Lab 3 Caribou in BC F23
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University of Victoria *
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Feb 20, 2024
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NAME: ___________________________________ CAMOSUN COLLEGE GEOGRAPHY 105 / 70 ASSIGNMENT 3: CARIBOU IN BC Caribou are an iconic species in Canada –
a large, herding ungulate that roams through the mountains and the forests of our country. British Columbia, with its many mountains and forests, is home to ~50 distinct herds but, in the last century, the total numbers of provincial caribou have fallen from 40,000 to approximately 15,000; a huge reduction. I am asking you to go to the interactive GIS created for Caribou in BC. If we are lucky, this link will take you there. There are three main geographic regions of Caribou populations: the Northern Mountain Caribou, the Boreal Caribou, and the Southern Mountain Caribou. The Southern Mountain Caribou are sub-divided into further geographic regions: the Northern, the Central and the Southern. I am going to ask you for what look like boring statistics for different herds within each of these five regions so that you can get a sense of how the populations are faring in these unique locations. On the map, click on the Boreal tab so that only the herds of Caribou in the north-east corner of the province are visible. 1.
Click on the Snake-Sahteneh herd polygon and an information box will appear. What are the population estimates and long-term population trends for this herd?
/ 2 The Snake-Sahteneh herd is the largest in the Boreal region, the smallest is the Westside-Fort Nelson herd. 2.
What is the population size and population trend of the Westside-Fort Nelson herd?
/ 2
If you click on the Northern Mountain tab, you will see many more herds of Caribou are found in this top-central portion of the province. 3.
Click on the Level-Kawdy herd; what are its population estimate? So much higher!
/ 1 4.
Click on the Carcross and Atlin herds; the herds are larger than the Boreal herds but, more significantly, what are the population trends for these two herds?
/ 1 5.
Click on both the Pink Mountain and the Muskwa herds. What are their population numbers and trends? / 2 Switch now to the Southern Mountain herds, specifically the Northern Group who range the Nechako and Fraser Plateaus. 6.
Click on the Telkwa, Tweedsmuir and Rainbows herds and list their total numbers and population trend.
/ 3 Choose the tab for the Southern Mountain –
Central Group. This is where the numbers start to get worrisome. The Scott herd to the east has no population estimate and no declared trend –
the only herd in the province to have no quantitative data.
7.
Give the population numbers for the following critical herds:
/ 2 Moberly ____________________
Quintette __________________ Kennedy-Siding ______________ Narraway ________________
8.
Click on the Burnt Pine herd. Whoa. What is the status of this herd (long term trend) of Caribou? And what does that mean for its recovery?
/ 2 Choose the tab for Southern Mountain –
Southern Group. You will need to click the little list icon beside the Central Group to select the Southern Group. Herd size within the Southern Group becomes shockingly low and, as a side note, I need to recalibrate the key for this lab every year because the numbers are changin
g so quickly. Sadly, three herds have shifted to “extirpated’ since the fall term, 2021. 9.
What are the population sizes for the following herds:
/ 5 Columbia North _____________ Groundhog _____________________ North Cariboo_______________ Hart Ranges _____________________ Central Rockies ______________
Columbia South __________________ Monashee ___________________
South Selkirks ___________________ Purcell Central _______________
Purcell South ____________________ With herd sizes dropping so low in the Southern Mountain –
Southern Group, we need to start considering a new term. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature12277#affil-auth 10.
Define “
functional extinction
” and d
iscuss the implications that the precipitous declines in Caribou populations in Southern BC have for that region.
/ 3
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In 2017, the BC government funded a Caribou Recovery Program with $27 Million over three years. You can view their second annual report here –
if it seems out of date, it isn
’
t you, it
’
s the program
…
they have encountered lots of pushback from industry (both forestry and mining) and from First Nations who felt under-consulted in the initial phases of the program. 11.
Use the Message from the Director to answer the following questions:
/ 9 a.
What are the three distinct populations of BC caribou? b.
How many used to live here and how many do now? c.
Which two populations are listed as threatened under the federal Species at Risk Act? d.
And here is a trick one: what has caused the significant declines in BC caribou populations?
12.
What are three reasons why not all 55 of BC’s individual caribou herds can be saved?
/ 3 13.
Moving to the Program Expenditure section, answer the following questions:
/ 2 a.
How much money was actually invested by the province of BC in the recovery of caribou in FY 2018/19? b.
What portion of this investment and the federal contribution of $2.2 million, was allocated to the goal of “stabilizing, recovering and/or maintaining identified woodland caribou herds in BC”?
14.
What are ‘consumptive uses’ versus ‘non
-
consumptive’ uses that take place in caribou habitat? Give comprehensive examples of each.
/ 4
15.
Recreation in prime caribou habitat seems to negatively impact herd numbers and is now the focus of Habitat Management, Protection and Forest Policy mandate. Identify two winter sports that are being actively reduced in caribou range and winter habitat?
/ 2 16.
Compliance and enforcement of no-disturbance policies have proven important, even though these herds are so remote.
/ 7 a.
What five regions of BC were the COS officers patrolling? b.
And how many individuals did they encounter in the no-go zones, and, of those, how many were charged with non-compliance? 17.
According to the report, “restoring caribou habitat is a key component of medium
- and long-
term caribou population recovery and maintenance.”
Detail three efforts that have been made in FY 2018/19 to tactical planning and habitat restoration activities in BC.
/ 6
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18.
One of the most controversial aspects of the caribou recovery program has been the emphasis on predator control, specifically the aerial culling of wolves –
termed “interspecific interaction management” in the report (
a much less inflammatory phrase than “aerial shooting of wolves”).
Using the statistics provided in the report: / 3 a.
What was the expenditure-per-wolf-killed in FY 2018/19? b.
Pink Mountain saw the highest wolf removal of all areas in the province in 2019; what was the wolf removal rate in this region and how many wolves remain? 19.
What is ‘apparent competition”? / 3 20.
There are four primary population management options being implemented in BC to encourage reproductive success in caribou: maternity penning, harvest management, translocation, and supplementary feeding. Discuss the successes and failures of each population management strategy that was implemented in FY 2018/19. / 8