New UBC research suggests restoring habitat may not be enough to save threatened woodland caribou—an iconic animal that’s a major part of boreal forests in North America and a key part of the culture and economy of many Indigenous peoples in Canada.
New UBC research suggests restoring habitat may not be enough to save threatened woodland caribou—an iconic animal that’s a major part of boreal forests in North America and a key part of the culture and economy of many Indigenous peoples in Canada.
Caribou populations have declined rapidly in recent decades across much of western Canada, including the oil sands region of northeastern Alberta. The researchers placed hidden cameras, known as “camera traps”, in the area to see if replanting seismic lines has helped protect caribou by separating them from predators and fellow prey moving through the area.
Seismic lines, which are narrow strips of land cleared to make way for oil and gas exploration, are thought to disturb caribou habitat and promote faster travel for predators and food competitors. These lines do not recover quickly naturally, but are now being restored through replanting with native trees and natural features like mounds and tree debris.
“In theory, restoration should have made it much more difficult for predators to travel across the caribou range, but our cameras showed us a different picture,” said lead author Erin Tattersall, who did the work as a master’s student in forest sciences at UBC.
Read more at University of British Columbia
Image: New UBC research suggests restoring habitat may not be enough to save threatened woodland caribou--an iconic animal that's a major part of boreal forests in North America and a key part of the culture and economy of many Indigenous peoples in Canada. (Credit: UBC Faculty of Forestry)
