Abstract
Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in British Columbia inhabit a wide variety of forest ecosystems. Numerous research projects have provided information that has been used to develop caribou habitat management recommendations for different areas. Recently, the province has implemented guidelines to protect biodiversity that are based on an ecosystem management strategy of mimicking natural forest conditions. There is a great deal of similarity between caribou management recommendations and biodiversity recommendations within different forest types. In mountain caribou habitat, both approaches recommend maintaining a landscape dominated by old and mature forests, uneven-aged management, small cutblocks, and maintaining mature forest connectivity. In northern caribou habitat, both approaches recommend maintaining some older stands on the landscape (but less than for mountain caribou), even-aged management, and a mosaic of large harvest units and leave areas. The ecosystem management recommendations provide a useful foundation for caribou habitat conservation. More detailed information on caribou and other management objectives can then be used to fine-tune those recommendations.
Highlights
Vation has been a high profile resource management Forest managers must attempt to manage issue in British Columbia (B.C.) for many years, pri- forests in a way that will maintain all native species, marily because of the conflict between forest harves- including vertebrates, invertebrates, vascular and ting and conservation of caribou habitat
The habitat habitat protection and forest harvesting. Those rese- requirements of many native species are unknown, arch results led to the development of numerous and even if they were, it would be impossible to sets of guidelines and recommendations that have integrate the individual requirements of thousands been implemented to various degrees throughout of different species, many of which have habitat the province
British Columbia is in the process of for old and mature forest retention, but the target increasing the amount of parkland to 12% of the still represents 75% of natural levels
Summary
Woodland caribou {Rangifer tarandus caribou) conser- practices on the full range of natural biodiversity. Most of the highest up to 250 hectares in size, is recommended to quality caribou habitat is high elevation subalpine mimic the size distribution of natural standforest that has relatively low timber productivity so destroying disturbances in these forests These areas can often be protected with relatively modest impacts on timber supply. Partial cutting systems could be used to remove 1/3 of the volume from the entire These biodiversity recommendations are intenhabitat area every 80 years so long as the silvicultu- ded to maintain a relatively natural age class and ral prescription maintains caribou habitat attribu- patch size distribution within the landscape unit.
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