Climate change emerging as biggest caribou threat in Canada

Published 2024년 4월 29일

Tridge summary

Recent research by Melanie Dickie, published in Global Change Biology, challenges the conventional thinking on the decline of threatened caribou herds, highlighting climate change as a more significant threat than habitat loss. The study, conducted in northeastern Alberta and northwestern Saskatchewan, reveals that climate change is expanding the range of whitetail deer, attracting wolves and posing a greater threat to caribou survival than previous industrial disturbances. These findings suggest that current conservation strategies, which focus on habitat restoration, might not be enough. Dickie proposes considering more complex management approaches, such as adjusting caribou population dynamics and exploring the potential of reducing deer and wolf numbers, while acknowledging the social, economic, and ethical dilemmas they raise. This research underscores the necessity for adapting caribou conservation strategies to address climate change impacts, emphasizing the need for comprehensive management plans that consider climate-related drivers in addition to habitat modifications.

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Original content

Climate change, not habitat loss, may be the biggest threat to the survival of threatened caribou herds, new research suggests. “We might need to do additional management actions if our goal is to conserve caribou,” said Melanie Dickie, lead author of a new paper in the journal Global Change Biology. For years, biologists have pointed to sustained industry-caused damage to the old-growth forests preferred by caribou as the reason the species is now threatened. Many argue that the cutlines and clearcuts left behind are pathways for deer, which lure along packs of wolves that end up preying on caribou as well. But climate change has also been at work in the forests. Slowly warming temperatures have greatly expanded the range in which whitetail deer can thrive. “Climate is spreading the envelope of where deer can establish themselves,” said Dickie, senior caribou ecologist for the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute. In the late 1990s, whitetails were scarce in the northern ...

Source: Thenorthernview