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Ecological Relationships Between Threatened Caribou Herds and Their Habitat in the Central Rocky Mountains Ecoregion

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Ecological Relationships Between Threatened Caribou Herds and Their Habitat in the Central Rocky Mountains Ecoregion Ecological relationships between threatened caribou herds and their habitat in the Central Rocky Mountains Ecoregion Pine Flats (Kennedy Siding Herd) Subalpine Forest Alpine (Parnsip Herd) (Quintette Herd ) Annual Report April 1, 2003 to March 31, 2004 Forestry Innovation Investment - Forest Science Program - Project #Y051035 Elena Jones, Dale Seip and Michael Gillingham October 2004 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................... 2 METHODS.................................................................................................................................................... 5 Study Area ................................................................................................................................... 5 Caribou Captures ......................................................................................................................... 9 Telemetry Locations .................................................................................................................. 10 Population Delineation .............................................................................................................. 11 Population Parameters ............................................................................................................... 11 Annual and Seasonal Ranges..................................................................................................... 11 Habitat Use ................................................................................................................................ 12 Caribou Track Transects............................................................................................................ 12 Permanent Snow Transects........................................................................................................13 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................. 16 Population Parameters ............................................................................................................... 16 Annual Home Ranges ................................................................................................................ 16 Seasonal Home Ranges.............................................................................................................. 20 Kennedy Siding..................................................................................................................................... 20 Moberly ................................................................................................................................................ 20 Quintette............................................................................................................................................... 20 Parsnip ................................................................................................................................................. 23 Habitat Use ................................................................................................................................ 23 Spring (April 15 to May 31) ................................................................................................................. 23 Summer/Fall (June 1 to October 15).................................................................................................... 31 Early Winter (October 16 to January 20) ............................................................................................ 35 Late Winter (January 21 to April 14)................................................................................................... 36 Caribou Track Transects............................................................................................................ 37 Early Winter ......................................................................................................................................... 37 Late Winter........................................................................................................................................... 39 Permanent Snow Transects........................................................................................................39 Kennedy Siding Pine Flats......................................................................................................... 43 Population and Ecotype Delineation.......................................................................................... 45 FUTURE WORK ........................................................................................................................................ 48 LITERATURE CITED................................................................................................................................ 49 APPENDICES............................................................................................................................................. 52 Appendix I. Collar status and telemetry locations - April 1, 2003 to March 31, 2004............. 52 Appendix II. Caribou track transect and permanent snow transect distribution. ...................... 53 Appendix III. Number of caribou track transects by population and habitat type.................... 54 Appendix IV. Data Forms......................................................................................................... 55 Appendix V. Habitat and Snow Classification Key.................................................................. 64 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Funding for this project was provided by FII (Forestry Innovation Investment), with additional support from Canadian Forests Products Ltd. and the McGregor Model Forest. Further support was provided by the B.C. Ministry of Forests, B.C. Ministry of Water, Lands and Air Protection and the University of Northern British Columbia. We would like to extend a warm thank you to the many people who have contributed to this study. Glen Watts, Brad Culling, Greg Altoff and Andrew Moore did a tremendous job of capturing and collaring caribou. Special thanks to helicopter pilots Ken Knight, Chris Norman and Robert Aylwin (Pacific Western Helicopters Ltd.) who got us safely into the alpine areas on windy days and small meadows under all conditions. Larry Frey (Northern Thunderbird Air Inc.) was the fixed-wing pilot for the majority of telemetry flights and was extremely skilled in navigating through the mountainous terrain to obtain caribou locations. Tracy Hunter was invaluable as a field technician and was extremely resourceful during the initial stages of data collection. Her suggestions were integral in fine-tuning the field methods. Mike Wolowitz was instrumental in technical GIS assistance and initial telemetry flights. This study would not have been successful without the guidance of Katherine Parker (University of Northern British Columbia) and Doug Heard (B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection), who provided invaluable recommendations on all aspects of this study. Finally, thanks to Jeremy Ayotte and Dave Gustine for their assistance and support throughout this field season. 1 INTRODUCTION Woodland caribou in central British Columbia have been classified into two ecotypes: mountain and northern (Bergerud 1978, Stevenson and Hatler 1985, Heard and Vagt 1998). These ecotypes are distinguished by their use of different habitat types and forage species throughout the winter (Stevenson and Hatler 1985). Variation in habitat use is believed to be the result of adaptations to environmental and physical habitat characteristics across the range of woodland caribou (Bergerud 1978). Mountain caribou inhabit mountainous terrain within the southeastern portion of British Columbia (Stevenson and Hatler 1985, Heard and Vagt 1998). This area is characterized by heavy snowfall during the winter (Stevenson and Hatler 1985), which limits caribou access to terrestrial vegetation. As such, mountain caribou forage almost exclusively on arboreal lichens (Freddy and Erickson 1975, Bloomfield 1980, Antifeau 1987, Simpson et al. 1987, Stevenson and Hatler 1985, Seip 1992). Mountain caribou typically winter in old-growth subalpine forests, where arboreal lichens are available and abundant (Freddy and Erickson 1975, Antifeau 1987, Simpson et al. 1987, Rominger and Oldemeyer 1989, Stevenson et al. 1994, Apps et al. 2001). Northern caribou inhabit the mountainous northern and western areas of British Columbia. Snowfall is comparatively lower in these areas (Bergerud 1978, Stevenson and Hatler 1985) and northern caribou are able to crater through the snow to access terrestrial vegetation (Stevenson and Hatler 1985, Cichowski 1993, Wood 1996, Johnson et al. 2000). These caribou forage primarily on terrestrial lichens during the winter in either high-elevation, wind-swept habitat or in lower-elevation pine (Pinus contorta) or black-spruce (Picea mariana) forests (Cichowski 1993, Wood 1996, Johnson et al. 2000), although foraging for arboreal lichens in subalpine forests has been documented (Cichowski 1993, Wood 1996, Johnson et al. 2000) and is sometimes prevalent (Poole et al. 2000). 2 The transition zone between the northern and mountain caribou ecotypes occurs in central British Columbia and initially was thought to follow the height
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