The impacts of forest management strategies for boreal caribou in Ontarioin Ontario, Canada

VictoriaM.Donovan,PhDCandidate

Universityof Nebraska, L incoln, NE, USAVictoria.Donovan@huskers.unl .edu

Sustainable Forest Management

AnthropogenicdisturbanceshavealteredwildlifehabitatHabitatmanagementisusedtoconciliatehumandevelopmentandwildlifeconservationtargets

Borealcaribouareasolitaryanimalsthatrequirelargeareasofcontinuousold-growthborealforestAnthropogenicdisturbancehasbeenlinkedtoextirpationfromtheirhistoricrange

MapalteredfromSchaefer2003

ForestHarvesting

↓CaribouAbundance

↓CaribouHabitat

Availability

↑AlternatePreyAbundance

↑EarlySuccessionalStandsandDeciduousForest

ForestHarvesting

↓CaribouAbundance

↓CaribouHabitat

Availability

↑AlternatePreyAbundance

↑PredatorAbundance↑EarlySuccessionalStandsandDeciduousForest

ForestHarvesting

↓CaribouAbundance

↓CaribouHabitat

Availability

↑AlternatePreyAbundance

↑PredatorAbundance↑EarlySuccessionalStandsandDeciduousForest

ForestHarvesting

↓CaribouHabitatQuality ↓CaribouAbundance↑CaribouHabitat

Fragmentation

↓CaribouHabitat

Availability

Cariboucanbecompletelyextirpatedfromaharvestedregionwithin20years

(Vorsetal.,2007)

Pre-GuidelinesLandscapeAnticipatedPost-

GuidelinesLandscape

Characterisedbysmall,un-complexcutblocksspreadacrossthelandscape

Characterisedbylargercutblocksaggregatedonthelandscapewithhighlevelsofshapecomplexityincludinginsularpatches

 StudyObjective:Assesstherelationshipbetweenlargescalepatternsinforestharvestingandcaribouspatialbehavioursovera20-yearperiod,spanningachangeinforestmanagementintendedtoprotectcaribouhabitat.

 Questions: (1)HowhaveforestharvestpatternschangedineasternandwesternOntario? (2)Howhavetherelationshipsbetweencaribouspatialbehavioursandforestharvestchangedfollowingashiftinforestmanagementintendedtoprotectcaribouhabitat

Donovan,V.M.,Brown,G.S.,&Mallory,F.F.(2017).Theimpactsofforestmanagementstrategiesforwoodlandcaribouvaryacrossbiogeographicgradients.PLOSONE,12(2),e0170759.

Harvestpolygonswerecollectedbetween1991and2011Datawascollectedfor184femalecaribouinEasternandwesternOntariobetween1995and2013Cariboudatawasdividedintopre-andpost-guidelinetimeperiods

(1) How have forest harvest patterns changed in eastern and western Ontario?

chatt.hdsb.ca

 LandscapeMetrics

• Totalareaharvested

• Meanpatchsize

• Patchaggregation(ClumpinessIndex)

•  DeclinesinforestharvestinginbotheasternandwesternOntario

•  Declinesalignwithglobalrecession,theUShousingmarketcrash,andthe2006SoftwoodLumberAgreement

Harv

est M

ean

Patch

Size

(ha)

Harv

est C

lumpin

ess I

ndex

Insummary...•  Caribouwereexposedtolessharvesting

followingguidelinerelease

•  Caribouwerelikelyexposedtomorefragmentedspatialconfigurationsofharvests

(2) How have the relationships between caribou spatial behaviours and forest harvest changed?

PhotoCredit:Dr.GlenS.Brown

Theareatraversedbyananimaloveradesignatedperiodoftimeinordertofulfillitsfundamentalliferequirements

AnnualHomeRange

AnnualHomeRange

•  Homerangesizewasinfluencedbytheamountofharvestingwithinandsurroundingacaribou’shomerange

•  Decreasedwithincreasingamountsof

harvestwithin(p=<0.01,β=-46.67)andsurroundingthehomerange(p=<0.01,β=-22.64).

AnnualHomeRange

MeanHo

meRa

ngeSize(km^2)

EastEarly EastLate WestEarly WestLate

•  Therewasnosignificantchangeinhomerangesizebetweentimeperiods(east:p=0.86,β=10.38;west:p=0.64,β=-16.49)

•  EasternOntariohadsignificantlylargerhomerangesthanwesternOntario

AnnualHomeRange

ProximitytoHarvest

 ProximityIndex= "#$%&'%( )*$+,-.%/012%.+%( )*$+,-.% 

ProximitytoHarvest

ProximitytoHarvest

•  Caribouproximitytoaharvestwasmostinfluencedbytheamountofharvestingthatsurroundedthatharvest

•  Caribouwereclosertoaharvestwhentherewasmoreharvestingsurroundingit(p=<0.01,

β=-0.05)

ProximitytoHarvest

•  Inboththeeastandwest,caribouwereclosertoharveststhanexpected

•  NodifferenceincaribouproximitybetweentimeperiodsineasternOntario(p=0.30,β=0.10)

•  InwesternOntario,caribouweresignificantlyfartherfromharvestsfollowingguidelinerelease(p=<0.01,β=0.23)

Fidelity:thetendencyofananimaltoreturntoorremaininthesamelocationorspace

SummerFidelity

EastEarly EastLate WestEarly WestLate

MeanFide

lityInde

x

3

9

6

•  Strongfidelityinwest

comparedtonofidelityineast

•  Nochangeinfidelityinthewesternstudyareabetweentimeperiods(p=0.11,β=-0.17)

•  Intheeasternstudyarea,fidelitysignificantlyincreased(p=<0.01,β=0.32)

SummerFidelity

Howdidcaribouspatialbehaviourschange?

Howdidcaribouspatialbehaviourschange?

HomeRangeSizedidnotchange

Howdidcaribouspatialbehaviourschange?

HomeRangeSizedidnotchangeProximitydecreasedattheannualhomerangescaleinthewest,nochangeineast

HomeRangeSizedidnotchangeProximitydecreasedattheannualhomerangescaleinthewest,nochangeineastFidelityincreasedintheeast,nochangeinwest

Howdidcaribouspatialbehaviourschange?

• Guidelinesmaynotbehavingtheirexpectedoutcomesonthelandscapeorcariboubehaviour

• Monitoringmanagementoutcomesiskeytoassuringtheirsuccess

MovementtowardlandscaperecoveryforcaribouinpreviouslyharvestedregionswilllikelystretchovermultipledecadesCaribouspatialbehavioursvariedacrossthetwolandscapesindependentlyofforestmanagementContinuedmonitoringofcaribouisneeded

SpeciesatRiskStewardshipFund

Donovan,V.M.,Brown,G.S.,&Mallory,F.F.(2017).Theimpactsofforestmanagementstrategiesforwoodlandcaribouvaryacrossbiogeographicgradients.PLOSONE,12(2),e0170759.SchaeferJA.2003.Long-termrangerecessionandthepersistenceofcaribouinthetaiga.ConservationBiology,17,1435-1439.Vors,L.S.,Schaefer,J.A.,Pond,B.A.,Rodgers,A.R.,Patterson,B.R.,2007.WoodlandcaribouexpirationandanthropogeniclandscapedisturbanceinOntario.J.Wildl.Manage.,71,1249-1256.