Northern caribou depend on terrestrial lichens as a primary source of food during winter. This paper illustrates how changes in harvesting intensity affect terrestrial lichen abundance, species richness and lichen mortality. Four silvicultural systems are examined; group selection, shelterwood, clearcut with reserves and clearcut with dispersed retention, and their impacts on terrestrial lichen communities discussed. It is determined that decreases in terrestrial lichen cover are correlated with removal of canopy cover, disturbances to the forest floor and the abundance of slash cover. Based on this relationship, the group selection silviculture system is most effective at maintaining terrestrial lichens while still allowing for timber removal.
Related Resources
Demographic Responses of Nearly Extirpated Endangered Mountain Caribou to Recovery Actions in Central British Columbia
Resource Date:
March
2022
Indigenous-led Conservation: Pathways to Recovery for the Nearly Extirpated Klinse-Za Mountain Caribou
Resource Date:
March
2022
Monitoring Recovery of Overgrazed Lichen Communities on Hagemeister Island, Southwestern Alaska
Resource Date:
2021
Multispecies Modelling Reveals Potential for Habitat Restoration to Re-establish Boreal Vertebrate Community Dynamics
Resource Date:
2021
Digging Into Canadian Soils - An Introduction to Soil Science
Resource Date:
2021
Organization
Was this helpful?
|