scholarly journals Status, population fluctuations and ecological relationships of Peary caribou on the Queen Elizabeth Islands: Implications for their survival

Rangifer ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank L. Miller ◽  
Anne Gunn
Keyword(s):  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Aerial Survey ◽  
Partial Recovery ◽  
Population Fluctuations ◽  
Ovibos Moschatus ◽  
Ecological Relationships ◽  
The Status

The Peary caribou (Rangifer tarandus pearyi) was recognized as 'Threatened' by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada in 1979 and 'Endangered' in 1991. It is the only member of the deer family (Cervidae) found on the Queen Elizabeth Islands (QEI) of the Canadian High Arctic. The Peary caribou is a significant part of the region's biodiversity and a socially important and economically valuable part of Arctic Canada's natural heritage. Recent microsatellite DNA findings indicate that Peary caribou on the QEI are distinct from caribou on the other Arctic Islands beyond the QEI, including Banks Island. This fact must be kept in mind if any translocation of caribou to the QEI is proposed. The subspecies is too gross a level at which to recognize the considerable diversity that exists between Peary caribou on the QEI and divergent caribou on other Canadian Arctic Islands. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada should take this considerable diversity among these caribou at below the subspecies classification to mind when assigning conservation divisions (units) to caribou on the Canadian Arctic Islands. In summer 1961, the first and only nearly range-wide aerial survey of Peary caribou yielded a population estimate on the QEI of 25 845, including about 20% calves. There was a strong preference for range on the western QEI (WEQI), where 94% (24 363) of the estimated caribou occurred on only 24% (ca. 97 000 km2) of the collective island-landmass. By summer 1973, the overall number of Peary caribou on the QEI had decreased markedly and was estimated at about 7000 animals. The following winter and spring (1973-74), the Peary caribou population declined 49% on the WQEI. The estimated number dropping to <3000, with no calves seen by us in summer 1974. Based on estimates from several aerial surveys conducted on the WQEI from 1985 to 1987, the number of Peary caribou on the QEI as a whole was judged to be 3300-3600 or only about 13-14% of the 1961 estimate. After a partial recovery in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Peary caribou on the WQEI declined drastically between 1994 and 1997 and were estimated at an all-time known low of about 1100 animals by summer 1997. The number of Peary caribou on the QEI in summer 1997 was likely no more than 2000-2400 or only 8-9% of the 1961 estimate. The four known major die-offs of Peary caribou on the WQEI between 1973 and 1997 occurred during winter and spring periods (1 Sep-21 Jun) with significantly greater (P<0.005) total snowfall, when compared to the long-term mean obtained from 55 caribou-years (1 Jul-30 Jun), 1947/48-2001/02, of weather records from Resolute Airport on Cornwallis Island. Of ecological significance is that the die-offs occurred when the caribou were at low mean overall densities and involved similar high annual rates of loss among muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus). All of the available evidence indicates that Peary caribou (and muskoxen) on the QEI experienced die-offs from prolonged, under-nutrition (starvation) caused by relative unavailability of forage-the forage was there but it was inaccessible to the caribou due to snow and/or ice cover. We cannot control the severe weather that greatly restricts the forage supply but we should try to reduce the losses of Peary caribou from other sources-humans, predators and competitors.

scholarly journals An enigmatic group of arctic island caribou and the potential implications for conservation of biodiversity

Rangifer ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keri McFarlane ◽  
Frank L. Miller ◽  
Samuel J. Barry ◽  
Gregory A. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Canadian Arctic Archipelago ◽  
Scale Level ◽  
Geographic Population ◽  
Dna Analyses ◽  
South Central ◽  
The Status ◽  
Victoria Island

We investigated the status of caribou classified as Rangifer tarandus pearyi by DNA analyses, with an emphasis on those large-bodied caribou identified as ultra pearyi that were collected in summer 1958 on Prince of Wales Island, south-central Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Our comparative assessment reveals that the ultra pearyi from Prince of Wales Island belong to a group of pearyi and are not hybrids of pearyi x groenlandicus, as we found for the caribou occurring on nearby Banks Island and northwest Victoria Island. The ultra pearyi from Prince of Wales Island cluster with high arctic pearyi and are separated genetically from the caribou populations that we sampled on the low Canadian Arctic Islands and the Canadian mainland. Our findings reveal biodiversity below the level of subspecies or regional designations. These results support the position that to retain the biodiversity present among caribou populations on the Canadian Arctic Islands, conservation efforts should be targeted at the smaller scale level of the geographic population, rather than on a wider regional or subspecific range-wide basis.

