Johnson and others [55] identify preferred woodland caribou habitats in the Selkirk Mountains of Idaho, Washington, and British Columbia, and describe potential management conflicts due to human activity and development in the woodland caribou habitats. Prime habitat in the region includes lightly stocked stands with seral and mature Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir and western redcedar-western hemlock stands with <40% crown cover, especially in areas where lakes, bogs, and fens are present. These habitat types provide lichen forage during winter months as well as shrubs and forbs during other times of the year. Within these types, lightly stocked stands on steep southern aspects are vulnerable to fire. Any logging or fire activity within these stands would likely be detrimental to the caribou population [55].

Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir forest >5,000 feet (1,524 m) with >40% crown cover is another highly preferred habitat in the Selkirk Mountains. Western redcedar-western hemlock stands over 4,500 feet (1,346 m) within the spruce-fir type are used in early winter for feeding, movement corridors, and calving sites. These stands provide cover in late fall, while fallen trees within this habitat provide lichen forage. According to Johnson and others [55], irregularly shaped clearcuts <40 acres (16 ha) in size and <33% of the original forest size may be removed in a single drainage without serious harm to caribou populations in this habitat [55].

In the Selkirk Mountains, caribou frequently use sites adjacent to lakes, bogs, and fens for foraging in late summer and fall. Disturbances such as logging, camping, and road traffic near these water sources may be detrimental to caribou using those sites. Limiting the number of roads and utility corridors through preferred habitats would be highly beneficial to caribou in the Selkirk Mountains [55].

Woodland caribou in British Columbia frequent alpine-rock, lodgepole pine/reindeer lichen-cup lichen, and midelevation mixed spruce-fir-pine (Picea-Abies-Pinus spp.) habitats [54]. Western hemlock habitats are most important for woodland caribou in Idaho and British Columbia during autumn and early winter. However, habitats with western hemlock are largely avoided at other times of the year. Open canopy (10%-25%) is also favored during all seasons in stands without a western hemlock component [102]. Periodically in winter, caribou climb to the high ridges they more typically use in summer. These vertical movements are likely influenced by snow accumulation. Deep snow accumulation at high elevations forces caribou down to mature lowland forests. Caribou return to upper elevations if the snow pack hardens sufficiently. When snow softens in spring, caribou are again forced to lower-elevation forests. They move from low-elevation forests into snow-free alpine habitats in May and June and remain for most of the summer. Woodland caribou in this area inhabit dense, lowland forests that are roughly 4,000 feet (1,200 m) below their summer range during part of each winter. In lowland areas, woodland caribou favor flat, poorly drained areas interspersed with open bogs, meadows and ponds, and mature forests near the open ice of lakes [38].

Caribou in the Selkirk Mountains return to the same early winter habitats year after year [111]. Early winter habitat in the Selkirk Mountains is characterized by closed-canopy Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir and western hemlock-western redcedar on moderate slopes, with high densities of windthrow and arboreal lichens, at 4,000 to 6,200 feet (1,200-1,900 m) elevation [102,111]. Early winter is considered the most critical time for woodland caribou in the Selkirk Mountains because availability of suitable habitat is limited, rapid snow accumulation covers vascular plants used for forage and makes movement difficult, and arboreal lichen availability is low [91,111]. The accumulated snow hardens in late winter, and caribou are able to walk on top of the snow and more easily reach arboreal lichens in the forest canopy [111].

Caribou declined after a series of fires that greatly altered the landscape in British Columbia. Fire reduced 60% to70% of this caribou habitat. However, the decline in the caribou population was not noticed for several years following the fires. Caribou avoided burned areas that had been utilized before the fires [38].

A review by Cumming [29] outlined management guidelines for maintaining caribou populations. Adequate winter habitat includes forest and muskeg fens that provide lichen forage, which is crucial for winter survival. Habitat must provide adequate supplies of other foods and protection against predation. Predator control may be necessary near major calving grounds [29].

Lichen cover can be maintained or improved by silviculture, whereas fire often has a negative effect. Percent cover of reindeer lichens, cup lichens, and arboreal lichens is typically higher in logged plots than in burned plots [36,116]. Reindeer lichen and cup lichen recovery was greater in a lodgepole pine forest in British Columbia 15 years after a winter harvest than in burned stands in the area. Lichen cover following summer harvest was comparable to burned stands in the area. Partial cutting can maintain arboreal lichen loading over the short term. In the same study, results indicated 80% to 90% of lichen loading remained in Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir forest 2 years after tree harvest [25]. In Ontario, reindeer lichens were observed 2 years after logging [116].

