Management Information Requirements

and
Research Priorities
 Satellite Based Collars:
 - Class 3: better than 150 m on both axes, 250 m radius
- Class 2: better than 350 m, 500 m radius,
- Class 1: better than 1000 m, 1500 m radius
- Class 0: over 1000 m, 1500 m radius
 Limits data use to class 2 or better
 Class 1 could be used in situations where accuracy is not important,
i.e. delineation of migration routes
 Data not suitable for habitat utilization or avoidance behavior
evaluation
 49 active collars (winter deployment not included)
 Over 120,000 locations (unfiltered) recorded by October, 2006
 GPS Based Collars
 Summer deployed collars <10m accuracy
 Fall deployment <5m accuracy (differentially corrected)
 Suitable for detailed habitat utilization and avoidance
behavior evaluations
 Approximately 20,000 locations downloaded to date
 Each collar will record 4380 locations per year, with
approximately 400,000 locations being recorded for all
collars per year
 49 active collars (winter deployment not included)
 Delineation of calving grounds, post calving areas and
wintering grounds
 Delineation of migration routes
 Timing of migration and its impact on the current
management regime for hunting caribou
 Identification of the herd affiliation of collared caribou
(needed to correct winter count)
 Use of satellite collar locations to delineate spring
count areas by herd
1. Evaluation of the biotic and abiotic characteristics of
pre-calving, calving and post-calving areas utilized by
female caribou, with and without calves
- Identification of the study area
- Determination of the time period covered by the three life
phases listed above
- Identification of females that reared a calf
- Use of cluster analysis and autocorrelation to indentify
areas of importance to breeding female caribou
- Use of viewscape analysis to determine the importance of
forest fragmentation and cover as it relates to use by
breeding female caribou
- Determine the influence of temperature, elevation and
wind speed on selection of areas utilized
 Ripley's K-Function All GPS
50000.0000

45000.0000

40000.0000

35000.0000

30000.0000
L(d)

25000.0000 ExpectedK
ObservedK
20000.0000

15000.0000

10000.0000

5000.0000

0.0000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 Clustering highly significant at the local level
 Level of clustering reduced as the scale is increased
 Suggests that management of habitat/population
should be initiated at the local level and based on
variables related to clustering activities
 Smaller and larger scales should be investigated as
additional data is collected
2. Evaluation of the biotic and abiotic characteristics of
migration routes utilized by female caribou
- Delineation of migration routes utilized by all herds
included in this study
- Evaluation of the topographic characteristics of
utilized routes
- Evaluation of land cover characteristics of utilized
routes
- Comparison of currently utilized migration routes to
those used in the past
- Identification of any changes in the timing of
migration
3. Evaluation of avoidance behaviour exhibited by female
caribou as it relates to man-made influences
- Identification of all man-made influences located
within the study area (i.e. forest harvesting, etc.)
- Calculation of caribou distances from identified
manmade features with comparison to distances
calculated from random points
- Evaluation of the timing of movement into or adjacent
to man-made features and the duration of stay as
compared to randomly selected areas within the study
area
 Clustering analysis to be re-run after upcoming GPS
data download
 Preliminary research proposal for pre-calving, calving
and post-calving activities to be completed by end of
February (Paul Saunders)
 Additional research activities identified will have to be
prioritized and assigned
 Management data requirements will have to be
prioritized and assigned