scholarly journals Status of endangered and threatened caribou on Canada's arctic islands

Rangifer ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Gunn ◽  
Frank L. Miller ◽  
John Nishi
Keyword(s):  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Aerial Survey ◽  
Wolf Predation ◽  
Climatic Regions ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Ice Conditions ◽  
Victoria Island

Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) on the Canadian Arctic Islands occur as several populations which are nationally classified as either endangered or threatened. On the western High Arctic (Queen Elizabeth) Islands, Peary caribou (R. t. pearyi) declined to an estimated 1100 caribou in 1997. This is the lowest recorded abundance since the first aerial survey in 1961 when a high of ca. 24 363 caribou was estimated on those islands. Peary caribou abundance on the eastern Queen Elizabeth Islands is almost unknown. On the southern Arctic Islands, three caribou populations declined by 95-98% between 1973 and 1994 but our information is unclear about the numerical trends for the two other populations. Diagnosis of factors driving the declines is complicated by incomplete information but also because the agents driving the declines vary among the Arctic's different climatic regions. The available evidence indicates that severe winters caused Peary caribou die-offs on the western Queen Elizabeth Islands. On Banks Island, harvesting together with unfavourable snow/ice conditions in some years accelerated the decline. On northwestern Victoria Island, harvesting apparently explains the decline. The role of wolf predation is unknown on Banks and notthwest Victoria islands, although wolf sightings increased during the catibou declines. Reasons for the virtual disappearance of arctic-island caribou on Prince of Wales and Somerset islands are uncertain. Recovery actions have started with Inuit and Inuvialuit reducing their harvesting but it is too soon to evaluate the effect of those changes. Recovery of Peary caribou on the western Queen Elizabeth Islands is uncertain if the current trends toward warmer temperatures and higher snowfall persist.

scholarly journals Aerial survey and telemetry data analysis of a peripheral caribou calving area in northwestern Alaska

Rangifer ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-58
Author(s):  
Alexander K. Prichard ◽  
Ryan L. Klimstra ◽  
Brian T. Person ◽  
Lincoln S. Parrett
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Development ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Aerial Survey ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Telemetry Data ◽  
Western Arctic ◽  
Data Source

With industrial development expanding in the Arctic, there is increasing interest in quantifying the impacts of development projects on barren ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti). The primary data source to assess caribou distribution and predict impacts in remote areas of Alaska has shifted in recent decades from aerial survey data to telemetry data, but these techniques have different strengths and weaknesses. The ranges of two caribou herds, the Western Arctic Herd and the Teshekpuk Herd, overlap in northwest Alaska between Wainwright and Atqasuk, Alaska. Based on long-term telemetry data sets, this region was thought to be outside of the core calving ranges of both herds. Calving has long been reported to occur in this general area, but early reports assumed caribou were from the Western Arctic Herd and only one systematic aerial survey of caribou density and distribution during calving has been conducted in this area in recent decades. Following interest in industrial development in this area, we conducted aerial strip-transect surveys during early to mid-June 2013–2015 to directly assess the density and distribution of caribou in the area and we used existing telemetry data to compare our results to the seasonal distribution of both herds. Total caribou densities varied between 0.36 and 1.06 caribou/km² among years, and calf densities varied 0.04 and 0.25 calves/km² among years. Contrary to assumptions by early researchers in the area, telemetry data indicated that caribou in this area during early to mid-June were from the Teshekpuk Herd. The use of telemetry data alone underestimated the importance of this area for calving, but the combination of aerial surveys and telemetry data provided complementary information on caribou use of this area showing the importance of collecting the appropriate types of data for assessing potential impacts of development on caribou.

scholarly journals Conservation of Peary caribou based on a recalculation of the 1961 aerial survey on the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Arctic Canada

Rangifer ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank L. Miller ◽  
Samuel J. Barry ◽  
Wendy A. Calvert
Keyword(s):  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Aerial Survey ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Canadian High Arctic ◽  
Accurate Evaluation ◽  
The Past ◽  
Future Potential ◽  
Ecological Basis

