Influence of fur trade, famine, and forest fires on moose and woodland caribou populations in northwestern Ontario from 1786 to 1911

1993 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Fritz ◽  
Roger Suffling ◽  
Thomas Ajit Younger
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Fur Trade ◽  
Woodland Caribou ◽  
Northwestern Ontario

Comparison of pre-fire and post-fire space use reveals varied responses by woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in the Boreal Shield

2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (11) ◽  
pp. 751-760
Author(s):  
J.A. Silva ◽  
S.E. Nielsen ◽  
P.D. McLoughlin ◽  
A.R. Rodgers ◽  
C. Hague ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Habitat Management ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Space Use ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus Caribou ◽  
Woodland Caribou ◽  
Boreal Shield ◽  
Calving Season

By regulating successional dynamics in Canada’s boreal forest, fires can affect the distribution of the Threatened woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou (Gmelin, 1788)). Caribou tend to avoid areas burned within the last 40 years; however, few studies have compared pre-fire and post-fire caribou observations. In this study, we used caribou GPS locations from the Boreal Shield of Saskatchewan, Canada, to assess the short-term response of caribou to areas that burned while they were collared (hereafter recent burns). We used a “before–after, control–impact” design to compare the overlap of pre-fire and post-fire seasonal home ranges to the overlap of year-to-year seasonal home ranges. Caribou rarely encountered recent burns and when they did, they adjusted their space use in variable and complex ways that were largely indistinguishable from regular, interannual variation. Caribou tended to reduce use of recent burns in summer–autumn and winter, but not during the calving season, in some cases shifting their home range to incorporate more burned habitat. We conclude that recently burned areas (<5 years) may provide habitat value to woodland caribou, particularly during the calving season, requiring a more flexible approach to interpret fire in habitat management strategies.

scholarly journals Modelling Lichen Abundance for Woodland Caribou in a Fire-Driven Boreal Landscape

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 962 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Silva ◽  
Scott Nielsen ◽  
Clayton Lamb ◽  
Christine Hague ◽  
Stan Boutin
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
Suitable Habitat ◽  
Woodland Caribou ◽  
Forest Stands ◽  
Important Indicator ◽  
Upland Forest ◽  
Time Since Fire

Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) are reliant on Cladonia spp. ground lichens as a major component of their diet and lichen abundance could be an important indicator of habitat quality, particularly in winter. The boreal forest is typified by large, stand-replacing forest fires that consume ground lichens, which take decades to recover. The large spatial extent of caribou ranges and the mosaic of lichen availability created by fires make it challenging to track the abundance of ground lichens. Researchers have developed various techniques to map lichens across northern boreal and tundra landscapes, but it remains unclear which techniques are best suited for use in the continuous boreal forest, where many of the conflicts amongst caribou and human activities are most acute. In this study, we propose a two-stage regression modelling approach to map the abundance (biomass, kg/ha) of Cladonia spp. ground lichens in the boreal forest. Our study was conducted in Woodland Caribou Provincial Park, a wilderness-class protected area in northwestern Ontario, Canada. We used field sampling to characterize lichen abundance in 109 upland forest stands across the local time-since-fire continuum (2–119 years-since-fire). We then used generalized linear models to relate lichen presence and lichen abundance to forest structure, topographic and remote sensing attributes. Model selection indicated ground lichens were best predicted by ecosite, time-since-fire, and canopy closure. Lichen abundance was very low (<1000 kg/ha) across the time-since-fire continuum in upland forest stands with dense tree cover. Conversely, lichen abundance increased steadily across the time-since-fire continuum in upland forest stands with sparse tree cover, exceeding 3000 kg/ha in mature stands. We interpolated the best lichen presence and lichen abundance models to create spatial layers and combined them to generate a map that provides a reasonable estimation of lichen biomass (R2 = 0.39) for our study area. We encourage researchers and managers to use our method as a basic framework to map the abundance of ground lichens across fire-prone, boreal caribou ranges. Mapping lichens will aid in the identification of suitable habitat and can be used in planning to ensure habitat is maintained in adequate supply in areas with multiple land-use objectives. We also encourage the use of lichen abundance maps to investigate questions that improve our understanding of caribou ecology.

