Climate change and woodland caribou in Northwestern Ontario: a risk analysis

Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) range occupancy and populations have declined in northwestern (NW) Ontario over the last 100 years primarily due to human-induced factors. Recovery efforts are underway to halt this decline by reducing risk factors. Climate forecasts suggest a 4—5 oC increase in May—August mean temperature over the next century with little change in precipitation. Resulting increases in extreme weather events and increased fire weather severity will likely increase the amount of forest burned, reduce the area of older forest, alter distribution and abundance of forest tree species and plant communities, and increase abundance of alternate prey. The reduced amount of older forest preferred by caribou will be in greater demand by the forest industry leading to more conflict over ecological and economic values. Most of these factors will increase risk to caribou survival. Although forests may experience enhanced productivity, forest management practices will try to adapt harvest, regeneration, silviculture and fire management practices to both maintain economic benefits and increase the ability of forests to sequester carbon. The interaction of climate-induced forest change and forest management practices adds uncertainty to caribou conservation efforts at the southern edge of its current range. This uncertainty reinforces the need for a precautionary approach to forest management, increased research and monitoring effort, sustained emphasis on caribou recovery, and careful rationalization of restoration efforts where greatest opportunities for success may be realized

Towards a Caribou Habitat Management Strategy for Northwestern Ontario: Running the Gauntlet

A management strategy for woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) habitat is being developed in northwestern Ontario. This strategy is based upon a set of draft Timber Management Guidelines for the Provision of Woodland Caribou Habitat. These guidelines recommend maintaining a sustainable supply of winter habitat within large tracts of old forest, protecting calving areas and minimizing human disturbance. Due to the large temporal and spatial scale of caribou habitat management, an ecosystem-based approach is recommended. Public response to the strategy shows a strong dichotomy between environmental and utilitarian values among all the major stakeholder groups. The major issues raised by the public include security of industrial wood supply, quality of the knowledge base, level of awareness of caribou, economic impacts on remote communities, concern about environmental impacts and silvicultural know-how. The government is responding to these concerns as the strategy evolves. Current emphasis is placed on increasing awareness of the public, training resource managers in caribou biology, management and habitat planning, implementing interim habitat management prescriptions and studying the potential impact on wood supply. The final direction for a northwestern Ontario strategy to conserve woodland caribou habitat has yet to be decided, although a commitment has been made to strive for the conservation of woodland caribou populations and their habitat

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

Can woodland caribou and the forest industry coexist: The Ontario scene

Ontario is in the process of developing a strategy to improve the likelihood of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) and the forest industry coexisting in the province. This strategy is described within a set of proposed Timber Management Guidelines for the Provision of Woodland Caribou Habitat. The proposed guidelines advocate managing for large blocks of suitable winter habitat across caribou range, large cutovers to regenerate caribou winter habitat and the protection of traditional calving areas and travel routes. Summer habitat will be provided by the resulting mosaic. The forest industry can provide a sustainable supply of woodland caribou habitat that was traditionally maintained by wildfire

Caribou conservation and recovery in Ontario: development and implementation of the Caribou Conservation Plan

The range of Ontario’s woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) (forest-dwelling ecotype) has receded northward substantially over many decades, leading to its current Threatened designation. Ontario released its Caribou Conservation Plan (CCP) in the fall of 2009. This policy responded to public input and recommendations from the Ontario Woodland Caribou Recovery Team and the Caribou Science Review Panel, and outlines conservation and recovery actions to conserve and recover caribou. Within an adaptive management framework, the CCP builds upon a recent history of managing at large landscape scales in Ontario to implement a range management approach as the basis for recovery actions. These commitments and actions include enhanced research and monitoring, improved caribou habitat planning at the landscape scale, an integrated range analysis approach using advanced assessment tools to evaluate thresholds of habitat amount, arrangement and disturbance, the assessment of probability of persistence, consideration of cumulative effects, meeting forest management silvicultural performance requirements, consideration of caribou recovery implications when managing other wildlife, an initial focus on the southern edge of caribou distribution where threats are most significant, improved outreach and stewardship, and consideration of Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge in recovery actions. Implementation of the CCP signifies a long-term provincial commitment to caribou recovery, initially focusing on identified priorities within the CCP

