Saving endangered species using adaptive management

Serrouya, Robert; Seip, Dale R.; Hervieux, Dave; McLellan, Bruce N.; McNay, R. Scott; Steenweg, Robin; Heard, Doug; Hebblewhite, Mark; Gillingham, Michael P.; Boutin, Stan

doi:10.1073/pnas.1816923116

Cited by 118 publications

(176 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Thus, if caribou populations are to be recovered, direct population management, such as predator and prey reductions or fenced refuges from predators, should be used in combination with habitat restoration to maximize the opportunity for self‐sustaining caribou populations (Serrouya et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In southern British Columbia, moose (primary prey) proportional reduction by 70% resulted in lower wolf density and an increase in adult caribou survival from 0.78 to 0.88, but there was no significant effect on calf recruitment ). In Alberta, British Columbia, and Idaho (USA), annual rate of change (k) increased for five out of six caribou populations after wolf removal (Serrouya et al 2019). Direct wolf management in northeastern British Columbia increased prey recruitment by a factor 2-5, but wolves recolonized removal zones quickly (Bergerud and Elliott 1998).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They found that, in extreme cases, LF restoration could lead to recovery, but was also more expensive than some of the other management options. Thus, if caribou populations are to be recovered, direct population management, such as predator and prey reductions or fenced refuges from predators, should be used in combination with habitat restoration to maximize the opportunity for self-sustaining caribou populations (Serrouya et al 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Slowing down wolves to protect boreal caribou populations: a spatial simulation model of linear feature restoration

et al. 2019

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In Canada, boreal caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) are declining in numbers, in part due to increased predation by wolves (Canis lupus). One management option to reduce wolf–caribou interactions and thus protect caribou is to remove man‐made linear features (LFs), structures such as roads, trails, and cut lines, which are used by wolves as traveling paths. Linear features increase wolf traveling speed and could additionally facilitate wolf entry into caribou habitat. Our goal was to quantify the expected effect of LF removal on caribou mortality and investigate whether this LF restoration could be a sufficient measure to stop caribou declines. We simulated the effects of LF restoration on caribou adult and calf survival in spatially explicit wolf–caribou encounter models. The models were parameterized using Global Positioning System (GPS) data, hidden Markov models (HMMs), and information from the published literature. Complete LF restoration decreased wolf traveling speed and thus reduced caribou mortality. The proportional reduction in adult caribou mortality ranged from 10 to 25% of its original value, and the proportional reduction in calf mortality ranged from 8 to 23%, depending on caribou density, number of wolf packs, kill probability given an encounter, and detection distance of wolves for caribou. Building on the model output, we used empirical caribou data to calculate the effects of reduced mortalities on the finite rate of annual population change, normalλ. Assuming that 25% or less of calf mortality was wolf‐related, normalλ stayed below one, that is, populations kept declining, even with complete LF restoration. With 50% of calf mortality due to wolves, caribou populations stopped declining (λ≥1) if adult and calf mortality were reduced by at least 19 to 24%. However, these values were not achieved in a majority of the parameter combinations in our study, not even with complete LF restoration. Given that LF restoration as a single measure is unlikely to stop boreal caribou populations from declining, we used a case example to illustrate how LF restoration could make a small contribution in a portfolio of short‐term and long‐term management options to reduce wolf predation on caribou.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Slowing down wolves to protect boreal caribou populations: a spatial simulation model of linear feature restoration

et al. 2019

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“…Ungulates are among the most imperiled wildlife worldwide, largely because of overexploitation and habitat loss (Hoffmann et al 2015;Ripple et al 2015Ripple et al , 2017Lindsey et al 2017). Beyond eliminating harvest, common management tactics to bolster small declining ungulate populations include habitat improvement (Risenhoover et al 1988, Dolan 2006, Wilson et al 2006), translocations to augment low numbers (Compton et al 1995, Singer et al 2000, Rominger et al 2004, DeCesare et al 2010, Poirier and Festa-Bianchet 2018, and predator reductions (Orians et al 1997;Hervieux et al 2014;Serrouya et al 2017bSerrouya et al , 2019Rominger 2018). In the last 2 decades, caribou (Rangifer tarandus) populations across the southern extent of their range that are exhibiting persistent declines have become the focus of intensive conservation efforts (Alberta Woodland Caribou Recovery Team 2005; British Columbia Ministry of Environment [BCME] 2009;Festa-Bianchet et al 2011;Environment Canada 2012Ray et al 2015) employing all these approaches with limited success (Hervieux et al 2014, Pyper et al 2014, Dickie et al 2017a, Leech et al 2017, Serrouya et al 2019.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the interim, wildlife managers are pursuing a limited set of options for maintaining these small caribou populations, commonly numbering <100 adults (individuals ≥1 year old; COSEWIC 2014a,b). Management options employed to date have included predator control primarily focused on wolves (Alberta Woodland Caribou Recovery Team 2005, British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations [BCMF] 2014, Hervieux et al 2014, Serrouya et al 2019) and mountain lions (BCME 2009, Wilson 2009), attempts to reduce moose populations to limit apparent competition (Steenweg 2011;BCMF 2015;Serrouya et al 2015bSerrouya et al , 2017bSerrouya et al , 2019, and translocation of caribou from more robust populations (Bergerud and Mercer 1989, Compton et al 1995, Warren et al 1996, DeCesare et al 2010, Leech et al 2017. Given limited success in reversing population declines with these methods, additional management approaches are sorely needed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Maternal Penning to Improve Calf Survival in the Chisana Caribou Herd

