With of goal of understanding how silviculture and harvesting practices might mirror those of natural disturbances, here we summarize research describing differences in responses of caribou and caribou forage (i.e., terrestrial and arboreal lichens) to forestry and wildfires. We recognize that achieving self-sustaining caribou herds will require coarse and fine-scale management strategies that evaluate the potential impacts of these disturbances beyond caribou habitat use and forage. However, addressing the direct impacts of forestry versus wildfires on primary prey, predators, and their food was outside the scope of this literature review.
The Caribou Program conducted this literature review for the Alberta Regional Caribou Knowledge Partnership (ARCKP) as the first step in a three year project.