Wildlife Habitat Research

Overview
Current Focus Areas
Research Highlights
Extension and Consultations
Recent Publications
Ministry Contacts

Overview

The extent and diversity of ecosystems in British Columbia provide habitat for many wildlife species, and their conservation is sometimes in conflict with forest management. In order to make informed decisions, resource managers require scientifically reliable information on the structure and function of forest ecosystems and a greater understanding of species and their habitat use. The most vulnerable species may inhabit a range of geographical scales, from caribou, which are sensitive to landscape-level habitat fragmentation, to marbled murrelets, which are sensitive to stand-level disturbance because they occupy large trees in coastal old-growth forests.

The Wildlife Habitat research program focuses on studying species that are particularly sensitive to forest management activities. It specifically studies aspects such as habitat selection and use, behaviour, population dynamics, and mortality factors. Researchers seek to develop land use management options and silvicultural systems that can accommodate timber harvesting, maintain wildlife habitat, and protect biodiversity.

Research results are incorporated into complex analytic and decision-making models that can be used to assess spatial-temporal species habitat supply requirements, integrate economic and social factors into resource management decisions, and account for factors that contribute to uncertainty and risk in decision-making.

The Wildlife Habitat research program is actively involved in a variety of Ministry initiatives, including accommodating resource values other than timber in land use and sustainable forest management planning, and developing tools to assist forest managers to respond to large-scale concerns such as the mountain pine beetle outbreak or climate change. Wildlife habitat researchers have contributed expertise to the Future Forest Ecosystems Initiative, Forests for Tomorrow program implementation, the Forest and Range Practices Act Forest Resource Evaluation Program (FRPA/FREP), the Biodiversity Team, and the conservation and recovery of species at risk.

For more detailed information on the wildlife habitat research conducted by the Research Branch please visit the following web pages:

Current Focus Areas

Quantifying forest stand, landscape, and regional attributes that influence mountain caribou habitat use, fragmentation, and predation rates. [more]
Studying the implications of mountain pine beetle salvage harvesting on grizzly bears, moose, and mountain caribou.
Conducting long-term monitoring of the distribution, abundance, population dynamics, habitat use, and behavioural changes of grizzly bear populations in the Flathead River drainage, and the impact of extensive forest harvesting.
Evaluating and refining guidelines for forest buffers, such as avalanche chutes and riparian areas, for grizzly bear habitat management in managed landscapes. [more]
Developing analytic and decision-making models for assessing spatial-temporal habitat supply and mortality risk to grizzly bears from scenarios involving forest management objectives.
Developing methods for describing and analyzing socio-ecological systems with an emphasis on wildlife habitat supply. Including the application of collaborative frameworks that integrate data, information, spatial-temporal models, domain expertise, and decision-making in support of sustainable forest management planning at multiple scales and perspectives.
Designing strategic analysis frameworks for forest and wildlife management that account for the uncertainty created by such factors as mountain pine beetle outbreaks and climate change. [more]

Research Highlights

Developing methods to model current habitat, and predict the future supply of habitat, for key wildlife species affected by large-scale lodgepole pine mortality and the proliferation of roads following salvage harvest. This project, in conjunction with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, involves multiple stakeholders, and is focused on mapping areas of high conservation significance for biodiversity in the central interior. [more]
Contributing the best available scientific knowledge and management recommendations to the caribou recovery strategy. [more]
Conducting scenario analysis of potential future landscape changes and caribou population responses to help identify strategies that will enhance the resilience of the Tweedsmuir-Entiako caribou population to disturbance. [more]
Developing a toolkit model approach to sustainable forest management planning that better achieves a balance between science and local needs.
Applying economics’ real options methodology, used to aid in decision making under uncertainty, to develop techniques to evaluate resource management decision making when there is the potential for irreversible consequences, such as the extirpation of a caribou population.

