RUSSELL, D. E.*; GRIFFITH, B.; KOFINAS, G. P.; Environment Canada; University of Alaska, Fairbanks; University of Alaska, Fairbanks: Caribou in a changing tundra environment

There are presently over 3 million caribou occupying taiga and tundra ranges across North America. As a resource, caribou constitute the most important cultural and economic wildlife species for subsistence communities in the north and are a keystone species, reflecting the health of our northern ecosystems. Threats posed by industrial development and climate change offer both an opportunity and a challenge to researchers, managers and aboriginal groups in assessing the impacts while maintaining the health of caribou herds and the habitat upon which they depend. The challenge is to conduct a meaningful herd-specific assessment, accounting for the unique environments in which each herd has evolved, caribou’s plasticity as a species and the paucity of available comparative data. Through the development of a continental database and the use of simulation and GIS modeling and remote sensing, impacts on caribou are presented for select herds based on a comparative assessment of calving grounds, climate trends, potential development scenarios, annual fat and protein cycles and the linkage between nutrition, body condition and reproductive performance. Implications of this analysis on development assessment, herd monitoring and management are discussed.