Managing for Caribou Survival in a Partitioned Habitat
Forest management guidelines for woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in Ontario need to be re-examined in light of the finding that caribou partition habitat with moose (Alces alces), partly to find virtual refuges from predation by gray wolves (Canis lupus). Forest-wide guidelines seem ina...
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Language: | English |
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Septentrio Academic Publishing
1996
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Online Access: | https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1239 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.16.4.1239 |
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ftunitroemsoe:oai:ojs.henry.ub.uit.no:article/1239 2023-05-15T13:13:23+02:00 Managing for Caribou Survival in a Partitioned Habitat Cumming, H.G. 1996-01-01 application/pdf https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1239 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.16.4.1239 eng eng Septentrio Academic Publishing https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1239/1178 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1239 doi:10.7557/2.16.4.1239 Copyright (c) 2015 H.G. Cumming http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ CC-BY Rangifer; Vol 16 (1996): Special Issue No. 9; 171-180 1890-6729 caribou forest harvesting guidelines habitat partitioning moose gray wolf info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 1996 ftunitroemsoe https://doi.org/10.7557/2.16.4.1239 2021-08-16T14:54:19Z Forest management guidelines for woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in Ontario need to be re-examined in light of the finding that caribou partition habitat with moose (Alces alces), partly to find virtual refuges from predation by gray wolves (Canis lupus). Forest-wide guidelines seem inappropriate for a species that is widely scattered and little known. Management should concentrate on and around currently used virtual refuges to ensure their continued habitability. Cutting these areas may force the caribou into places with higher densities of predators; winter use of roads might bring poachers, increased wolf entry, and accidents. A proposal for 100 km2 clear-cuts scheduled over 60+ years across the forest landscape would probably minimize moose/wolf densities in the long run as intended, but because of habitat partitioning might forfeit any benefits to caribou in the short-term. Sharply reducing moose densities near areas where caribou have sought refuge might incline wolves to switch to caribou. Cutting beyond caribou winter refuge areas should aim at maintaining current moose densities to prevent wolves from switching prey species. Operations level manipulation of the forest around each wintering area should provide winter habitat for the future, while treatment replications with controls across the whole forest would provide reliable knowledge about which approaches work best. The remainder of the forest should be managed to maintain suitable densities of all other species. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alces alces Canis lupus gray wolf Rangifer Rangifer tarandus University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing Rangifer 16 4 171 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftunitroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
caribou forest harvesting guidelines habitat partitioning moose gray wolf |
spellingShingle |
caribou forest harvesting guidelines habitat partitioning moose gray wolf Cumming, H.G. Managing for Caribou Survival in a Partitioned Habitat |
topic_facet |
caribou forest harvesting guidelines habitat partitioning moose gray wolf |
description |
Forest management guidelines for woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in Ontario need to be re-examined in light of the finding that caribou partition habitat with moose (Alces alces), partly to find virtual refuges from predation by gray wolves (Canis lupus). Forest-wide guidelines seem inappropriate for a species that is widely scattered and little known. Management should concentrate on and around currently used virtual refuges to ensure their continued habitability. Cutting these areas may force the caribou into places with higher densities of predators; winter use of roads might bring poachers, increased wolf entry, and accidents. A proposal for 100 km2 clear-cuts scheduled over 60+ years across the forest landscape would probably minimize moose/wolf densities in the long run as intended, but because of habitat partitioning might forfeit any benefits to caribou in the short-term. Sharply reducing moose densities near areas where caribou have sought refuge might incline wolves to switch to caribou. Cutting beyond caribou winter refuge areas should aim at maintaining current moose densities to prevent wolves from switching prey species. Operations level manipulation of the forest around each wintering area should provide winter habitat for the future, while treatment replications with controls across the whole forest would provide reliable knowledge about which approaches work best. The remainder of the forest should be managed to maintain suitable densities of all other species. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cumming, H.G. |
author_facet |
Cumming, H.G. |
author_sort |
Cumming, H.G. |
title |
Managing for Caribou Survival in a Partitioned Habitat |
title_short |
Managing for Caribou Survival in a Partitioned Habitat |
title_full |
Managing for Caribou Survival in a Partitioned Habitat |
title_fullStr |
Managing for Caribou Survival in a Partitioned Habitat |
title_full_unstemmed |
Managing for Caribou Survival in a Partitioned Habitat |
title_sort |
managing for caribou survival in a partitioned habitat |
publisher |
Septentrio Academic Publishing |
publishDate |
1996 |
url |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1239 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.16.4.1239 |
genre |
Alces alces Canis lupus gray wolf Rangifer Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
Alces alces Canis lupus gray wolf Rangifer Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
Rangifer; Vol 16 (1996): Special Issue No. 9; 171-180 1890-6729 |
op_relation |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1239/1178 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1239 doi:10.7557/2.16.4.1239 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2015 H.G. Cumming http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7557/2.16.4.1239 |
container_title |
Rangifer |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
171 |
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1766258046685675520 |