Caribou have a negative response to clearcut logging. Woodland caribou in Alberta maintained an average distance of 0.75 mile (1.2 km) from recent cut blocks [104]. In Ontario, clearcuts were avoided for 12 years after harvest within traditional caribou winter habitats [30]. Courtois and others [22] suggested that protecting large mature forest blocks, concentrating tree harvesting activities to large management blocks, and maintaining corridors connecting large forest blocks would benefit caribou. Smith and others [104] also recommended leaving core caribou habitat intact, limiting the number of fragmented stands created by timber harvesting, and creating large cut blocks to mimic the effects of large-scale fires and minimize edge effects that may promote the expansion of other ungulate species. Small-scale timber harvest promotes an increase in moose populations, which in turn leads to an increase in gray wolf populations. Large-scale timber harvest could benefit caribou by keeping moose and gray wolf populations low [53]. In winter, woodland caribou in British Columbia show a preference for Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir forests with low basal area, moderate timber volume, and moderate slope that are >5,000 feet (1,525 m) elevation. Woodland caribou move through lower elevations, however, to reach the high-elevation habitats. Logging could be possible at lower elevations in this habitat, which would reduce conflicts with caribou [107]. For more detailed information on land management recommendations, see Courtois and others [22].

Disturbances in caribou habitats have potentially detrimental effects on caribou populations. Caribou avoid railways, roads, and human settlements. Rail and road systems that bisect caribou range may inhibit seasonal movements [2]. A study in Ontario documented an increase in caribou mortality near logging roads via an increase in predation, poaching, and train and traffic accidents. These increases were related to, but not directly caused by, logging activities [30]. Limiting road access and recreation, such as snowmobile use, would benefit caribou [107]. Unexpectedly, an increase in traffic through Denali National Park in Alaska has not caused any noticeable effects on caribou abundance, distribution, or behavior. Individual caribou may become habituated to traffic while others avoid roadways [18].

The effects of petroleum development on caribou are uncertain. A traditional calving ground near an active Prudhoe Bay oil field shifted approximately 12 miles (20 km) south of the oil field as the herd grew over time. The herd's shift in utilized habitat may have been influenced by petroleum development, but this is uncertain [47]. The use of traditional calving grounds may reduce calf mortality due to reduced predation and higher-quality forage [19]. Shifts away from traditional calving grounds may lead to greater calf mortality and a decline in population size.

FIRE EFFECTS AND USE

• DIRECT FIRE EFFECTS ON ANIMALS
• HABITAT-RELATED FIRE EFFECTS
• FIRE USE

Starvation following the loss of forage due to fire is a potential threat. During the winter following the large fires in Yellowstone National Park in 1988, thousands of elk (Cervus elaphus) died from starvation [63]. With a long-term loss of forage following fire, major declines in caribou herd size would likely result.

Caribou use burned areas for several reasons. For instance, Miller [79,81] reported that caribou used burned areas as refuges to escape predation. In another study, calving occurred in a recent burn adjacent to a traditional calving area in Alaska [34]. Recent burns are also commonly used during migratory and nonmigratory movements [78,81,96]. In late winter, caribou in Saskatchewan and Manitoba migrated through burned areas in long single lines [78]. Caribou also traverse burned areas between mature forest fragments and meadows [46,101]. Fire in tundra habitats removes woody debris, which facilitates travel [96]. However, burns in forested habitats may inhibit travel between unburned foraging sites. Surface fires can kill black spruce and burn off their roots, making standing snags susceptible to windthrow [70]. Windthrow in recent forest burns may hamper the movements of caribou [61,96,101].

The influence of burns on travel appears to depend on habitat characteristics. Large fires in Quebec during 1954 to 1955 appeared to block winter migration routes to the south, causing caribou to congregate in lichen-rich habitats in northern Quebec. This effect appeared to be short term [87]. Snow accumulation and hardness alters caribou movements. In Alaska, snow hardness was almost significantly greater (P=0.0731) in burned plots than in unburned plots. Fire may encourage earlier snow melt [96], which could facilitate spring migration (see Timing of Major Life History Events).

Effects of fire on caribou forage: Historically, fire was considered detrimental to caribou due to the destruction of lichen forage caused by fire [52,101]. Now, however, fire is perceived to improve the nutrient cycling and growth of lichens, sedges, shrubs, and forbs [56,96]. Fire reduces lichen availability, but enhances short-term productivity and quality of vascular plants such as sheathed cottonsedge, bog Labrador tea, and mountain cranberry [61,96,97]. The short-term increase in vascular plants enhances summer ranges, but the decrease in lichen availability is detrimental in winter ranges [97]. Late summer regeneration of sheathed cottonsedge following a midsummer tundra fire in Alaska provided food for a caribou herd moving through the burned area in late October [62]. The use of herbaceous vegetation, including sheathed cottonsedge and horsetail (Equisetum spp.), was limited in another study in Alaskan tundra, although availability increased after recent fire [96].

Lichens are typically consumed by fire, including surface fires, so limited food is available to caribou during early successional stages after fire [61,70]. Frequent fire may delay the regeneration of forests that support lichen growth or convert a burned area into tundra, which may not support lichen growth [61]. Fire affected caribou forage availability but not selection in the Alaskan tundra [96]. Changes in arboreal lichen biomass and availability were affected by high- and low-severity fire and clearcutting in Idaho, Washington, and British Columbia. No arboreal lichens were found on sites that experienced high-severity fire or clearcutting during the previous 40 years. Higher arboreal lichen biomass was found at high-severity burn sites aged 41 to 80 years than on clearcut sites of similar age. Arboreal lichen biomass in low-severity fire sites was higher 41 to 80 years after fire than in low-severity sites 1 to 40 years after fire [36].

