Managing animal movement conserves predator–prey dynamics

Keim, Jonah L.; DeWitt, Philip D.; Wilson, Steven F.; Fitzpatrick, Joyce J.; Jenni, Noemie S.; Lele, Subhash R.

doi:10.1002/fee.2358

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Recovery actions to halt caribou declines and avert extirpations have been numerous and efficacy—in terms of increasing caribou populations—has varied. Linear features such as roads and seismic lines have been treated to reduce predator hunting efficiency and use of caribou habitat (Dickie et al, 2021 ; Keim et al, 2021 ; Neufeld, 2006 ; Tattersall et al, 2020 ), wolves have been reduced to mitigate unsustainable caribou mortality (Hayes et al, 2003 ; Hervieux et al, 2013 ; Wilson, 2009 ), maternity pens have been built to protect caribou adults and calves from predators (Adams et al, 2019 ; Serrouya, Bollefer, et al, 2021 ; Smith & Pittaway, 2011 ), caribou have been translocated to bolster declining populations (Cichowski et al, 2014 ), primary prey has been liberally harvested to indirectly reduce predators (Serrouya et al, 2017 ; Steenweg, 2011 ), and nutrition has been enhanced through supplemental feeding to improve calf production (Heard & Zimmerman, 2021 ). Despite these recovery actions, results have mostly been inadequate to reverse population declines and expeditiously recover caribou, aside from a few exceptions (Heard & Zimmerman, 2021 ; Hervieux et al, 2013 ; Serrouya et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demographic responses of nearly extirpated endangered mountain caribou to recovery actions in Central British Columbia

McNay¹,

Lamb

Giguere³

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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Recovering endangered species is a difficult and often controversial task that challenges status quo land uses. Southern Mountain caribou are a threatened ecotype of caribou that historically ranged in southwestern Canada and northwestern USA and epitomize the tension between resource extraction, biodiversity conservation, and Indigenous Peoples' treaty rights. Human-induced habitat alteration is considered the ultimate cause of caribou population declines, whereby an increased abundance of primary prey-such as moose and deer-elevates predator populations and creates unsustainable caribou mortality. Here we focus on the Klinse-Za and Quintette subpopulations, part of the endangered Central Group of Southern Mountain caribou in British Columbia. These subpopulations were trending toward immediate extirpation until a collaborative group initiated recovery by implementing two short-term recovery actions. We test the effectiveness of these recovery actionsmaternity penning of adult females and their calves, and the reduction of a primary predator, wolves-in increasing vital rates and population growth.Klinse-Za received both recovery actions, whereas Quintette only received wolf reductions, providing an opportunity to test efficacy between recovery actions. Between 1995 and 2021, we followed 162 collared female caribou for 414 animal-years to estimate survival and used aerial counts to estimate population abundance and calf recruitment. We combined these data in an integrated population model to estimate female population growth, total population abundance, and recovery action effectiveness. Results suggest that the subpopulations were declining rapidly (λ = 0.90-0.93) before interventions and would have been functionally extirpated (<10 animals) within 10-15 years. Wolf reduction increased population growth rates by ~0.12 for each subpopulation.Wolf reduction halted the decline of Quintette caribou and allowed them to increase (λ = 1.05), but alone would have only stabilized the Klinse-Za

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demographic responses of nearly extirpated endangered mountain caribou to recovery actions in Central British Columbia

McNay¹,

Lamb

Giguere³

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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“…These techniques aim to rapidly restore pre‐disturbance predator–prey dynamics without necessarily returning the area to a pre‐disturbed state (i.e., older forest). Although such techniques have shown promise in reducing caribou–predator encounter rates in the short term (e.g., ≤2 years after treatment deployment; Keim et al, 2021), the long‐term efficacy of this approach is unknown and treatments will still need to be deployed over large spatial scales, which may take considerable time and resources. Consequently, it is unlikely that LD restoration by itself will prevent the extirpation of small, rapidly declining populations.…”

Section: Mechanisms Associated With Landscape Disturbancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the context of the DPP, LD restoration will be ineffective for stabilizing caribou populations in the short term (e.g., within 10-15 years; Johnson et al, 2019) because of the large spatial scales necessary to achieve appreciable demographic effects. Recently, LDs have been the focus of "functional restoration" techniques, such as felling trees across LDs to reduce predator use or movement speed (Keim et al, 2021). These techniques aim to rapidly restore pre-disturbance predator-prey dynamics without necessarily returning the area to a pre-disturbed state (i.e., older forest).…”

Section: Linear Disturbances: Management Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incorporating mechanism into conservation actions in an age of multiple and emerging threats: The case of boreal caribou

et al. 2023

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Conservation strategies for imperiled species are frequently based on identifying and addressing the probable causes of population decline, an approach known as the declining population paradigm. Causes, however, are frequently linked to demographic outcomes by multiple mechanisms, and failing to target the primary mechanisms can reduce the effectiveness and efficiency of conservation actions. Increasingly, conservation strategies also need to consider emerging threats, such as climate change. Here, we use boreal caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), a threatened ecotype of woodland caribou, as a case study to illustrate how landscape disturbance and climate change can each exert negative demographic effects on caribou through multiple and complex mechanisms. We

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“…Here, we characterize the landscapes used by caribou in two, geographically and biophysically distinct regions in central and western Canada, using several remotely sensed structural variables. We include for the first time a measure of understorey forest stand conditions that is assumed to affect the mobility of caribou and therefore influence energetic trade-offs in the context of predation risk (Fryxell et al, 2020;Keim et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Forest Understorey Stand Density on Woodland Caribou Habitat Use

Wilson¹,

Nudds²,

Vries³

2022

Preprint

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Woodland caribou are considered to preferentially use older forests that provide abundant terrestrial lichen forage and refuge from predators. However, structural characteristics vary widely, differing in terms of forage availability but also, perhaps, in the ability of caribou to move freely through forests to access the available forage or to escape predation. We examined the effect of forest understorey stand density, defined as standing and downed biomass, on caribou habitat selection. Because this density is correlated with other features that could also drive habitat selection, we conducted a multivariate analysis of stand conditions in two geographically and biophysically distinct regions to identify the independent effects of various habitat drivers.We fitted a sample of telemetry locations collected from GPS-collared caribou, along with an equal number of random locations, to Bayesian network models to predict the probability of habitat use (i.e., selection if >50%) based on a set of remotely sensed habitat inputs. Caribou in the Bistcho range (northwestern Alberta) selected non-forest/sparsely forested areas while caribou in the Trout Lake region (northwestern Ontario) used primarily forested habitats. Despite these differences, caribou appeared to pursue the same functional strategies with respect to understorey stand density in both regions, preferring forest stands that allowed greater ease of movement. We suggest that, rather than responding to coarse-scale policy interventions based simply on stand age or stand type, habitat management may require different treatments in different parts of the species’ range to address what are nevertheless common pathways to decline.

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Managing animal movement conserves predator–prey dynamics

Cited by 13 publications

References 30 publications

Demographic responses of nearly extirpated endangered mountain caribou to recovery actions in Central British Columbia

Demographic responses of nearly extirpated endangered mountain caribou to recovery actions in Central British Columbia

Incorporating mechanism into conservation actions in an age of multiple and emerging threats: The case of boreal caribou

Effect of Forest Understorey Stand Density on Woodland Caribou Habitat Use

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