endangered species species at risk woodland caribou Ecology QH540-549.5 General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
habitat loss endangered species species at risk woodland caribou Ecology QH540-549.5 General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Mariana Nagy‐Reis Melanie Dickie Anna M. Calvert Mark Hebblewhite Dave Hervieux Dale R. Seip Sophie L. Gilbert Oscar Venter Craig DeMars Stan Boutin Robert Serrouya Habitat loss accelerates for the endangered woodland caribou in western Canada |
topic_facet |
habitat loss endangered species species at risk woodland caribou Ecology QH540-549.5 General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
Abstract Habitat loss is often the ultimate cause of species endangerment and is also a leading factor inhibiting species recovery. For this reason, species‐at‐risk legislation, policies and plans typically focus on habitat conservation and restoration as mechanisms for recovery. To assess the effectiveness of these instruments in decelerating habitat loss, we evaluated spatiotemporal habitat changes for an iconic endangered species, woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). We quantified changes in forest cover, a key proxy of caribou habitat, for all caribou subpopulations in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. Despite efforts under federal and provincial recovery plans, and requirements listed under Canada's Species at Risk Act, caribou subpopulations lost twice as much habitat as they gained during a 12‐year period (2000–2012). Drivers of habitat loss varied by ecotype, with Boreal and Northern Mountain caribou affected most by forest fire and Southern Mountain caribou affected more by forest harvest. Our case study emphasizes critical gaps between recovery planning and habitat management actions, which are a core expectation under most species‐at‐risk legislation. Loss of caribou habitat from 2000 to 2018 has accelerated. Linear features within caribou ranges have also increased over time, particularly seismic lines within Boreal caribou ranges, and we estimated that only 5% of seismic lines have functionally regenerated. Our findings support the idea that short‐term recovery actions such as predator reductions and translocations will likely just delay caribou extinction in the absence of well‐considered habitat management. Given the magnitude of ongoing habitat change, it is clear that unless the cumulative impacts of land‐uses are effectively addressed through planning and management actions that consider anthropogenic and natural disturbances, we will fail to achieve self‐sustaining woodland caribou populations across much of North America. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mariana Nagy‐Reis Melanie Dickie Anna M. Calvert Mark Hebblewhite Dave Hervieux Dale R. Seip Sophie L. Gilbert Oscar Venter Craig DeMars Stan Boutin Robert Serrouya |
author_facet |
Mariana Nagy‐Reis Melanie Dickie Anna M. Calvert Mark Hebblewhite Dave Hervieux Dale R. Seip Sophie L. Gilbert Oscar Venter Craig DeMars Stan Boutin Robert Serrouya |
author_sort |
Mariana Nagy‐Reis |
title |
Habitat loss accelerates for the endangered woodland caribou in western Canada |
title_short |
Habitat loss accelerates for the endangered woodland caribou in western Canada |
title_full |
Habitat loss accelerates for the endangered woodland caribou in western Canada |
title_fullStr |
Habitat loss accelerates for the endangered woodland caribou in western Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Habitat loss accelerates for the endangered woodland caribou in western Canada |
title_sort |
habitat loss accelerates for the endangered woodland caribou in western canada |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.437 https://doaj.org/article/c08f48688a954696958e105a08d90706 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) |
geographic |
British Columbia Canada |
geographic_facet |
British Columbia Canada |
genre |
Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
Conservation Science and Practice, Vol 3, Iss 7, Pp n/a-n/a (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.437 https://doaj.org/toc/2578-4854 2578-4854 doi:10.1111/csp2.437 https://doaj.org/article/c08f48688a954696958e105a08d90706 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.437 |
container_title |
Conservation Science and Practice |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
7 |
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1766175805615898624 |