Lichen regeneration following fire depends on many factors including burn patchiness, intensity, severity, extent of the burn, prefire vegetation, seral stage, and climate [61,115]. Reindeer and cup lichens (Cladonia spp.) are virtually absent until a recovering habitat reaches midsuccession [99,101,116]. Lichen regeneration, including reindeer lichens, cup lichens, felt lichens (Peltigera spp.), and arboreal lichens, takes 30 to120 years or more depending on the species [2,36,78,79,80,99,101,108]. Available forage of shrubs and lichens on average is highest in 51- to 120+-year-old stands and lowest in 1- to 10-year-old stands [99,108]. Stands <60 years old may have standing crops of lichens similar to 120-year-old stands [80]. Fire at the landscape level maintains a diverse mosaic of vegetation and successional stages in forested ecosystems, which overall contributes to the availability of lichens [61].

Fire is necessary in the landscape to maintain lichen forage availability over the long term [97]. Caribou response to fire is influenced by the duration of lichen recovery and availability of alternate feeding sites [61]. In forests >130 years old, terrestrial lichens are replaced by feathermosses, including mountain-fern moss (Hylocomium splendens) and Schreber's moss (Pleurozium schreberi), and vascular plants such as mountain cranberry [24,75,81,97] due to increasing tree density, canopy closure, and litter accumulation [24,75,81]. Fire destroys thick masses of sphagnum mosses (Sphagnum spp.) and feathermosses (Hylocomium spp.) and removes accumulated litter, allowing lichens to regenerate [3,81,93,97,100].

Feltleaf willow is a preferred caribou browse plant and a common associate in Alaska and the Canadian arctic [103,117]. Feltleaf willow is a fire-adapted species that sprouts from the root crown following top-kill by fire [86,115,119]. Feltleaf willow produces abundant, wind-dispersed seed that is important in colonizing burned areas [112,115].

Fire regime: Caribou habitats in taiga generally experience moderate to long fire-return intervals, while tundra habitats rarely burn. Summer fires are rare in northern Canada because of the heterogeneous landscape of wet and dry tundra and rock barrens. Thus, barren ground caribou are typically only affected by fires in their forested winter habitats [100]. The fire season in the Northwest Territories is mid-June to mid-August [41,56]. The fire season in interior Alaska is 1 April to 30 September, with most fires occurring May to July [40,112]. Fires in black spruce/lichen forests in the Northwest Territories and interior Alaska are primarily lightning-caused [41,50,71].

Black spruce-birch forest has the highest fire frequency of any forest type in interior Alaska [114]. Estimated fire-return intervals in the black spruce-birch ecosystem vary from 50 to 200 years [51,115]. Fires occur every 50 to 70 years in black spruce-white spruce/bog birch/reindeer lichen communities in interior Alaska [40]. Heinselman [51] estimates a fire-return interval of 130 years for open black spruce/reindeer lichen forest and 100 years for closed-canopy black spruce forest. Mean fire-return intervals in lowland black spruce forests on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, range from 89 to 195 years [4,72]. Black spruce-birch communities experience high-severity, stand-replacing fires. These communities are highly flammable due to the abundance of ericaceous shrubs, the prevalence of dead, low-hanging branches on the black spruce trees, which are often covered with highly flammable epiphytic lichens, and to the thick moss and lichen mats that cover the forest floor and become highly flammable after periods of low rainfall [70,71,113].

White spruce is also a predominant species in caribou habitat [57,103]. Fire frequency in white spruce forest types is generally 60 to 200 years [84]. Some white spruce forests located in floodplains are >300 years old in Alberta [51].

Jack pine is an important stand component for caribou in eastern Canadian forests [76,80,99,101]. Estimates of fire-return intervals in jack pine forests are generally <50 years [48]. In northern Ontario, major fire events occur every 5 to 30 years in jack pine forests [73]. The mean fire-return interval for jack pine forests in the Athabasca Plains in northern Saskatchewan and northeastern Alberta is 38 years [20]. Upland ridges and ridge complexes that lack natural fire breaks burn most frequently. Jack pine forests that burn more frequently than every 5 to 10 years become pine barrens [31]. Lichen mats develop within 40 years and support fire in jack pine forests [20].

Balsam fir habitats are also utilized in eastern Canada [74,82]. Balsam fir is usually rare or absent for the first 30 to 50 years after fire, but establishes thereafter under the canopy of its seral associates [5,35,42].

Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir forests provide prime habitat for endangered woodland caribou in the Columbia Mountains [6,36,55,102]. Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir forests usually develop in cool, moist locations with an average fire-return interval of ≥150 years [7]. Moist, mid- and high-elevation subalpine fir habitat types experience stand-replacing fires at intervals of ≥90 years [7,105].

The following table provides fire regime information that may be relevant to caribou. Find further fire regime information for the plant communities in which this species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under "Find Fire Regimes".

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