Mountain pine beetles and emerging issues in the management of woodland caribou in Westcentral British Columbia
The Tweedsmuir—Entiako caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) herd summers in mountainous terrain in the North Tweedsmuir Park area and winters mainly in low elevation forests in the Entiako area of Westcentral British Columbia. During winter, caribou select mature lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) fores...
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Language: | English |
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Septentrio Academic Publishing
2005
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Online Access: | https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1775 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.4.1775 |
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ftunitroemsoe:oai:ojs.henry.ub.uit.no:article/1775 2023-05-15T18:03:55+02:00 Mountain pine beetles and emerging issues in the management of woodland caribou in Westcentral British Columbia Cichowski, Deborah Williston, Patrick 2005-05-01 application/pdf https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1775 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.4.1775 eng eng Septentrio Academic Publishing https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1775/1655 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1775 doi:10.7557/2.25.4.1775 Copyright (c) 2015 Deborah Cichowski, Patrick Williston http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ CC-BY Rangifer; Vol 25 (2005): Special Issue No. 16; 97-103 1890-6729 caribou habitat pine beetles natural disturbance Rangifer tarandus caribou terrestrial lichens winter range info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2005 ftunitroemsoe https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.4.1775 2021-08-16T15:07:20Z The Tweedsmuir—Entiako caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) herd summers in mountainous terrain in the North Tweedsmuir Park area and winters mainly in low elevation forests in the Entiako area of Westcentral British Columbia. During winter, caribou select mature lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests on poor sites and forage primarily by cratering through snow to obtain terrestrial lichens. These forests are subject to frequent large-scale natural disturbance by fire and forest insects. Fire suppression has been effective in reducing large-scale fires in the Entiako area for the last 40—50 years, resulting in a landscape consisting primarily of older lodgepole pine forests, which are susceptible to mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) attack. In 1994, mountain pine beetles were detected in northern Tweedsmuir Park and adjacent managed forests. To date, mountain pine beetles have attacked several hundred thousand hectares of caribou summer and winter range in the vicinity of Tweedsmuir Park, and Entiako Park and Protected Area. Because an attack of this scale is unprecedented on woodland caribou ranges, there is no information available on the effects of mountain pine beetles on caribou movements, habitat use or terrestrial forage lichen abundance. Implications of the mountain pine beetle epidemic to the Tweedsmuir—Entiako woodland caribou population include effects on terrestrial lichen abundance, effects on caribou movement (reduced snow interception, blowdown), and increased forest harvesting outside protected areas for mountain pine beetle salvage. In 2001 we initiated a study to investigate the effects of mountain pine beetles and forest harvesting on terrestrial caribou forage lichens. Preliminary results suggest that the abundance of Cladina spp. has decreased with a corresponding increase in kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) and other herbaceous plants. Additional studies are required to determine caribou movement and habitat use responses to the mountain pine beetle epidemic. Article in Journal/Newspaper Rangifer Rangifer tarandus University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing Entiako Park ENVELOPE(-125.436,-125.436,53.250,53.250) Tweedsmuir Park ENVELOPE(-125.886,-125.886,53.100,53.100) Rangifer 25 4 97 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftunitroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
caribou habitat pine beetles natural disturbance Rangifer tarandus caribou terrestrial lichens winter range |
spellingShingle |
caribou habitat pine beetles natural disturbance Rangifer tarandus caribou terrestrial lichens winter range Cichowski, Deborah Williston, Patrick Mountain pine beetles and emerging issues in the management of woodland caribou in Westcentral British Columbia |
topic_facet |
caribou habitat pine beetles natural disturbance Rangifer tarandus caribou terrestrial lichens winter range |
description |
The Tweedsmuir—Entiako caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) herd summers in mountainous terrain in the North Tweedsmuir Park area and winters mainly in low elevation forests in the Entiako area of Westcentral British Columbia. During winter, caribou select mature lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests on poor sites and forage primarily by cratering through snow to obtain terrestrial lichens. These forests are subject to frequent large-scale natural disturbance by fire and forest insects. Fire suppression has been effective in reducing large-scale fires in the Entiako area for the last 40—50 years, resulting in a landscape consisting primarily of older lodgepole pine forests, which are susceptible to mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) attack. In 1994, mountain pine beetles were detected in northern Tweedsmuir Park and adjacent managed forests. To date, mountain pine beetles have attacked several hundred thousand hectares of caribou summer and winter range in the vicinity of Tweedsmuir Park, and Entiako Park and Protected Area. Because an attack of this scale is unprecedented on woodland caribou ranges, there is no information available on the effects of mountain pine beetles on caribou movements, habitat use or terrestrial forage lichen abundance. Implications of the mountain pine beetle epidemic to the Tweedsmuir—Entiako woodland caribou population include effects on terrestrial lichen abundance, effects on caribou movement (reduced snow interception, blowdown), and increased forest harvesting outside protected areas for mountain pine beetle salvage. In 2001 we initiated a study to investigate the effects of mountain pine beetles and forest harvesting on terrestrial caribou forage lichens. Preliminary results suggest that the abundance of Cladina spp. has decreased with a corresponding increase in kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) and other herbaceous plants. Additional studies are required to determine caribou movement and habitat use responses to the mountain pine beetle epidemic. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cichowski, Deborah Williston, Patrick |
author_facet |
Cichowski, Deborah Williston, Patrick |
author_sort |
Cichowski, Deborah |
title |
Mountain pine beetles and emerging issues in the management of woodland caribou in Westcentral British Columbia |
title_short |
Mountain pine beetles and emerging issues in the management of woodland caribou in Westcentral British Columbia |
title_full |
Mountain pine beetles and emerging issues in the management of woodland caribou in Westcentral British Columbia |
title_fullStr |
Mountain pine beetles and emerging issues in the management of woodland caribou in Westcentral British Columbia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mountain pine beetles and emerging issues in the management of woodland caribou in Westcentral British Columbia |
title_sort |
mountain pine beetles and emerging issues in the management of woodland caribou in westcentral british columbia |
publisher |
Septentrio Academic Publishing |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1775 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.4.1775 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-125.436,-125.436,53.250,53.250) ENVELOPE(-125.886,-125.886,53.100,53.100) |
geographic |
Entiako Park Tweedsmuir Park |
geographic_facet |
Entiako Park Tweedsmuir Park |
genre |
Rangifer Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
Rangifer Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
Rangifer; Vol 25 (2005): Special Issue No. 16; 97-103 1890-6729 |
op_relation |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1775/1655 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1775 doi:10.7557/2.25.4.1775 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2015 Deborah Cichowski, Patrick Williston http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.4.1775 |
container_title |
Rangifer |
container_volume |
25 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
97 |
_version_ |
1766175129579028480 |