Recent changes in summer distribution and numbers of migratory caribou on the southern Hudson Bay coast

The status of migratory woodland caribou inhabiting the coastal region in southern Hudson Bay is dynamic. The Pen Islands Herd within that region was defined in the 1990s, but opportunistic observations between 1999 and 2007 suggested that its status had significantly changed since the late 1980s and early 1990s. We undertook systematic surveys from the Hayes River, MB, to the Lakitusaki River, ON, in 2008 and 2009 to determine current distribution and minimum numbers of woodland caribou on the southern Hudson Bay coast from the Hayes River, Manitoba, to the Lakitusaki River, Ontario. We documented a significant change in summer distribution during the historical peak aggregation period (7-15 July) compared to the 1990s. In 2008 and 2009, respectively, we tallied 3529 and 3304 animals; however, fewer than 180 caribou were observed each year in the Pen Islands Herd’s former summer range where over 10 798 caribou were observed during a systematic survey in 1994. Over 80% of caribou were in the Cape Henrietta Maria area of Ontario. Calf proportions in herds varied from 8% of animals in the west to 20% in the east. Our 2008 and 2009 systematic surveys were focused on the immediate coast, but one exploratory flight inland suggested that more caribou may be inland than had been observed in the 1980s-1990s. The causes of change in the numbers and distribution in the coastal Hudson Bay Lowlands and the association of current caribou with the formerly large Pen Islands Herd may be difficult to determine because of gaps in monitoring, but satellite telemetry, genetic sampling, remote sensing, habitat analysis, and aboriginal knowledge are all being used to pursue answers

Climate change and woodland caribou in Northwestern Ontario: a risk analysis

Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) range occupancy and populations have declined in northwestern (NW) Ontario over the last 100 years primarily due to human-induced factors. Recovery efforts are underway to halt this decline by reducing risk factors. Climate forecasts suggest a 4—5 oC increase in May—August mean temperature over the next century with little change in precipitation. Resulting increases in extreme weather events and increased fire weather severity will likely increase the amount of forest burned, reduce the area of older forest, alter distribution and abundance of forest tree species and plant communities, and increase abundance of alternate prey. The reduced amount of older forest preferred by caribou will be in greater demand by the forest industry leading to more conflict over ecological and economic values. Most of these factors will increase risk to caribou survival. Although forests may experience enhanced productivity, forest management practices will try to adapt harvest, regeneration, silviculture and fire management practices to both maintain economic benefits and increase the ability of forests to sequester carbon. The interaction of climate-induced forest change and forest management practices adds uncertainty to caribou conservation efforts at the southern edge of its current range. This uncertainty reinforces the need for a precautionary approach to forest management, increased research and monitoring effort, sustained emphasis on caribou recovery, and careful rationalization of restoration efforts where greatest opportunities for success may be realized

Can woodland caribou and the forest industry coexist: The Ontario scene

Ontario is in the process of developing a strategy to improve the likelihood of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) and the forest industry coexisting in the province. This strategy is described within a set of proposed Timber Management Guidelines for the Provision of Woodland Caribou Habitat. The proposed guidelines advocate managing for large blocks of suitable winter habitat across caribou range, large cutovers to regenerate caribou winter habitat and the protection of traditional calving areas and travel routes. Summer habitat will be provided by the resulting mosaic. The forest industry can provide a sustainable supply of woodland caribou habitat that was traditionally maintained by wildfire

The impact of conservation on the status of the world's vertebrates

Using data for 25,780 species categorized on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, we present an assessment of the status of the world's vertebrates. One-fifth of species are classified as Threatened, and we show that this figure is increasing: On average, 52 species of mammals, birds, and amphibians move one category closer to extinction each year. However, this overall pattern conceals the impact of conservation successes, and we show that the rate of deterioration would have been at least one-fifth again as much in the absence of these. Nonetheless, current conservation efforts remain insufficient to offset the main drivers of biodiversity loss in these groups: agricultural expansion, logging, overexploitation, and invasive alien species