Abstract
The role of seasonal migration in the near-total loss of caribou on south-central Canadian Arctic Islands
Highlights
The Arctic-island caribou ecotype on Prince of Wales, Russell, and Somerset islands declined about 98% from the estimated 5097 1+ yr-old caribou in 1980 to fewer than 100 1+ yr-old caribou in 1995 (Gunn & Decker, 1984; Miller, 1997; Gunn & Dragon, 1998; Gunn et al, 2006)
We investigated how annual seasonal migration of the Arctic-island caribou ecotype from Prince of Wales, Russell, and Somerset islands to Boothia Peninsula could have played the major role by providing a yearly ongoing supply of caribou “recruits” on Boothia Peninsula to buffer the heavy annual harvest of caribou there
1) It was biologically impossible for the 4831 1+ yr-old caribou estimated on Boothia Peninsula in 1985 to have sustained the estimated average annual harvest of 1100 1+ yr-old animals for 10 years: the caribou population on the Boothia Peninsula would have been in a steady state of decline and, with the population performing at expected levels, would have been reduced to a remnant or even extirpated as early as 1992
Summary
The Arctic-island caribou ecotype on Prince of Wales, Russell, and Somerset islands declined about 98% from the estimated 5097 1+ yr-old caribou in 1980 to fewer than 100 1+ yr-old caribou in 1995 (Gunn & Decker, 1984; Miller, 1997; Gunn & Dragon, 1998; Gunn et al, 2006). We investigated how annual seasonal migration of the Arctic-island caribou ecotype from Prince of Wales, Russell, and Somerset islands to Boothia Peninsula could have played the major role by providing a yearly ongoing supply of caribou “recruits” on Boothia Peninsula to buffer the heavy annual harvest of caribou there.
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