The estimate of 25 845 Peary caribou (Rangifer tarandus pearyi) on the Queen Elizabeth Islands (QEI) in the Canadian High Arctic in summer 1961 is the only nearly range-wide 'benchmark' for the past number of caribou. No variances or confidence intervals were calculated for this estimate and no estimates were calculated for Peary caribou on the three major islands of Ellesmere, Devon, and Axel Heiberg. We reexamined the 1961 raw data by grouping the QEI into five island-complexes ('eco-units') and calculating, for each unit, the estimated number of caribou and the standard error, and the 95% confidence interval of the estimate, using a 'bootstrap' technique with 100 000 replications. Our goal was to provide an ecological basis for evaluating subsequent changes in numbers rather than relying on single-island evaluations. Our bootstrap reanalysis produced an estimate of 28 288 ± 2205 SE with a 95% CI of 20 436—37 031 Peary caribou on the QEI in summer 1961. Substantial differences in density were apparent among the five eco-units, with about a 50-fold difference from 0.01 caribou • km-2 in the Eastern eco-unit to 0.5 caribou • km-2 in the Northwestern eco-unit. The 1961 findings, with our subsequent reexamination, are crucial to any evaluation of trends for the number of Peary caribou on the QEI and the relative importance of individual eco-units for these animals. These findings also allow a more accurate evaluation of the magnitude of the subsequent decline of Peary caribou on the QEI during the last four decades and may help predict future potential levels for caribou in each of the five eco-units.

Long-term patterns of muskox (Ovibos moschatus) demographics in high arctic Greenland

Polar Biology ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (10) ◽  
pp. 1667-1675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Martin Schmidt ◽  
Stine Højlund Pedersen ◽  
Jesper Bruun Mosbacher ◽  
Lars Holst Hansen
Keyword(s):  
High Arctic ◽  
Ovibos Moschatus

Transferrin variation in caribou (Rangifer tarandus L.) on the Canadian Arctic islands

1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. H. Røed ◽  
H. Staaland ◽  
E. Broughton ◽  
D. C. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Distance ◽  
Gel Electrophoresis ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Polyacrylamide Gel ◽  
Common Allele ◽  
Island Populations ◽  
Svalbard Reindeer

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used to analyse transferrin variation in caribou from the Canadian Arctic islands. Sixteen alleles were detected in Peary caribou (Rangifer tarandus pearyi). The most common allele was TfG2, which increased in frequency from 0.167 at the Boothia Peninsula to 0.236 in the Peel population and 0.340 in the Parry population. The presence of this allele, which is the most common allele in Svalbard reindeer (R. t. platyrhynchus) and not detected in Norwegian reindeer (R. t. tarandus), suggests a common origin for the Peary caribou and the Svalbard reindeer. The large genetic distance in the transferrin locus between continental and island populations suggests the isolation of a High Arctic population in a northern refugium during the Wisconsin glaciation.

Population fluctuations in spruce grouse: what determines their numbers in spring?

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (10) ◽  
pp. 2430-2435 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Boag ◽  
M. A. Schroeder
Keyword(s):  
Population Size ◽  
Breeding Success ◽  
The Other ◽  
Population Fluctuations ◽  
Spacing Behaviour ◽  
Term Change ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Mean ◽  
One Year

The number of spruce grouse (Falcipennis (Canachites) franklinii) present in the spring population on a 247-ha block of pine-dominated habitat in southwestern Alberta was counted annually over a 21-year period. During the first 5 years of this study, the population increased steadily from 7.3 to 16.6 grouse/100 ha. Subsequently, for a period of 11 years, numbers were relatively stable at higher densities (19.0–29.1 grouse/100 ha). During the last 5-year period, the population declined to levels lower than at the onset of the study (16.6–4.9 grouse/100 ha). Year to year fluctuations in the size of this population were considered in the light of two hypotheses put forward to explain such fluctuations (spacing behaviour and breeding success). We concluded that both hypotheses were needed to explain our observations. During those years when spring population size fell below the mean number of grouse recorded over the 21-year period (17.8/100 ha), there was some evidence that breeding success in one year may have influenced population size the following spring but we found no evidence that spacing behaviour was important in limiting numbers under these conditions. On the other hand, when the size of the spring population was greater than the mean there was no evidence that breeding success influenced changes in population size the following spring, but there was evidence that spacing behaviour was limiting recruitment. The long-term change in population size appeared to be tied to the status of the fire sere inhabited: maturation of the forest (principally an increase in the height) was accompanied by a decline in population size.

