Spatial structure of boreal woodland caribou populations in northwest Canada

Local population units (LPUs) were delineated in Canada’s recovery strategy for threatened boreal woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). Population viability analyses central to contemporary integrated risk assessments of LPUs implicitly assume geographic closure. Several LPUs in northwest Canada, however, were in part delineated by geopolitical boundaries and/or included large areas in the absence of evidence of more finely resolved population spatial structure. We pooled >1.2 million locations from >1200 GPS or VHF-collared caribou from northeast British Columbia, northwest Alberta and southwestern Northwest Territories. Bayesian cluster analysis generated 10 alternative candidate LPUs based on a spatial cluster graph of the extent of pairwise co-occurrence of collared caribou. Up to four groups may be artifacts in as yet under-sampled areas. Four were mapped LPUs that were conserved (Prophet, Parker, Chinchaga and Red Earth). One small group between Parker and Snake-Sahtaneh known locally as the “Fort Nelson core,” and outside any mapped LPU, was also conserved. Finally, one large group, at >136000 km2, spanned all three jurisdictions and subsumed all of six delineated LPUs (Maxhamish, Snake-Sahtaneh, Calendar, Bistcho, Yates, Caribou Mountains) and part of southern Northwest Territories. These results suggest less geographic closure of LPUs than those currently delineated, but further analyses will be required to better reconcile various sources of knowledge about local population structure in this region.

A note on the Quesnel Lake Gneiss, Caribou Mountains, British Columbia

The Quesnel Lake Gneiss is one of several large bodies of gneiss emplaced into the westernmost exposure of the Hadrynian to Paleozoic(?) metasedimentary rocks of the Snowshoe Group in the Omineca Belt, central British Columbia. The gneiss has a deformational history comparable to that of its enveloping rocks, and isotope studies indicate that its age of emplacement is Late Devonian to Early Mississippian and that its age of synkinematic metamorphism is mid-Jurassic. From petrochemical analyses and structural studies, we interpret the gneiss as being a late Paleozoic igneous intrusion into the probable western margin of the North American craton.

Habitats of circumboreal–subarctic sphagna: I. A quantitative analysis and review of species in the Caribou Mountains, northern Alberta

A quantitative analysis of the habitats of 14 species of Sphagnum found in the Caribou Mountains of northern Alberta and a literature review are the basis for a discussion of the habitats of these species as they occur in circumboreal–subarctic regions. Despite the implication inherent in the name, the Caribou Mountains are not mountains; the formation is an extensive, elevated plateau, which is underlain by more-or-less continuous permafrost. Three habitat types predominated in our study area: an upland "treed-tundra" (which is dominant over much of the plateau) with scattered Picea mariana and a hummocky bottom layer of sphagna; rounded "thaw-pocket" depressions dominated by carpets of Sphagnum and some carices; and streams defined by a dense zone of shrubs with the narrow water channel bordered by more-or-less firm lawns of Sphagnum species. Three gradients, which are considered to have a predominant influence on the occurrence of Sphagnum species, are wet to dry, ombrotrophic to minerotrophic, and shaded to exposed. The relative importance of each of these factors varies with each species of Sphagnum. Sphagnum jensenii, S. majus, S. riparium, and S. lindbergii occur exclusively in weakly minerotrophic to ombrotrophic, aquatic habitats where populations form loose, floating carpets. Such habitats are generally not much shaded. Such species as S. angustifolium, S. teres, and S. russowii are characteristic of somewhat less moist conditions, but all have a broad amplitude along the ombrotrophic to minerotrophic gradient. However, S. angustifolium is most abundant under poorly minerotrophic conditions where there is less shade, while S. teres predominates under highly minerotrophic conditions and is more-or-less equally tolerant of shade and exposure. Sphagnum warnstorfii apparently is restricted to habitats which are highly minerotrophic, but is tolerant of both shade and exposure. The sphagna most characteristic of densely shaded, woodland habitats where there is little peat development are S. squarrosum, S. wulfianum, and S. girgensohnii. All three species generally form low mounds. Sphagnum fuscum and S. nemoreum form well-defined hummocks and are most prevalent under ombrotrophic conditions.

TRACE ELEMENTS IN TILLS OF ALBERTA

Analysis of 475 Keewatin till samples from the Alberta Plains shows well-defined trends in the distribution of certain minor constituents and trace elements. Fe and Cu are most abundant in tills from the Clear Hills region of northwestern Alberta, in which area thin but widespread beds of iron-formation outcrop. Zn distribution in till also is related to bedrock composition and, together with Fe and Cu, is useful in delineating bedrock subcrop patterns. The distribution of CaO, although related to the carbonate content of the underlying bedrock on a regional scale, has been modified to some extent by glacial processes, as demonstrated in the Caribou Mountains area of northernmost Alberta.