Adams

Farnell

Oakley

et al. 2019

Wildlife Monographs

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Predation is a major limiting factor for most small sedentary caribou (Rangifer tarandus) populations, particularly those that are threatened or endangered across the southern extent of the species' range. Thus, reducing predation impacts is often a management goal for improving the status of small caribou populations, and lethal predator removal is the primary approach that has been applied. Given that predator control programs are often contentious, other management options that can garner broader public acceptance need to be considered.Substantial calf losses to predation in the few weeks following birth are common for these small caribou populations. Therefore, we employed a novel experimental approach of maternal penning with the goal of reducing early calf mortality in the Chisana Caribou Herd, a declining population in southwest Yukon and adjacent Alaska thought to number around 300 individuals. Maternal penning entailed temporarily holding pregnant females on their native range in a large pen secure from predators from late March through the initial weeks of calf rearing to mid-June. During 2003-2006, we conducted 4 annual penning trials with 17-50 pregnant females each year (n = 146 total), assessed survival of calves born in the pens, and evaluated survival and nutritional effects of penning for females that were held. We also investigated the herd's population dynamics during 2003-2008 to determine effects of maternal penning on calf recruitment and population growth. In addition to information gained during maternal penning, we determined natality and survival patterns via radiotelemetry, conducted autumn age-sex composition surveys each year, and censused the population in mid- October 2003October , 2005October , and 2007. Based on our penning trials and demographic investigations, we used simulation models to evaluate the effects of maternal penning relative to a population's inherent growth rate (finite rate of increase [λ] without maternal penning) and penning effort (proportion of calves born in penning) to provide perspective on utility of this approach for improving the status of small imperiled caribou populations.Pregnant females held in maternal penning tolerated captivity well in that they exhibited positive nutritional responses to ad libitum feed we provided and higher survival than free-ranging females (0.993 and 0.951 for penned and free-ranging females, respectively). Survival of pen calves from birth to mid-June was substantially higher than that of free-ranging calves (x = 0.950 and 0.376, respectively). This initial period accounted for 76% of the annual calf mortality in the free-ranging population. Pen-born calves maintained their survival advantage over wild-born calves to the end of their first year (x = 0.575 and 0.192, respectively) during years penning occurred.Females in the Chisana Herd were highly productive with 57% producing their first offspring at 2 years of age, and annual natality rates averaging 0.842 calves/female ≥2 years old. Age-specific natality rates exceed...

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Habitat loss on seasonal migratory range imperils an endangered ungulate

Williams

Steenweg

Hegel

et al. 2021

Ecol Sol and Evidence

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1. Endangered species policies and their associated recovery documents and management actions do not always sufficiently address the importance of migratory behaviour and seasonal ranges for imperilled populations. 2. Using a telemetry location dataset spanning 1981-2018, we tested for changes in prevalence of migratory tactics (resident, migrant) over time, switching between tactics, shifts in seasonal space use including migration corridors, and survival consequences of migrant and resident tactics for 237 adult female endangered woodland mountain caribou in one population in western Canada. 3. Over more than three decades, the proportion of individuals displaying annual migration to the low elevation forested winter range declined from nearly 100%-38%. Correspondingly, there was a strong switch away from being migrant to being year-round residents at high elevation. 4. These behavioural changes corresponded to abandonment of low elevation winter ranges in association with increasing levels of anthropogenic land uses, including forestry and oil and gas developments. Furthermore, there were no identifiable migration corridors to target for migratory route protection. 5. These shifts translated to lower survival rates, particularly for caribou demonstrating resident tactics, consistent with recent declines of the caribou population. That migrants switched to residency in their largely undisturbed summer range, despite lower survival, indicates maladaptive habitat selection consistent with recent patterns of mountain caribou extirpations. 6. Globally, endangered species policies and their associated recovery plans and management actions often do not explicitly consider the challenge of protecting migratory species. Effective conservation of migratory species requires protecting critical This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Saving endangered species using adaptive management

Cited by 118 publications

References 53 publications

Slowing down wolves to protect boreal caribou populations: a spatial simulation model of linear feature restoration

Slowing down wolves to protect boreal caribou populations: a spatial simulation model of linear feature restoration

Evaluation of Maternal Penning to Improve Calf Survival in the Chisana Caribou Herd

Habitat loss on seasonal migratory range imperils an endangered ungulate

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