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Assessing
wildland fire impacts on the
winter habitat use and distribution of caribou
within Alaska's interior boreal forest ecosystem.
 Study
Plan
Works
Investigators
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KYLE JOLY, Wildlife Research Biologist, USGS, Alaska Science Center - Biological Science Office, Anchorage, Alaska
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BRUCE DALE, Wildlife Research Biologist, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Palmer, Alaska
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WILLIAM COLLINS,
Wildlife Research Biologist, Alaska
Department of Fish and Game, Palmer, Alaska
- LAYNE ADAMS, Wildlife Research Biologist, USGS, Alaska Science Center - Biological Science Office, Anchorage, Alaska
 The
boreal forest ecosystem of interior Alaska comprises the wintering
habitat of the majority of the caribou
herds in the state. Boreal forests are chronically subject to
wildland fires, which alter vegetative composition for decades.
Wintering caribou,
which are critical for the subsistence lifestyle of inhabitants
in this region, often exhibit periodic fluctuations in population
and distribution. Causes of these fluctuations may include complex
interactions between naturally occurring fires, climatic conditions,
other abiotic factors, predation, and harvest by humans. Relationships
between fire, vegetation succession, lichen
regeneration, and caribou
use of habitats have been the individual focus of excellent research,
both in Alaska and elsewhere. However, these studies have often
been site- and species-specific, or temporally restrictive and,
as a consequence, results are often limited in scope and inference,
and are sometimes contradictory relative to the species studied.
Presently we lack sufficient data, or integration of existing fragmented
data, to predict changes in  movement
patterns or distribution of wildlife populations, or to allow land
managers to make effective decisions regarding fire-related resource
management. Localized system perturbations, such as fires, can affect
the ecosystem beyond the original area of disturbance. Such perturbations
and subsequent habitat modifications occur throughout interior Alaska,
regardless of land management area boundaries. The U.S. Department
of the Interior (DOI) contains a number of agencies with the need
for information on the influence of pyric succession to the boreal
forest ecosystem. Many natural resource issues affecting the boreal
forest, such as fire management, subsistence harvest, and biodiversity
maintenance are common to all these DOI agencies.
Funding
provided by the National
Interagency Fire Center.
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