Population dynamics of the endangered mountain ecotype of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in British Columbia, Canada

By H. Wittmer, Bruce N. McLellan, D. Seip, James A. Young, T. Kinley, Glen S. Watts, D. Hamilton. 2005

173 citations recorded by the source corpus.

We used census results and radiotelemetry locations of >380 collared individuals sampled over the entire distribution of the endangered mountain ecotype of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou (Gmelin, 1788)) in British Columbia, Canada, to delineate population structure and document the size and trend of the identified populations. We also describe the spatial pattern of decline and the causes and timing of adult mortality and provide estimates of vital rates necessary to develop a population viability analysis. Our results indicate that the abundance of mountain caribou in British Columbia is declining. We found adult female annual survival rates below annual survival rates commonly reported for large ungulates. The major proximate cause of population decline appears to be predation on adult caribou. Spatial patterns of population dynamics revealed a continuous range contraction and an increasing fragmentation of mountain caribou into smaller, isolated subpopulations. The population fragmentation process predominantly occurs at the outer boundaries of the current distribution. Our results indicate that recovery strategies for mountain caribou should be directed at factors contributing to the fragmentation and isolation of mountain caribou populations as well as management strategies aimed at increasing adult survival. © 2005 NRC Canada.

Subfields: Ecology, Genetics, Small Animals

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/81cd9200196b7e00cdb7e490776c18bf28bb173f

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Ecology

In Genetics

In Small Animals

Citations in the corpus

Range fidelity: The missing link between caribou decline and habitat alteration? (2010, background): “Because predation is the most important limiting factor for caribou, we expected that female range fidelity would be highest during the calving and summer periods, when predation risk on calves is highest (Rettie and Messier, 1998; Wittmer et al., 2005).”
Biotelemetry and biologging in endangered species research and animal conservation: relevance to regional, national, and IUCN Red List threat assessments (2008, methodology): “In another application, Wittmer et al. (2005) used radio telemetry to study woodland caribou Rangifer tarandus caribou across the entire distribution of an endangered mountain ecotype (i.e. a terrestrial landscape unit) in British Columbia, Canada.”
Fragmentation, dispersal and metapopulation function in remnant populations of endangered mountain caribou (2011, methodology): “Animal Conservation c 2010 The Zoological Society of London218 followed through the calving season when they became yearlings (11 June) and into their second summer/fall season; 17 were followed until the end of this season (21October).”
Influence of harvesting pressure on demographic tactics: implications for wildlife management. (2011, background): “2006) and woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou; Wittmer et al. 2005) cannot counterbalance increases in overall mortality by increasing their reproductive effort early in life, leading to declining populations with slower life histories.”
Empirical Evidence of Density- Dependence in Populations of Large Herbivores (2009, background): “…sp.) living in highly variable environments (Caughley, 1977), muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) and reindeer living in highly seasonal environments (Caughley and Gunn, 1993; Gunn, 1992) or populations facing high predation pressures (McLoughlin et al., 2003; Sinclair et al., 2003; Wittmer et al., 2005).”
Widespread declines in woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) continue in Alberta (2013, background): “2003; ASRD and ACA 2010) and British Columbia (Wittmer et al. 2005a) as part of caribou recovery planning and implementation.”