Regions: North Slave Region
Tags: climatology, biology, vegetation, prediction models, caribou, traditional knowledge, wildlife management, ecology, dendrochronology, population dynamics
| Principal Investigator: | Zalatan, Rebecca (2) |
| Licence Number: | 13523 |
| Organization: | University of British Columbia |
| Licensed Year(s): |
2004
2003
|
| Issued: | Aug 28, 2003 |
| Project Team: | G.H.R. Hen |
Objective(s): Caribou populations fluctuate over long time spans, however, long-term records of population cycles are scarce. The population dynamics of the Bathurst caribou herd across the Northwest Territories will be reconstructed using two proxy indicators of climate: dendrochronology and hoof scars left on the surficial roots of spruce trees across caribou trails. The next objective will be to correlate any changes in this index to climate fluctuations since climatic events, climate changes or coarse-scale climatic cycles are likely to affect caribou. The climate of the study region will be reconstructed using the annual growth rings of spruce trees as well as white mountain heather (Cassiope tetragona). The use of this arctic woody plant (i.e., C. tetragona) for climatic reconstructions is an innovative approach, as it makes use of the internodal lengths (where the leaf is attached) instead of annual rings as the climatic indicator. The use of both caribou hoof scars and C. tetragona for climatic reconstructions is also unique. The reconstructed abundance of caribou populations will be complimentary to the use of traditional knowledge on historic abundance and contribute to harvest management and predicting cumulative effects from industrial activity. In addition, correlating climatic patterns from black spruce tree and C. tetragona growth with caribou abundance will contribute to predicting future climate change effects. The field work in 2003 involves collecting approximately 30 C. tetragona plants from the region where black spruce hoof scars were sampled in 2002 by Dr. Anne Gunn of GNWT.
