Status of woodland caribou in Saskatchewan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7557/2.18.5.1546Keywords:
woodland caribou, Saskatchewan, demography, forestry, habitat, management, metapopulation, peatland, populationAbstract
Recent research has shown that woodland caribou in Saskatchewan exist as relatively separate populations within a metapopulation. Preliminary analyses show that individuals within all populations are selecting peatland habitat types (i.e., fens and bogs) throughout the year. Despite an absence of hunting, populations south of the Precambrian shield appear to be declining slowly, while those on the southern margin of the shield may be declining more rapidly. The apparent population decline is likely due to high rates of predation, especially on neonates. To maintain viable caribou populations in the region, forestry operations must be managed to maintain adequate amounts of preferred habitat types and connections among populations. At a coarse scale, preferred habitat is that which acts as a refuge from predators. Additional information is required to categorize specific peatland types, as data in the existing provincial forest inventory are inadequate for both selection analysis and management purposes. Ongoing research into revisions to the forest inventory and analyses of bog and fen types selected by caribou are needed to focus future management strategies.Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors retain copyright and grant Rangifer irrevocable and non-exclusive right of publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY). This means, among other things, that anyone is free to copy and distribute the content, as long as they give proper credit to the author(s) and the journal. For further information, see Creative Commons website for human readable or lawyer readable versions.