Download or read book The Spatial Structure of Habitat Selection by Caribou Rangifer Tarandus Caribou in Newfoundland written by Stephen J. Mayor and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Social and Spatial Behaviour of Caribou Rangifer Tarandus written by Quinn Marshall Richard Webber and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All animals are social at some point in their life. The causes and consequences of animal social behaviour are widely studied, but the integration of space use and spatial features of the landscape within our understanding of social behaviour is not widely studied. My thesis broadly addresses the role of spatial features of the landscape and individual-level space use traits as potential drivers of emergent social behaviour in caribou (Rangifer tarandus). First, I present a theoretical framework linking social and spatial behaviour within the context of evolutionary and behavioural ecology theory. Next, I assess the relationship between social behaviour and space use across scales, from fine-scale foraging and interactions to coarse-scale examination of how individuals and groups vary social behaviour through space and time. Overall, I found that caribou social behaviour is linked to space use and spatial behaviour in four important ways. First, I found that collective movement was an important predictor for patterns of habitat selection, where caribou tend to select foraging habitat (i.e. lichen) while alone, but to move collectively between foraging patches. Second, despite high home range overlap between caribou, and thus potential to associate, sub-groups of individuals had strong social preference for one another and formed distinct social communities. Third, based on a thirty year dataset of caribou group size, I found that group sizes varied spatially and temporally. In contrast to our expectation, groups decreased in size as a function of increasing population density, while groups tended to be larger in winter compared to summer, presumably as a result of seasonal access to foraging opportunities. Finally, I found that social network strength and habitat specialization were density-dependent, while more social individuals were habitat generalists. However, habitat specialization had a greater effect on fitness, where habitat specialists had higher fitness than habitat generalists, but only at high density. My thesis addresses questions about the relationship between social and spatial behaviour and provides a theoretical framework for future studies to address similar questions. Throughout my thesis I also argue for the integration of various diverse ecological fields, including socioecology, spatial ecology, movement ecology, and conservation biology.

Download or read book Wildlife and Landscape Ecology written by John A. Bissonette and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 419 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While the research and management of wildlife has traditionally emphasised studies at smaller scales, it is now acknowledged that larger, landscape-level patterns strongly influence demographic processes in wild animal species. This book is the first to provide the conceptual basis for learning how larger scale patterns and processes can influence the biology and management of wildlife species. It is divided into three sections: Underlying Concepts, Landscape Metrics and Applications and Large Scale Management.

Download or read book Research Techniques in Animal Ecology written by Luigi Boitani and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2000-06-01 with total page 668 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present biodiversity crisis is rife with opportunities to make important conservation decisions; however, the misuse or misapplication of the methods and techniques of animal ecology can have serious consequences for the survival of species. Still, there have been relatively few critical reviews of methodology in the field. This book provides an analysis of some of the most frequently used research techniques in animal ecology, identifying their limitations and misuses, as well as possible solutions to avoid such pitfalls. In the process, contributors to this volume present new perspectives on the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data. Research Techniques in Animal Ecology is an overarching account of central theoretical and methodological controversies in the field, rather than a handbook on the minutiae of techniques. The editors have forged comprehensive presentations of key topics in animal ecology, such as territory and home range estimates, habitation evaluation, population viability analysis, GIS mapping, and measuring the dynamics of societies. Striking a careful balance, each chapter begins by assessing the shortcomings and misapplications of the techniques in question, followed by a thorough review of the current literature, and concluding with possible solutions and suggested guidelines for more robust investigations.

Download or read book The Habitat Preferences of Newfoundland Woodland Caribou Across Range Components and Scales written by Issac Hebert and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Toward a Unified Ecology written by Timothy F. H. Allen and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2015-06-23 with total page 505 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first edition of Toward a Unified Ecology was ahead of its time. For the second edition, the authors present a new synthesis of their core ideas on evaluating communities, organisms, populations, biomes, models, and management. The book now places greater emphasis on post-normal critiques, cognizant of ever-present observer values in the system. The problem it addresses is how to work holistically on complex things that cannot be defined, and this book continues to build an approach to the problem of scaling in ecosystems. Provoked by complexity theory, the authors add a whole new chapter on the central role of narrative in science and how models improve them. The book takes data and modeling seriously, with a sophisticated philosophy of science.