scholarly journals Moisture and energy content of fire-burnt trees for bioenergy production: A case study of four tree species from northwestern Ontario

2011 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Hosegood ◽  
Mathew Leitch ◽  
Chander Shahi ◽  
Reino Pulkki
Keyword(s):  
Moisture Content ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Energy Content ◽  
Calorific Value ◽  
Average Moisture Content ◽  
Fuel Quality ◽  
Bioenergy Production ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
Burnt Areas

With the current energy reform, the Ontario government has taken an initiative to phase out coal-fired generatingstations by 2014, and replace coal with biomass as feedstock at the Atikokan Generating Station. This switch to greenenergy production has opened a new avenue of income for mills and biomass-harvesting companies. However, as theneed for biomass increases, harvesting residues may no longer satisfy the needs of cogeneration facilities and new sourcesmay be sought. A potential source of woody biomass in Ontario is from forest fires. On average, an area of 35 460 ha or3 868 034 m3 of wood is devastated by wildfire every year in the Area of the Undertaking in Ontario and has the potentialto be salvaged. However, the fuel quality and feasibility of salvaging wildfire-burnt areas for bioenergy production innorthern Ontario has not been investigated so far. In this study, five different-aged fires in the MNR Thunder Bay District—12, 18, 24, 37, and 52 months old—were sampled for moisture content and calorific value of the wood. This samplingwas done across four of the most prolific tree species grown in northwestern Ontario—white birch, trembling aspen,balsam fir, and black spruce. The average moisture content (dry weight basis) of the five fires ranged from 27.1% to 34.9%and the average calorific value from 19.0 MJ/kg to 21.1 MJ/kg. Significant differences in moisture content were foundbetween the species and the ages of fire. Hardwood species had significantly higher moisture content compared to softwoods.The results display that wildfire-burnt areas have the potential to supply good-quality fuel for bioenergy productionin northwestern Ontario. Key words: biomass, wildfire-burnt areas, bioenergy production, moisture content, calorific value, northern Ontario

scholarly journals Investigation of CO, C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub> and aerosols in a boreal fire plume over eastern Canada during BORTAS 2011 using ground- and satellite-based observations, and model simulations

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 11071-11109 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Griffin ◽  
K. A. Walker ◽  
J. E. Franklin ◽  
M. Parrington ◽  
C. Whaley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Small Shift ◽  
Smoke Plume ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Fine Mode ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Total Column

Abstract. We present the results of total column measurements of CO, C2H6 and fine mode aerosol optical depth (AOD) during the "Quantifying the impact of BOReal forest fires on Tropospheric oxidants over the Atlantic using Aircraft and Satellites" (BORTAS-B) campaign over Eastern Canada. Ground-based observations, using Fourier transform spectrometers (FTSs) and sun photometers, were carried out in July and August 2011. These measurements were taken in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which is an ideal location to monitor the outflow of boreal fires from North America, and also in Toronto, Ontario. Measurements of fine mode AOD enhancements were highly correlated with enhancements in coincident trace gas (CO and C2H6) observations between 19 and 21 July 2011, which is typical for a smoke plume event. In this paper, we focus on the identification of the origin and the transport of this smoke plume. We use back-trajectories calculated by the Canadian Meteorological Centre as well as FLEXPART forward-trajectories to demonstrate that the enhanced CO, C2H6 and fine mode AOD seen near Halifax and Toronto originated from forest fires in Northwestern Ontario that occurred between 17 and 19 July 2011. In addition, total column measurements of CO from the satellite-borne Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) have been used to trace the smoke plume and to confirm the origin of the CO enhancement. Furthermore, the emission ratio (ERC2H6/CO) and the emission factor (EFC2H6) of C2H6 (with respect to the CO emission) were estimated from these ground-based observations. These C2H6 emission results from boreal fires in Northwestern Ontario agree well with C2H6 emission measurements from other boreal regions, and are relatively high compared to fires from other geographical regions. The ground-based CO and C2H6 observations were compared with outputs from the 3-D global chemical transport model GEOS-Chem, using the Fire Locating And Monitoring of Burning Emissions (FLAMBE) inventory. Agreement within the stated measurement uncertainty was found for the magnitude of the enhancement of the total columns of CO (~3%) and C2H6 (~8%) between the measured and modelled results. However, there is a small shift in time (of approximately 6 h) of arrival of the plume over Halifax between the results.

scholarly journals Will ecosystem management supply woodland caribou habitat in northwestern Ontario?