scholarly journals Apparent Collapse of the Peary Caribou (Rangifer tarandus pearyi) Population on Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut, Canada

ARCTIC ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-508
Author(s):  
Conor D. Mallory ◽  
Matthew Fredlund ◽  
Mitch W. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Distance Sampling ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Ovibos Moschatus ◽  
High Productivity ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Axel Heiberg Island ◽  
Species At Risk Act

  In spring 2019, we conducted a comprehensive abundance and distribution survey for Peary caribou (Rangifer tarandus pearyi) and muskox (Ovibos moschatus) on Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut, Canada. Although much of Axel Heiberg Island is rugged and extensively glaciated, areas east of the Princess Margaret mountain range have high productivity given the latitude and have supported relatively large numbers of Peary caribou and muskoxen. This region of the island has been previously identified as a potential High Arctic refugium. The last island-wide survey, in 2007, estimated 4237 muskoxen (95% confidence interval [CI] [3371:5325]) and 2291 Peary caribou (95% CI [1636:3208]); based on our 2019 results, it appears that muskox numbers have been stable on Axel Heiberg Island since then. Using distance sampling and density surface models, we estimated 3772 muskoxen (95% CI [3001:4742]) on Axel Heiberg Island during our 2019 survey. In contrast, Peary caribou, which is listed as an endangered species under the Canadian Species at Risk Act, appear to have declined dramatically from the 2007 estimate. During the 2019 survey, we observed only six Peary caribou and could not generate an island-wide estimate. Abrupt declines in numbers are characteristic of the species and are usually related to poor winter conditions such as dense snowpack or extreme weather events that result in widespread ground-fast icing. However, the limited monitoring information available at the northern extent of Peary caribou range presents major challenges to our understanding of the mechanisms leading to this near total absence of approximately 20% of range-wide Peary caribou numbers.

scholarly journals Disappearing semi-permanent snow in the High Arctic and its consequences

2014 ◽  
Vol 60 (219) ◽  
pp. 192-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming-ko Woo ◽  
Kathy L. Young
Keyword(s):  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
The Past ◽  
Tundra Vegetation ◽  
Glacier Ice ◽  
Tundra Ponds ◽  
Headwater Basins ◽  
The Continuum

AbstractSemi-permanent snow is part of the continuum between seasonal snow and glacier ice. Although ubiquitous in the High Arctic, most late-lying snow banks and snow beds have lost their perennial status over the past decade as the summers have become progressively warmer. The loss over the past decade is the most unprecedented since aerial photography of the Canadian Arctic islands was first undertaken over half a century ago, and it has produced observable thermal, hydrological and ecological impacts. Where the ground has become exposed beneath the perennial snow cover, seasonal ground thaw has deepened. Tundra ponds and patchy wetlands fed principally by meltwater in the summer have suffered water-level decline or desiccation. The water balance of headwater basins is also affected, losing a buffering vehicle that accumulates storage surplus from the wet cool years to support streamflow and evaporation in the dry warm years. The tundra vegetation, already sparse, undergoes changes in the long term. As an essential source of water in the polar desert environment, the widespread distribution of semi-permanent snow magnifies its Arctic-wide importance.

scholarly journals Arctic ungulates at the northern edge of terrestrial life

Rangifer ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Klein
Keyword(s):  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Behavioral Plasticity ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Adaptive Plasticity ◽  
Habitat Types ◽  
Habitat Variability ◽  
Ovibos Moschatus ◽  
Terrestrial Life ◽  
Northern Edge

The two ungulate species that occur in the High Arctic, Rangifer tarandus and Ovibos moschatus, exhibit considerable adaptive plasticity in response to habitat variability throughout their circumpolar distribution. R. tarandus, however, has a much wider latitudinal distribution and occurs within a wider range of both forest and tundra habitat types than 0. moschatus, reflecting greater morphological, physiological, and behavioral plasticity. As a consequence, muskoxen have been less successful than caribou and reindeer in maintaining populations at their southern limits. Muskoxen, however, existed throughout Pleistocene glaciations in the cold periglacial steppes of Eurasia and North America and find the closest analog to this vegetation type in the High Arctic, where they have been more successful than R. tarandus in maintaining their populations.

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