A life table for female barren-ground caribou in north-central Canada

Authors

  • Donald C. Thomas Canadian Wildlife Service, 4999-98 Avenue, Room 210, Edmonton, Alberta T6B 2X3, Canada
  • Samuel J. Barry Canadian Wildlife Service, 4999-98 Avenue, Room 210, Edmonton, Alberta T6B 2X3, Canada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7557/2.10.3.854

Keywords:

caribou, barren-ground caribou, Canada, Beverly herd, mortality rate, Rangifer, survivorship

Abstract

A survivorship curve and cohort-specific life table were developed for female barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) sampled from the Beverly herd from 1980 through 1987. Significant (P~< 0.05)differences among yearly samples in the age distributions of females>2.5 years old were attributed to sampling error and real cohort size fluctuations caused by variations in productivity. Pooled data overcame much of that variation and the resultant quadratic-fit curve and life table are believed to yield about average survival/mortality statistics over the 8-year sampling period. Mortality rates increased progressively from 10.6% between age 2 and 3 years to 22.4% between age 10 and 11 years and accelerated thereafter.

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Published

1990-09-01

How to Cite

Thomas, D. C., & Barry, S. J. (1990). A life table for female barren-ground caribou in north-central Canada. Rangifer, 10(3), 177–184. https://doi.org/10.7557/2.10.3.854

Issue

Vol 10 (1990): Special Issue No. 3

Section

Articles

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.