Download or read book Multi scale Habitat Selection by Mountain Caribou in West Central Alberta written by Tara Dawn Szkorupa and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Multi scale Habitat Selection by Boreal Woodland Caribou in the Saht Gwich in and Inuvialuit Regions of the Northwest Territories written by Stantec Consulting Ltd and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To expand upon previous Department of Environment and Natural Resource (ENR) studies of habitat selection by boreal woodland caribou in the northern part of their Northwest Territories (NWT) range (Nagy et al. 2005, 2006), resource selection function (RSF) analysis was carried out with data from 58 boreal caribou that were fitted with satellite and GPS collars between 2002 and 2011 in the Sahtú, Gwichʼin and Inuvialuit Settlement Regions (ISR). Habitat selection by boreal caribou was evaluated at two spatial scales: the selection of home ranges within the study area (broad scale) and the selection for different areas within each caribou's home range (finer scale). Each scale of habitat selection was evaluated separately for the winter, calving, summer, and fall breeding seasons. To evaluate selection of home ranges within the study area, habitat features at random locations drawn within individual seasonal home ranges were contrasted to habitat features at random locations distributed throughout the study area. Habitat selection within home ranges was evaluated by comparing habitat features at each observed collar location to habitat features at random locations drawn from within individual seasonal home ranges. This approach allowed the two scales of habitat selection to be combined into RSF maps that captured both scales of habitat selection. Habitat features considered in the analysis included land cover type, vegetation productivity, slope, elevation, distance to lakes and rivers, density and distance to seismic lines, presence of roads, and presence of forest fires

Download or read book Assessing Cumulative Human Impacts on Northern Woodland Caribou with Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Resource Selection Functions written by Jean Lieppert Polfus and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) are federally listed and declining across Canada because of the cumulative impacts of human infrastructure development. The Atlin northern mountain herd, in the territory of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation (TRTFN), British Columbia, is less affected by development than southern herds. However, recent low productivity in this herd suggests that the impacts of development (i.e., roads, mines, cabins and towns) may be accumulating. To predict the cumulative impact of human development on the Atlin herd, we developed seasonal resource selection functions (RSF) at 2 spatial scales with data from 10 global positioning system collared caribou. We modeled habitat selection and assessed cumulative effects by estimating the zone of influence (ZOI) around several types of human development. At the landscape and home range scale caribou avoided the ZOI and selected pine-lichen forests in winter and alpine habitats in summer. Approximately 8 and 2% of high quality habitat was lost due to avoidance of current development at the landscape scale in winter and summer, respectively. Future development of access roads to 2 mines would cause a further loss of 1% of high quality habitat. Negotiating the complex political dynamics that surround caribou conservation often requires new approaches to management and recovery planning. The incorporation of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) with Western science could improve efficiency of management decisions and enhance the validity and robustness of ecological inferences. Therefore, we evaluated how well RSF and TEK habitat models predicted current woodland caribou observations and compared the spatial predictions of both modeling approaches. Habitat suitability index models were generated from TEK interviews with TRTFN members. Though comparison of habitat ranks between the 2 models showed spatial discrepancies in some cases, overall, both approaches had high model performance and successfully predicted caribou occurrence. Our results suggest TEK can be used to identify caribou habitat and is a useful approach in northern ecosystems that frequently lack long-term ecological data that are needed to inform management decisions. Combining TEK-based habitat suitability index models with cumulative effects assessments will facilitate recovery goals for woodland caribou across northern Canada.

Download or read book Factors Influencing the Distribution of Bathurst Barren ground Caribou Rangifer Tarandus Groenlandicus During Winter written by Tara A. Barrier and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Across the circumpolar north, many herds of Rangifer have decreased in abundance. In the Canadian central Arctic, the Bathurst herd of barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) declined from 472,000 ± 72,900 (± 95% confidence interval) caribou in 1986 to 31,900 ± 10,900 caribou in 2009 ...A reduction in winter forage due to forest fires has been suggested as a factor contributing to the decline. I employed a multi-scale study design to identify the influence of vegetation, fire history, snow cover, and predation risk on the occupancy of winter habitats by Bathurst caribou. Between 2008 and 2009, I collected forest stand and understory data at habitats used by caribou, as well as paired control sites. At a larger spatial scale, I used animal location data recorded from 1996 - 2009 to characterize the spatial and temporal distribution of Bathurst caribou on the winter range. At the scale of the feeding patch, caribou foraged in habitats with a high-percentage ground cover, high biomass of lichen, and few or small trees. Similarly, the consensus among the models of habitat selection was that collared caribou avoided areas of the winter range with a high density of burns and favoured older patches of forest characterized by a high percentage of ground cover of lichen and herbaceous forage and a close proximity to lakes and rivers. However, there was considerable use of habitats adjacent to the burn boundary, and some caribou occupied early-seral habitats significantly more than expected. Although the abundance of fruticose (having branched, shrubby thalli) lichens was relatively high (2464 kg/ha) in areas burned within the last 43 - 264 years, my results suggest that an increased incidence and severity of forest fires due to climatic warming could cause a temporary decrease in the habitat available to the Bathurst caribou herd during winter. In the event that reduced lichen availability becomes a limiting or regulating factor for caribou, fire suppression may be necessary to mitigate.

