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How might satellite remote sensing help the monitoring of the cumulative impacts on barren-ground caribou? Case studies for the Bathurst herd
Wenjun
Chen, Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation, wenjun.chen@canada.ca
(Presenter)
Sylvain
Leblanc, Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation, sylvain.leblanc@canada.ca
H.
Peter
White, Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation, hpeter.white@canada.ca
Carla
Schmitt, Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation, carlavanessa.schmitt@canada.ca
The barren ground caribou has played an important role in the culture, economy, and way of life of aboriginal peoples in Arctic North America for thousands of years. The widespread decline of caribou populations around the Arctic raised concerns among northern communities and local governments. For example, the Bathurst caribou herd declines 93% since the mid-1980s. Why has the caribou population not recovered? What are the underlining causes that resulted in the decline? How has industrial developments, such as mining, been affecting caribou? These are some of the questions raised by community members on a regular basis.
Many factors might affect caribou, such as habitat, harvest, predators, diseases and parasites, extreme weather, climate change, industrial development, forest fires, and pollution, in a complex manner spatially and temporally. In order to find out the underlining causes of the population decline so that effective recovery plan can be designed and implemented, the first and the most important task is to develop verifiable and comprehensive long-term data sets for these factors. With long-term historical records and large spatial coverages, satellite remote sensing is uniquely equipped to contribute to this goal. As a part of NWT CIMP (Northwest Territories Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program) and the NASA ABoVE (Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment), we have been working towards this goal. In this poster, we will show four case studies of developing satellite datasets for monitoring and assessing the cumulative impacts on the Bathurst caribou. The first case study was the long-term winter range indicators developed from remote sensing and climate data. The second study developed satellite-derived summer range indicators and their linkage with caribou net productivity (i.e., the late-winter calf: cow ratio). The third study detected plant phenology changes on the summer range and calving ground of the Bathurst caribou herd using long-term satellite data and community-based field observations, and their impacts on caribou calving dates. Finally, the fourth study demonstrated the role of remote sensing assist for quantifying the zones of mining disturbances (e.g., dust, noise, PM2.5, sight, and changes in vegetation and soil).
Associated Project(s):
Poster Location ID: 73
Session Assigned: Wildlife and Ecosystem Services
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