Land management strategies for the long-term persistence of boreal woodland caribou in central Saskatchewan

We investigated landscape changes and their potential effects on woodland caribou-boreal ecotype (Rangifer tarandus caribou) within a portion of the Smoothstone-Wapaweka Woodland Caribou Management Unit (SW-WCMU). The SW-WCMU is one of eight areas delineated by the Province of Saskatchewan for potential recovery planning efforts for boreal caribou, and is one of four management units located on the Boreal Plain Ecozone. The Prince Albert Greater Ecosystem (PAGE) study area was selected within the SW-WCMU for intensive study from 2004 - 2008. Studies focused on quantifying a suite of landscape and population parameters. This paper presents a summary of study results to date and recommends land management strategies intended to contribute to the long-term viability of boreal caribou in the central boreal plain ecoregion of Saskatchewan. The PAGE study area has undergone structural changes from an area that historically presented a lesser amount but well connected mature coniferous forest, to a currently larger amount of mature coniferous stands fragmented by a highly developed network of roads and trails. Movement data pointed to highly clustered use of the landscape by small groups of caribou and smaller home ranges when compared to 15 years ago. Calving sites were located within each individual home range in treed peatland and distant from hardwood/mixedwood forest stands, roads and trails access. Adult annual survival rates were low, averaging 73% over the course of the study. In order to ensure a self-sustaining population level, study results clearly point to the need for landscape restoration to reduce the level of anthropogenic disturbances in some key parts of the study area. Key strategies include retention of mature softwood forest interior proximate to local areas of caribou activity, protection of calving habitat, improving structural connectivity, planning disturbances (forest harvesting, fire salvage, resource exploration, access development) in ways to minimize the anthropogenic footprint, and recovery action planning integrated with other land-use planning initiatives

In search of a critical habitat concept for woodland caribou, boreal population

A hierarchical approach to critical habitat identification has been proposed in the draft National Recovery Strategy for the Woodland Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), Boreal Population. This approach proposes that critical habitat for boreal caribou be identified as equivalent with caribou ranges and their composite range components, and that it be consistent with the biological needs of a wild, self-sustaining local population of woodland caribou. These components include seasonal ranges, high use areas and calving sites, each of which provide for important ecological functions and are subject to specific risks from human development activities. Protection of critical habitat is accomplished through management of the amount and type of human developments and potential natural disturbances, not by prohibiting all activity. This approach to critical habitat sets the stage for management and monitoring of habitat at spatial and temporal scales appropriate for conservation of a wide ranging species such as woodland caribou

DEMOGRAPHIC STATUS OF MOOSE POPULATIONS IN THE BOREAL PLAIN ECOZONE OF CANADA

Broad scale analyses of winter population survey data collected between 1985 and 2015 were conducted to provide a synthesis of the current status and historical performance of 14 moose (Alces alces) populations residing in the Boreal Plain Ecozone of Saskatchewan and western Manitoba. Population time series models indicated a broad scale decline averaging 30% in moose populations across the Boreal Plain Ecozone since 2000 relative to the long-term (1985 to 2015) cumulative mean population size. Demographic patterns and rates of population change were variable among and within populations across years. We found an inverse relationship between adult sex ratio (bull:cow) and population density (R² = 0.48, P < 0.001), which suggests negative population growth (λ < 1.0) when the adult sex ratio falls below a density-dependent threshold for population growth. Winter calf recruitment (calves/cow) was positively correlated (R² = 0.12, P = 0.027) with adult sex ratio. Stable or increasing populations (λ ≥ 1.0) tended to have lower adult sex ratios relative to winter calf recruitment ratios than declining populations. Population state and vital rate relationships are useful to assess population performance and guide science-based moose management strategies in a Management-by-Objective decision-analytic framework

Consanguineous marriages, pearls and perils: Geneva International Consanguinity Workshop Report

Approximately 1.1 billion people currently live in countries where consanguineous marriages are customary, and among them one in every three marriages is between cousins. Opinions diverge between those warning of the possible health risks to offspring and others who highlight the social benefits of consanguineous marriages. A consanguinity study group of international experts and counselors met at the Geneva International Consanguinity Workshop from May 3 2010, to May 7, 2010, to discuss the known and presumptive risks and benefits of close kin marriages and to identify important future areas for research on consanguinity. The group highlighted the importance of evidence-based counseling recommendations for consanguineous marriages and of undertaking both genomic and social research in defining the various influences and outcomes of consanguinity. Technological advances in rapid high-throughput genome sequencing and for the identification of copy number variants by comparative genomic hybridization offer a significant opportunity to identify genotype-phenotype correlations focusing on autozygosity, the hallmark of consanguinity. The ongoing strong preferential culture of close kin marriages in many societies, and among migrant communities in Western countries, merits an equivalently detailed assessment of the social and genetic benefits of consanguinity in future studies