Evaluating the status and trend of caribou habitat in Alberta’s boreal woodland caribou ranges.

Human land use is leading to the decline of many species, such as Canada’s Threatened boreal woodland caribou. Habitat alteration as a result of human land use has degraded predator-prey dynamics, leading to unsustainable predation of caribou. Given the link between caribou declines and habitat alteration, habitat management –protection and restoration – is a critical component of the recovery of this species. Key to effectively managing caribou habitat and assessing progress towards recovery goals is to assess the status of critical habitat over time. Our research will develop and apply techniques to quantify caribou habitat and understand what limits and promotes vegetation recovery on human-altered habitat. We will then use this information to project changes in caribou habitat over time to understand the timelines and effort needed to reach habitat recovery targets. Understanding the current state and projected trend of caribou habitat will be needed to effectively manage habitat.

Faculty Supervisor:

Adam Ford

Student:

Partner:

Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

The University of British Columbia - Okanagan

Program: