Habitat use by woodland caribou in a managed boreal forest landscape

Abstract

Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) populations throughout much of the boreal forest have decreased as a result of changes to forest composition, including an increase in moose (Alces alces) and wolf (Canis lupus) density with increased predation on caribou. For this study, a multi-scalar analysis of Argos telemetry data from 18 radio-collared caribou during 2000-2009 in northwestern Ontario compared their use of habitat in a landscape with a longer history of logging (Lake Nipigon area) with their use of habitat in an adjacent, less exploited landscape, managed following caribou mosaic guidelines (Ogoki area). The objective was to determine whether differences in caribou habitat use occurred with varying availability of winter habitat patches and varying moose density for these two landscapes.