Recovery of Tundra Vegetation after Overgrazing by Caribou in Arctic Canada
During the summer of 1987, 500-1000 caribou became stranded on Rideout Island in Bathurst Inlet, Northwest Territories. The 40 sq/km island did not have sufficient forage to support the animals until freeze-up, and the caribou eventually died from malnutrition after severely overgrazing the vegetati...
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The Arctic Institute of North America
1991
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ftunivcalgaryojs:oai:journalhosting.ucalgary.ca:article/64570 2023-05-15T14:19:12+02:00 Recovery of Tundra Vegetation after Overgrazing by Caribou in Arctic Canada Henry, G.H.R. Gunn, A. 1991-01-01 application/pdf https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64570 eng eng The Arctic Institute of North America https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64570/48484 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64570 ARCTIC; Vol. 44 No. 1 (1991): March: 1–93; 38-42 1923-1245 0004-0843 Animal ecology Animal food Animal mortality Caribou Lichens Plant growth Plant reproduction Plant succession Tundra ecology Biomass Bathurst Inlet region Nunavut Rideout Island info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion research-article 1991 ftunivcalgaryojs 2022-03-22T21:21:48Z During the summer of 1987, 500-1000 caribou became stranded on Rideout Island in Bathurst Inlet, Northwest Territories. The 40 sq/km island did not have sufficient forage to support the animals until freeze-up, and the caribou eventually died from malnutrition after severely overgrazing the vegetation. In late July 1988, we found that most of the vascular vegetation on Rideout Island had recovered considerably. Vascular species composition and cover in the two major plant communities were comparable to those in similar communities on the adjacent, moderately grazed mainland. The willows (Salix spp.) and graminoid species were vigorous, and no differences were found in biomass allocation patterns of Salix lanata plants between the island and the mainland. However, essentially all of the macrolichen biomass was eliminated on the island, and full recovery could take more than 20 years.Key words: caribou, caribou range ecology, overgrazing, Bathurst Inlet, arctic vegetation, Salix spp., Betula spp. Mots clés: caribou, écologie du territoire du caribou, broutage excessif, inlet de Bathurst, vegetation arctique, esp. Salix, esp. Betula Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Arctique* Bathurst Inlet caribou Northwest Territories Nunavut Salix lanata Tundra University of Calgary Journal Hosting Arctic Bathurst Inlet ENVELOPE(-108.051,-108.051,66.840,66.840) Canada Caribou Range ENVELOPE(-125.436,-125.436,59.750,59.750) Northwest Territories Nunavut Rideout Island ENVELOPE(-107.652,-107.652,67.284,67.284) ARCTIC 44 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Calgary Journal Hosting |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcalgaryojs |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal ecology Animal food Animal mortality Caribou Lichens Plant growth Plant reproduction Plant succession Tundra ecology Biomass Bathurst Inlet region Nunavut Rideout Island |
spellingShingle |
Animal ecology Animal food Animal mortality Caribou Lichens Plant growth Plant reproduction Plant succession Tundra ecology Biomass Bathurst Inlet region Nunavut Rideout Island Henry, G.H.R. Gunn, A. Recovery of Tundra Vegetation after Overgrazing by Caribou in Arctic Canada |
topic_facet |
Animal ecology Animal food Animal mortality Caribou Lichens Plant growth Plant reproduction Plant succession Tundra ecology Biomass Bathurst Inlet region Nunavut Rideout Island |
description |
During the summer of 1987, 500-1000 caribou became stranded on Rideout Island in Bathurst Inlet, Northwest Territories. The 40 sq/km island did not have sufficient forage to support the animals until freeze-up, and the caribou eventually died from malnutrition after severely overgrazing the vegetation. In late July 1988, we found that most of the vascular vegetation on Rideout Island had recovered considerably. Vascular species composition and cover in the two major plant communities were comparable to those in similar communities on the adjacent, moderately grazed mainland. The willows (Salix spp.) and graminoid species were vigorous, and no differences were found in biomass allocation patterns of Salix lanata plants between the island and the mainland. However, essentially all of the macrolichen biomass was eliminated on the island, and full recovery could take more than 20 years.Key words: caribou, caribou range ecology, overgrazing, Bathurst Inlet, arctic vegetation, Salix spp., Betula spp. Mots clés: caribou, écologie du territoire du caribou, broutage excessif, inlet de Bathurst, vegetation arctique, esp. Salix, esp. Betula |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Henry, G.H.R. Gunn, A. |
author_facet |
Henry, G.H.R. Gunn, A. |
author_sort |
Henry, G.H.R. |
title |
Recovery of Tundra Vegetation after Overgrazing by Caribou in Arctic Canada |
title_short |
Recovery of Tundra Vegetation after Overgrazing by Caribou in Arctic Canada |
title_full |
Recovery of Tundra Vegetation after Overgrazing by Caribou in Arctic Canada |
title_fullStr |
Recovery of Tundra Vegetation after Overgrazing by Caribou in Arctic Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Recovery of Tundra Vegetation after Overgrazing by Caribou in Arctic Canada |
title_sort |
recovery of tundra vegetation after overgrazing by caribou in arctic canada |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
1991 |
url |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64570 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-108.051,-108.051,66.840,66.840) ENVELOPE(-125.436,-125.436,59.750,59.750) ENVELOPE(-107.652,-107.652,67.284,67.284) |
geographic |
Arctic Bathurst Inlet Canada Caribou Range Northwest Territories Nunavut Rideout Island |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Bathurst Inlet Canada Caribou Range Northwest Territories Nunavut Rideout Island |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Arctique* Bathurst Inlet caribou Northwest Territories Nunavut Salix lanata Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Arctique* Bathurst Inlet caribou Northwest Territories Nunavut Salix lanata Tundra |
op_source |
ARCTIC; Vol. 44 No. 1 (1991): March: 1–93; 38-42 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_relation |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64570/48484 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64570 |
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