Download or read book Standards for the Development of Habitat Suitability Index Models written by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Division of Ecological Services and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Linkages in the Landscape written by Andrew F. Bennett and published by IUCN. This book was released on 2003 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The loss and fragmentation of natural habitats is one of the major issues in wildlife management and conservation. Habitat "corridors" are sometimes proposed as an important element within a conservation strategy. Examples are given of corridors both as pathways and as habitats in their own right. Includes detailed reviews of principles relevant to the design and management of corridors, their place in regional approaches to conservation planning, and recommendations for research and management.

Download or read book Demography and Habitat Selection of Newfoundland Caribou written by Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Influence of Spatial Variation in Forage Availability and Predation Risk on Habitat Selection by Woodland Caribou Rangifer Tarandus Caribou in Ontario written by Madeleine McGreer and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Habitat Selection by the Slate Island Boreal Woodland Caribou Rangifer Tarandus Caribou written by Jennifer Lynn Renton and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Slate Islands caribou (Rangifer tarandis caribou) is an insular population which has experienced several population crashes and has been described as likely to succumb to extirpation. While a great deal of research has been conducted on mainland woodland caribou, factors which influence caribou distributions may differ between island and main land populations. In this thesis, I investigate relationships between habitat, landscape, anthropogenic features, population size, predation and spatial distribution of woodland caribou across the Slate Islands Provincial Park (Ontario) at the forest-patch spatial scale. Generalized linear models were used to compare observed caribou locations to available locations across the park, based on data from 1978 to 1995. Results indicated that the Slate Islands caribou selected deciduous cover, larger forest patches, areas further to water, flatter areas, lower elevations and areas closer to anthropogenic features. Population size had a limited effect on caribou distributions.

Download or read book Ecological Regions of North America written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume represents a first attempt at holistically classifying and mapping ecological regions across all three countries of the North American continent. A common analytical methodology is used to examine North American ecology at multiple scales, from large continental ecosystems to subdivisions of these that correlate more detailed physical and biological settings with human activities on two levels of successively smaller units. The volume begins with an overview of North America from an ecological perspective, concepts of ecological regionalization. This is followed by descriptions of the 15 broad ecological regions, including information on physical and biological setting and human activities. The final section presents case studies in applications of the ecological characterization methodology to environmental issues. The appendix includes a list of common and scientific names of selected species characteristic of the ecological regions.

Download or read book Home Range and Core Area Determination Habitat Use and Sensory Effects of All Weather Access on Boreal Woodland Caribou Rangifer Tarandus Caribou in Eastern Manitoba written by Doug W. Schindler and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Canada's boreal woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou Gmelin) are listed as "Threatened" under the Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA) and provincially under the Manitoba Endangered Species Act (MESA). Two of three provincially designated high-risk boreal woodland caribou ranges occur in eastern Manitoba and have been studied using Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking technology. This project was undertaken with the cooperation of the Eastern Manitoba Woodland Caribou Advisory Committee (EMWCAC). I investigated the development of an objective criterion using an adaptive kernel analysis to define core areas of use and the sensory effects of all weather access. A Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) model for woodland caribou was evaluated to determine if woodland caribou were selecting high quality habitat as defined by the model. Habitat use and selection at course and fine scales was assessed to determine landscape and stand level selection and use. A case study of habitat use and selection using forest inventory attribute data was also conducted and a comparative analysis was undertaken to determine differences in habitat use and selection between two ecologically distinct caribou populations. The criteria used to define core areas yielded mapping outputs that could provide a surrogate for critical habitat and a basis for management zoning and habitat planning. Analysis of the animal use of high quality habitat as predicted by the HSI model illustrated that woodland caribou selection of high quality habitat versus its availability is significant. Course or landscape scale habitat selection and use analysis illustrated that woodland caribou require large tracts of jack pine dominated forest containing black spruce, treed rock and muskegs. At the fine or stand level scale, woodland caribou selected habitat based on discrete variables described in the forest inventory attribute data. Woodland caribou preferred 60 - 80 year old pine dominated forest with a crown closure greater than 50%, interspersed with black spruce, rock outcrop and treed muskegs. Woodland caribou habitat containing greater proportions of treed rock and muskeg in pine dominated forest was important to woodland caribou in eastern Manitoba. The effects of the Happy Lake Road on woodland caribou use and animal energetics are measurable. Woodland caribou illustrate avoidance at approximately 2 kilometres from the road with maximum use of habitat occurring at 9 kilometres from the road. The location of the Happy Lake Road may be favourable considering the location of the Black River. Avoidance of the Happy Lake Road by the Owl Lake animals may be a function of predator and human avoidance. General management implications from this study include the use of the objective criteria for adaptive kernel analysis to determine ecologically representative core use areas that can be used in integrated management zoning. It also has application as a tool for proactive monitoring in the determination of core areas and critical habitat in resource development and mitigation.