Rangifer ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
David L. Euler
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Management ◽  
Canis Lupus ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Natural Disturbance ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Woodland Caribou ◽  
Managed Forest ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
And Function ◽  
Forested Ecosystems

Ecosystem management is emerging as an important concept in managing forests. Although the basic conceptual idea is not new, important defining principles are developing that elucidate some of the specific attributes of ecosystem management. These principles include: the maintenance of all ecosystems in the managed forest, rhe emulation of natural disturbance patterns on rhe landscape and the insurance that structure and function of forested ecosystems are conserved. Forest management has an impact on woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), although the presence of wolves (Canis lupus) and moose (Alces alces) in the same northern ecosystems also affects the caribou-forestry interacrion. Specific management for caribou as a featured species has been proposed, based on managing large landscape blocks. Ecosystem management would also produce habitat in a manner that might accomplish the goal of conserving woodland caribou as well as maintaining other important ecosystem functions.

Lightning-ignited forest fires in northwestern Ontario

1991 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 277-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. Flannigan ◽  
B. M. Wotton
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Weather Index ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
Northwestern Region ◽  
Lightning Discharges ◽  
Future Work ◽  
The Relationship

This study investigates the relationship between lightning activity and the occurrence of lightning-ignited forest fires in the Northwestern Region of Ontario. We found that the Duff Moisture Code (a component of the Fire Weather Index System) and the multiplicity of the negative lightning discharges were the most important variables for estimating the number of lightning-ignited fires on a daily basis for Universal Transverse Mercator zone15 in Ontario. Also, the results indicate that negative lightning ignited more fires than positive lightning discharges, which is contrary to popular belief. Nearly 50% of the variance in the forest fire occurrence data was explained using linear stepwise regression. Future work will focus on finer temporal and spatial scales.

Living in a burned landscape: woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) use of postfire residual patches for calving in a high fire – low anthropogenic Boreal Shield ecozone

2017 ◽  
Vol 95 (12) ◽  
pp. 975-984 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.G. Skatter ◽  
M.L. Charlebois ◽  
S. Eftestøl ◽  
D. Tsegaye ◽  
J.E. Colman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus Caribou ◽  
Woodland Caribou ◽  
Burned Areas ◽  
Potential Habitat ◽  
Boreal Shield ◽  
Insight Into

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) calculated that 55% of Saskatchewan’s Boreal Shield has been disturbed by wildfire in the last 40 years. The 2012 Canadian Federal Recovery Strategy for woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou (Gmelin, 1788)) states that these large-scale natural disturbances can cause caribou to cease use of portions of their range. This assumption neglects the potential habitat value of postfire residuals. We tested this assumption using 2 years of GPS data obtained from 56 female caribou to identify calving site selection. Seventy-nine calving events were identified from 91 individual calving seasons. For both calving and postcalving periods, woodland caribou preferred nonburned (>40 years) over burned habitats (≤40 years). Within burned areas, residual patches dominated by bogs–fens were preferred, indicating that burns with residuals are important woodland caribou calving habitat. The residuals may act as island refuges providing food–security, while surrounding burns provide reduced visual obstruction from which caribou can detect approaching predators. Although more data are necessary to make robust conclusions, this study provides novel insight into the ecological interactions of forest fires with woodland caribou in northern Saskatchewan, and offers important considerations regarding critical habitat identification and range-level planning to ensure all suitable caribou habitats are identified.

scholarly journals Integration of woodland caribou habitat management and forest management in northern Ontario - current status and issues

Rangifer ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ted (E.R) Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Habitat Management ◽  
Wood Quality ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Forest Industry ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Woodland Caribou ◽  
Northern Ontario ◽  
Northwestern Ontario