Extension and Consultations

Wildlife ecology researchers dedicate a significant amount of time to communicating research results and recommendations through extension and consultation on a variety of wildlife-related issues. Researchers consult with the Chief Forester’s office, Regional Management Teams, District staff, First Nations managers, and other agencies (such as the Integrated Land Management Branch) on topics such as management responses to the mountain pine beetle outbreak, implementation of the Forest and Range Evaluation Program Biodiversity Resource values, and implementation of the Species at Risk Recovery Plan. As a member of the Provincial Mountain Caribou Science Team, we have provided consultation and research results on caribou recovery to a spectrum of stakeholders, from mining company staff to First Nations and environmental non-governmental organizations.

Wildlife ecology researchers participate on several formal committees:

Future Forest Ecosystems Initiative, Technical Committee – Co-ordination of research knowledge to develop a sound scientific foundation for understanding climate change and ecosystem resilience.
Bulkley Valley Centre for Natural Resources Research and Management, Director – Conducts high-quality interdisciplinary research on temperate, montane, and boreal ecosystems, including their human dimensions.
Northwest Data-Sharing Network – Organizes and shares local resource management information in northwestern British Columbia. for operational and strategic planning and monitoring, and encourages collaboration between forest industry, First Nations, and provincial government agencies.
Provincial Mountain Caribou Science Team – Provides government with science-based options for caribou recovery.
Revelstoke Caribou Committee – Links current research to forest industry and other user groups.
Revelstoke Habitat Team – Delineates forests to be left unharvested for mountain caribou.
Mountain Caribou and Forest Health – Provides guidance for managing forest health issues (insects, disease, and fire) in or adjacent to caribou habitat.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), Bear Specialist Group (Co-chair) – Co-ordinates conservation efforts for bears world-wide.
Ursus Publication Committee, Advisory Board – Oversees the production of Ursus, a scientific journal on all aspects of bear management and research worldwide.

Recent Publications

Apps, C.D., and B.N. McLellan. 2006. Factors influencing the dispersion and fragmentation of mountain caribou populations. Biol. Conserv. 130:84–97. [abstract]

Apps, C.D., B.N. McLellan, and J.G. Woods. 2006. Landscape partitioning and spatial inferences of competition between black and grizzly bears. Ecography 29:561–572. [abstract]

Morgan, D.G., S.B. Abdallah, and P. Lasserre. [2007]. A “real options” approach to forest management decision making to protect caribou under the threat of extinction. Ecol. and Soc.. In press.

Serrouya, R., B.N. McLellan, and J.P. Flaa. 2007. Scale-dependent microhabitat selection by threatened mountain caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in cedar-hemlock forests during winter. Can. J. For. Res. 37(6):1082-1092. [abstract]

Sturtevant, B.R., A. Fall, D.D. Kneeshaw, N.P.P. Simon, M.J. Papaik, K. Berninger, F. Doyon, D.G. Morgan, and C. Messier. 2007. A toolkit modeling approach for sustainable forest management planning: achieving balance between science and local needs. Ecol. and Soc. 12(2):7. [pdf]

Wittmer, H.U., B.N. McLellan, R. Serrouya, and C.D. Apps. 2007. Changes in landscape composition influences the decline of a threatened woodland caribou population. J. Animal Ecol. 76:568-579. [pdf]

Wittmer, H.U., F.W. Hovey, and B.N. McLellan. 2006. Factors influencing variation in site fidelity of mountain caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in southeastern British Columbia. Can. J. Zool. 84:537–545. [abstract]

Ministry Contacts

Don Morgan, Acting Manager, Wildlife and Range (Smithers)

Bruce McLellan, Senior Wildlife Habitat Ecologist (D’Arcy and Revelstoke)

Fred Hovey, Wildlife Habitat Analyst (Kamloops)

Rob Serrouya, Wildlife Habitat Ecologist (Revelstoke)

Ministry contact: Evelyn Hamilton.
Please direct questions regarding webpage to For.Prodres@gov.bc.ca
Updated February 2008