Demography of Decline of the Red Wine Mountains Caribou Herd

Schaefer, James A.; Veitch, Alasdair M.; Harrington, Fred Harvey; Brown, W. Kent; Theberge, John B.; Luttich, Stuart N.

doi:10.2307/3802646

Cited by 46 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…However, published survey maps show that the northern populations were located farther north, that they only started to increase in abundance in the 1950s, and that their distribution range did not expand considerably before the 1980s (Banfield and Tener 1958;Bergerud 1967;Pichette and Beauchemin 1973*;Messier et al 1988). Even today, the distribution of Barren-Ground Caribou does not extend south of the 52 nd parallel (Schaefer et al 1999).…”

Section: Current Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical Changes and Current Distribution of Caribou, <em>Rangifer tarandus</em>, in Quebec

et al. 2003

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We examined published historical information, reports on aerial surveys conducted since 1953, and harvest data collected since 1971 to describe changes in the distribution and abundance of Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) in Québec. The southern limit of the Caribou distribution diminished considerably in the late 19 th century, and the decline in numbers probably continued until the 1960s and 1970s east of the 62 nd meridian. South of the 49 th parallel, only four small populations still persist. Despite the fact that all Caribou of the province were assigned to the same sub-species (R. t. caribou), three ecotypes with specific habitats and behaviour are found. The Barren-Ground ecotype, the only migratory form, is found north of the 52 nd parallel. This ecotype currently occupies ≈ 255 000 km 2 in fall and winter, mainly in the ecological subzones of the forest tundra and the taiga. The Barren-Ground Caribou was characterized by a very low abundance from the end of the 19 th century until the mid1950s, but increased markedly thereafter reaching over a million individuals at the beginning of the 1990s. Populations of the Mountain ecotype have been identified in the southeastern and, possibly, in the northeastern parts of the province. The latter Mountain population is virtually unknown. The southeastern population is sedentary and uses mainly the boreal forest. This population has decreased over the last century and currently numbers only ≈ 140 individuals. Finally, the Forest-Dwelling ecotype is found discontinuously, mainly between the 49 th and 55 th parallels. Its current distribution covers ≈ 235 000 km 2 , mainly east of the 72 nd meridian. This sedentary ecotype is found almost exclusively in the boreal forest, principally in areas with long forest fire cycles. Its abundance has also decreased over the years. Large Forest-Dwelling populations still persisted during the 1950s and 1960s, but they apparently disappeared. The current abundance is not known precisely, but based on density estimates and considering the current distribution, it probably does not exceed 3000 individuals. Current data are insufficient to identify precisely the causes of the population decline, although hunting seems to be an important proximal cause. L'abondance actuelle n'est pas connue mais elle pourrait difficilement dépasser 3000 individus si l'on se base sur les estimations de la densité et de l'aire de répartition. Les données disponibles sont insuffisantes pour identifier les causes exactes des diminutions d'effectifs bien que la chasse semble une cause proximale importante.

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Section: Current Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical Changes and Current Distribution of Caribou, <em>Rangifer tarandus</em>, in Quebec

et al. 2003

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“…According to Brown (1986) and Schaefer et al (1999), their main nonhuman predators are wolves and black bears (Ursus americanus). There are specific caribou reserves that exclude timber harvesting in current forest management plans for Labrador District 19A.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The caribou population in central Labrador's Red Wine Mountains (RWM) declined from more than 700 animals in the 1980s to 151 in 1997 (Schaefer 1999). In 2002, the population was listed as "threatened" under both the Endangered Species Act of Newfoundland and Labrador and under the Canadian federal Species at Risk Act (Shmelzer et al 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wolves are the main nonhuman source of mortality for adult RWM caribou (Schaefer1999). Recently, it has been observed that central Labrador's moose population has increased, whereas the number of RWM caribou has declined (Schaefer 1999). An additional concern related to expanded commercial forestry is increased road density.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the ranges of the George River and RMW herds overlap, and the animals are nearly indistinguishable. When the two herds mix, the RWM caribou are frequently mistaken for the George River animals and shot, contributing to their decline (Schaefer 1999, Schaefer et al 2001, Schmelzer 2004.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A Real Options Approach to Forest-Management Decision Making to Protect Caribou under the Threat of Extinction

Morgan¹,

Abdallah²,

Lasserre³

2008

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Uncertainty is a dominant feature of decision making in forestry and wildlife management. Aggravating this challenge is the irreversibility of some decisions, resulting in the loss of economic opportunities or the extirpation of wildlife populations. We adapted the real options approach from economic theory to develop a methodology to evaluate a resource management decision to stop timber harvesting when a woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) population becomes threatened with extinction. In our study area of central Labrador, Canada, both caribou and timber harvesting are valued ecosystem services. By using a decision rule, which incorporates future developments, the real options approach provides a technique to incorporate ecological and social uncertainty into forest-management decision making. As a result, it reduces the risk of a forest manager making a decision with unwanted irreversible consequences or failing to make a decision that could avoid such unwanted consequences.

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Comparing population growth rates between census and recruitment‐mortality models

et al. 2016

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In forested ecosystems, estimating the abundance or trend of most wildlife populations is difficult. Therefore, vital rates are often used to model population change, but validating such models is important. Using data from woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus), we compared estimates of population change (λ) based on vital rate models to λ based on aerial censuses. We modeled λ using Hatter and Bergerud's (1991) recruitment‐mortality (R‐M) equation (λ = survival/[1 − recruitment]). We estimated survival and recruitment from a sample of 317 radio‐collared caribou from 9 subpopulations in British Columbia, Canada. In this ecosystem, woodland caribou have high sightability (>85%) in winter and thus are easy to census compared to most forest wildlife. We found that the R‐M equation overestimated λ compared to census‐based λ across most of the observed range of data (e.g., if R‐M estimated λ of 1.1, census‐based λ was 0.99, and if R‐M was 0.90, census‐based λ was 0.89). We then assessed whether recruitment, survival, a linear model of both parameters, or the R‐M equation best predicted census‐based λ. The R‐M equation explained 60% of the variation in census‐based λ, more than double the next‐best approach (i.e., the simple linear model), even though identical parameters were included. Further, we simulated variability due to the unknown sex (M:F) ratio in the sample, and found that the R‐M equation remained the best predictor of census‐based λ. Although the R‐M equation was the most precise and accurate approach, our results reaffirm that it is important to periodically validate trend estimates based on vital rate models with estimates of absolute abundance, particularly for species of management concern. © 2016 The Wildlife Society.

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Demography of Decline of the Red Wine Mountains Caribou Herd

Cited by 46 publications

References 22 publications

Historical Changes and Current Distribution of Caribou, <em>Rangifer tarandus</em>, in Quebec

Historical Changes and Current Distribution of Caribou, <em>Rangifer tarandus</em>, in Quebec

A Real Options Approach to Forest-Management Decision Making to Protect Caribou under the Threat of Extinction

Comparing population growth rates between census and recruitment‐mortality models

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