Woodland caribou {Rangifer tarandus caribou) range across northern Ontario, occurring in both the Hudson Bay Lowlands and the Boreal Forest. Woodland caribou extend south well into the merchantable forest, occurring in licensed and/or actively managed Forest Management Units (FMU's) across the province. Caribou range has gradually but continuously receded northward over the past century. Since the early 1990's, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) has been developing and implementing a woodland caribou habitat management strategy in northwestern Ontario. The purpose of the caribou habitat strategy is to maintain woodland caribou occupancy of currently occupied range in northwestern Ontario. Long-term caribou habitat needs and predator-prey dynamics form the basis of this strategy, which requires the development of a landscape-level caribou habitat mosaic across the region within caribou range. This represents a significant change from traditional forest management approaches, which were based partially upon moose (Alces alces) habitat management principles. A number of issues and concerns regarding implications of caribou management to the forest industry are being addressed, including short-term and long-term reductions in wood supply and wood quality, and increased access costs. Other related concerns include the ability to regenerate forests to pre-harvest stand conditions, remote tourism concerns, implications for moose populations, and required information on caribou biology and habitat. The forest industry and other stakeholders have been actively involved with the OMNR in attempting to address these concerns, so that caribou habitat requirements are met while ensuring the maintenance of a viable timber industry, other forest uses and the forest ecosystem.

scholarly journals Developing a woodland caribou habitat mosaic on the Ogoki-Nakina North Forests of northwestern Ontario

Rangifer ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 235
Author(s):  
I. Armstrong ◽  
G. Swant ◽  
H.R. Timmermann
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Woodland Caribou ◽  
Management Planning ◽  
Forest Management Planning ◽  
Habitat Mosaic ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
Thunder Bay

The Ogoki-North Nakina Forests consist of (10 638 km2) unroaded boreal forest approximately 400 km northeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario (lat 50&deg;- 51&deg;31'N, long 86&deg;30'- 89&deg;W). Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) inhabit discrete portions within these forests based on minimal current and past historical data. As part of the Forest Management Planning process, for the period 1997-2097, a woodland caribou habitat mosaic has been developed to coordinate present and future forest management activities with the retention and development of current and future woodland caribou habitat. Several criteria including, past fire history, forest structure, age, species composition, proximity to current road access and location of existing and potential caribou habitat, helped identify and delineate 50 mosaic harvest blocks. Each harvest block will be logged in one of five 20 year periods over a 100 year rotation (1997&not;2097). The harvest blocks have been developed to simulate a pattern of past wildfire history in an area that has not been subjected to past forest management activities, while managing for woodland caribou, a locally featured species.

scholarly journals Towards a Caribou Habitat Management Strategy for Northwestern Ontario: Running the Gauntlet

Rangifer ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald D. Racey ◽  
Edward R. Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Management Strategy ◽  
Habitat Management ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Woodland Caribou ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Winter Habitat ◽  
Wood Supply ◽  
The Public ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
The Government

A management strategy for woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) habitat is being developed in northwestern Ontario. This strategy is based upon a set of draft Timber Management Guidelines for the Provision of Woodland Caribou Habitat. These guidelines recommend maintaining a sustainable supply of winter habitat within large tracts of old forest, protecting calving areas and minimizing human disturbance. Due to the large temporal and spatial scale of caribou habitat management, an ecosystem-based approach is recommended. Public response to the strategy shows a strong dichotomy between environmental and utilitarian values among all the major stakeholder groups. The major issues raised by the public include security of industrial wood supply, quality of the knowledge base, level of awareness of caribou, economic impacts on remote communities, concern about environmental impacts and silvicultural know-how. The government is responding to these concerns as the strategy evolves. Current emphasis is placed on increasing awareness of the public, training resource managers in caribou biology, management and habitat planning, implementing interim habitat management prescriptions and studying the potential impact on wood supply. The final direction for a northwestern Ontario strategy to conserve woodland caribou habitat has yet to be decided, although a commitment has been made to strive for the conservation of woodland caribou populations and their habitat.

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