Abstract
Understanding the impact of indirect habitat loss resulting from avoidance of human infrastructure is an important conservation priority. We evaluated resource selection for 10 global positioning system collared northern mountain woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in British Columbia, Canada, with seasonal resource selection functions (RSF) developed at the second-order (landscape) and third-order (within home range) scales. To estimate how much habitat was lost due to avoidance, we estimated the zone of influence (ZOI) around multiple developments and modeled realized and potential habitat. Potential habitat was approximated by removing the ZOI from RSF models. By calculating the spatial difference between potential and realized habitat we estimated the amount of indirect habitat loss. Caribou displayed hierarchical avoidance of development, with the greatest avoidance occurring at the second-order. During both seasons caribou avoided high-use roads by 2. km and low-use roads by 1. km. In winter, caribou avoided town by 9. km compared to 3. km in summer. However, in summer caribou avoided mines by 2. km and cabins and camps by 1.5. km, while in winter when human activity was low, avoidance of these features was minor. As a result of avoidance of the cumulative ZOI, approximately 8% and 2% of high quality habitat was lost in the study area in winter and summer, respectively. Our study provides an approach to identify the extent and quality of habitat influenced by indirect avoidance. Conservation efforts should prioritize protecting areas of high quality habitat degraded by avoidance in the vicinity of human development.
| Original language | English |
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| Pages (from-to) | 2637-2646 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Biological Conservation |
| Volume | 144 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 2011 |
Funding
We acknowledge the Taku River Tlingit First Nation, whose commitment to sustainable management of the wildlife and resources identified the need for and supported this project through its entirety. Special thanks to Taku River Tlingit members Jerry Jack and Phil Tizya for valuable field work. We thank Round River staff who assisted with field work and habitat modeling, especially Rick Tingey for GIS assistance. Our collaborators at the University of Calgary, Greg McDermid and Adam McLane, assisted with the development of a landcover classification. The manuscript benefited from the revisions of Michael Mitchell, Paul Krausman, Claire Polfus and four anonymous reviewers. Final thanks to the British Columbia Ministry of Environment for providing animal location data, especially Karen Diemert and Norm Maclean. Funding was provided by the Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk of Environment Canada, the Taku River Tlingit First Nation, Round River Conservation Studies and the University of Montana.
| Funders |
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| Taku River Tlingit First Nation |
Keywords
- Cumulative effect
- Habitat selection
- Potential habitat
- Rangifer tarandus caribou
- Resource selection functions (RSF)
- Zone of influence (ZOI)