Population Ecology of Caribou Populations without Predators: Southampton and Coats Island Herds
This paper is a review of the ecology of two caribou populations inhabiting predator-free northern islands, Coats and Southampton Island. Findings are analyzed in light of the hypothesis that in absence of prédation or high human harvest, food competition results in delayed puberty, reduced calf pro...
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1996
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ftunitroemsoe:oai:ojs.henry.ub.uit.no:article/1216 2023-05-15T15:14:13+02:00 Population Ecology of Caribou Populations without Predators: Southampton and Coats Island Herds Quellet, Jean-Pierre Heard, Douglas C. Mulders, Robert 1996-01-01 application/pdf https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1216 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.16.4.1216 eng eng Septentrio Academic Publishing https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1216/1155 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1216 doi:10.7557/2.16.4.1216 Copyright (c) 2015 Jean-Pierre Quellet, Douglas C. Heard, Robert Mulders http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ CC-BY Rangifer; Vol 16 (1996): Special Issue No. 9; 17-26 1890-6729 Rangifer caribou Arctic caribou population Canada population dynamics food snow density info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 1996 ftunitroemsoe https://doi.org/10.7557/2.16.4.1216 2021-08-16T14:53:01Z This paper is a review of the ecology of two caribou populations inhabiting predator-free northern islands, Coats and Southampton Island. Findings are analyzed in light of the hypothesis that in absence of prédation or high human harvest, food competition results in delayed puberty, reduced calf production, increased winter starvation of caribou and regulates populations at high densities (>2 km-2). Caribou were hunted to extinction on Southampton Island (Northwest Territories, Canada) by mid-century. In 1967, 48 caribou were captured on neighbouring Coats Island and released on Southampton Island. Southampton Island is characterized by a high per capita winter food availability in summer and in winter. The population on Southampton Island has been increasing at a rapid rate of growth since re-introduction (Lamba=1.27). Fast population growth was possible because females invested early in reproduction and over winter survival rate was high. The population on Coats Island is also characterized by high per capita food availability in summer but low food availability in winter. The population size has undergone some marked fluctuations, abrupt declines followed by relatively rapid recovery and, contrary to predictions, densities were always less than 1 km-2. Low population densities on Coats Island result primarily from low food availability. This review suggests that in the absence of prédation or high human harvest competition for food regulates caribou population abundance. However, caribou numbers can fluctuate markedly among years because inter-annual variation of weather conditions affects forage accessibility in winter. This review also emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between factors that determine absolute population density and variation in density among years (in our case probably plant production and winter weather conditions which influence forage accessibility) from the regulatory factors, processes that stop population increase (competition for winter food leading primarily to density dependent changes in mortality from starvation) when examining population dynamics. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Coats Island Northwest Territories Rangifer Southampton Island University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing Arctic Canada Coats Island ENVELOPE(-82.974,-82.974,62.620,62.620) Northwest Territories Southampton Island ENVELOPE(-84.501,-84.501,64.463,64.463) Rangifer 16 4 17 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftunitroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
Rangifer caribou Arctic caribou population Canada population dynamics food snow density |
spellingShingle |
Rangifer caribou Arctic caribou population Canada population dynamics food snow density Quellet, Jean-Pierre Heard, Douglas C. Mulders, Robert Population Ecology of Caribou Populations without Predators: Southampton and Coats Island Herds |
topic_facet |
Rangifer caribou Arctic caribou population Canada population dynamics food snow density |
description |
This paper is a review of the ecology of two caribou populations inhabiting predator-free northern islands, Coats and Southampton Island. Findings are analyzed in light of the hypothesis that in absence of prédation or high human harvest, food competition results in delayed puberty, reduced calf production, increased winter starvation of caribou and regulates populations at high densities (>2 km-2). Caribou were hunted to extinction on Southampton Island (Northwest Territories, Canada) by mid-century. In 1967, 48 caribou were captured on neighbouring Coats Island and released on Southampton Island. Southampton Island is characterized by a high per capita winter food availability in summer and in winter. The population on Southampton Island has been increasing at a rapid rate of growth since re-introduction (Lamba=1.27). Fast population growth was possible because females invested early in reproduction and over winter survival rate was high. The population on Coats Island is also characterized by high per capita food availability in summer but low food availability in winter. The population size has undergone some marked fluctuations, abrupt declines followed by relatively rapid recovery and, contrary to predictions, densities were always less than 1 km-2. Low population densities on Coats Island result primarily from low food availability. This review suggests that in the absence of prédation or high human harvest competition for food regulates caribou population abundance. However, caribou numbers can fluctuate markedly among years because inter-annual variation of weather conditions affects forage accessibility in winter. This review also emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between factors that determine absolute population density and variation in density among years (in our case probably plant production and winter weather conditions which influence forage accessibility) from the regulatory factors, processes that stop population increase (competition for winter food leading primarily to density dependent changes in mortality from starvation) when examining population dynamics. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Quellet, Jean-Pierre Heard, Douglas C. Mulders, Robert |
author_facet |
Quellet, Jean-Pierre Heard, Douglas C. Mulders, Robert |
author_sort |
Quellet, Jean-Pierre |
title |
Population Ecology of Caribou Populations without Predators: Southampton and Coats Island Herds |
title_short |
Population Ecology of Caribou Populations without Predators: Southampton and Coats Island Herds |
title_full |
Population Ecology of Caribou Populations without Predators: Southampton and Coats Island Herds |
title_fullStr |
Population Ecology of Caribou Populations without Predators: Southampton and Coats Island Herds |
title_full_unstemmed |
Population Ecology of Caribou Populations without Predators: Southampton and Coats Island Herds |
title_sort |
population ecology of caribou populations without predators: southampton and coats island herds |
publisher |
Septentrio Academic Publishing |
publishDate |
1996 |
url |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1216 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.16.4.1216 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-82.974,-82.974,62.620,62.620) ENVELOPE(-84.501,-84.501,64.463,64.463) |
geographic |
Arctic Canada Coats Island Northwest Territories Southampton Island |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada Coats Island Northwest Territories Southampton Island |
genre |
Arctic Coats Island Northwest Territories Rangifer Southampton Island |
genre_facet |
Arctic Coats Island Northwest Territories Rangifer Southampton Island |
op_source |
Rangifer; Vol 16 (1996): Special Issue No. 9; 17-26 1890-6729 |
op_relation |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1216/1155 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1216 doi:10.7557/2.16.4.1216 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2015 Jean-Pierre Quellet, Douglas C. Heard, Robert Mulders http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7557/2.16.4.1216 |
container_title |
Rangifer |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
17 |
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1766344695360782336 |