Project Description:This project will assess the potential for competition between caribou and muskox in northern Quebec, particularly in regards to space use, habitat selection and diet overlap.

Project Outcomes or Intended Outcomes:This study examines spatial overlap, habitat selection and diet composition of an introduced muskox population and a declining migratory caribou population to determine whether they compete for space and/or food. Concerns regarding competition between muskox and migratory caribou were first expressed by Inuit hunters in the 1970’s and still remain to this day.

Project Description:

Southern mountain caribou in British Columbia have experienced rapid population decline due to human-mediated changes to forest communities and a resulting increase in predation. The majority of past research has focused on broad-scale relationships between habitat composition and the distribution of caribou. We sought to identify the mechanistic drivers of predation risk as they relate to a range of forest-management strategies. We investigated the effect of three forest-harvest prescriptions on the co-occurrence of caribou, sympatric ungulates, and predators: unharvested old-growth, clearcut harvesting, and group-selection harvesting. Group-selection is the legally mandated harvesting system for specific southern mountain caribou habitat because it restricts stand removal to 33% by area. That partial cutting strategy maintains old-forest structure and arboreal lichen. However, this system may create an environment that is more attractive to sympatric ungulates during snow-free periods. We deployed and lured 57 wildlife cameras to investigate how human-mediated plant community dynamics influenced the distribution of caribou, moose, mule deer, and predators.

Project Outcomes or Intended Outcomes:

Our preliminary results identify distinct differences in habitat use among the target species. Caribou avoided all areas where forest harvesting had occurred. Moose used the group-selection treatment most frequently. Mule deer favored clearcuts in spring while moose used that treatment in summer. Grizzly and black bears used stands harvested by group-selection more often than clearcut. Our findings suggest that forest management implemented to provide forage for mountain caribou may increase predation risk, potentially leading to further population decline.

Project Description:

Cold Lake First Nations (CLFN) is working with all levels of government across two provinces, industry, National Defence, and research groups to develop and implement caribou conservation measures. The specific focus of these efforts is the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range (CLAWR).  CLFN was evicted from the CLAWR in 1952 and regained access in 2001 after a long legal process. CLFN has been concerned for many years about how the CLAWR is managed and what the long term impacts to its homelands will be. This project focuses on aligning conservation measures with CLFN Indigenous Knowledge (IK) and implementing them in a complex regulatory environment. The centerpiece of this effort to date is a Section 11 Agreement with Canada that provides common ground for parties to collaborate.

Project Outcomes or Intended Outcomes:

• Implementation of provincial (Species at Risk Act compliant) range plans and the associated actions inside a National Defence facility in collaboration with provinces.
• Creation of a multi year restoration plan for the CLAWR
• Conservation of critical caribou habitat
• Alternate Prey Management 
• Monitoring of ungulates 
• Implementation of restoration activities that integrate IK
• Development and application of Dene Law to CLFN's actions on the land
• Moving towards reconciliation with Canada over the historical legacy of CLFN's eviction from the CLAWR and the subsequent decades of irreparable social harm.

Project Description:

Beginning in 2003, moose populations were intentionally reduced by increased hunting pressure as an indirect way of reducing wolf numbers — fewer moose on the landscape means wolves have less to eat resulting in fewer wolves. Moose were reduced to a density that approximated what would have existed in the absence of forest harvesting. 

Project Outcomes or Intended Outcomes:

As a result of the moose reduction, numbers of the largest caribou subpopulation within the northern Columbia Mountains stabilized. The population growth rate improved by about 5 units (i.e. from declining by 5%/yr, to stability).

Project Description:

The Regional Industry Caribou Collaboration (RICC) is a group of energy and forestry companies who support caribou recovery efforts in the Cold Lake, East Side of the Athabasca River (ESAR) and Saskatchewan boreal plains caribou ranges. The group recognizes that the success of caribou recovery requires coordination and cooperation between each member, because caribou are wide-ranging animals whose annual home ranges cross many industry leases and land-use types. RICC is a leader when it comes to supporting research to understand caribou declines and testing ways to recover populations.

Project Outcomes or Intended Outcomes:

Program Goal:
To participate in collaborative research and active, science-based adaptive management activities within the defined ESAR and Cold Lake caribou ranges.

Objectives:

• Coordinate industry restoration of disturbance in priority areas;
• Support and lead scientific research on caribou ecology and on caribou-predator-landscape relationships to identify priority issues and/or priority areas; and
• Support and lead investigative trials on restoration methods, effectiveness and wildlife responses, to assess the effectiveness of treatments and make recommendations for broader implementation.