Recent burns provide some summer forage for threatened southern mountain caribou and may influence forage overlap with moose and bears
- Author:
- Bélanger-Jumeau O.P., Ulkatcho First Nation & Harvey J.E.
- Year:
- 2026
- Journal:
- Journal of Pyrogeography
- Pages:
- 3(1): 100013 [13 p.]
- Url:
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pyro.2026.100013
The Ulkatcho people of west-central British Columbia have co-existed with caribou since time immemorial. Moose in contrast became abundant in Ulkatcho territory during the early 1900's. Recent declines in caribou populations have been linked to increases in moose abundance and increased encounters between caribou and predators. Shifts in wildfire regimes may cause habitat alteration in these multiple prey – multiple predator ecosystems. The availability of forage after wildfire may therefore be important in understanding potential mechanisms of species interaction. We integrated Ulkatcho ecological knowledge, vegetation sampling, and Western dietary studies to characterize forage availability for caribou, moose, black bear and grizzly bear across a 90-year fire history. Principal Coordinates Analysis (PCoA) used forage availability from 133 vegetation plots and a literature review of forage selection to visualize overlap in forage availability between species. Binomial generalized linear models assessed the recovery of key wildlife forage over time since fire. Results found stand-replacing fire may provide some summer caribou forage, namely blueberry, willow, and aster, potentially explaining caribou summer selection for recent burns (
- Id:
- 39560
- Submitter:
- zpalice
- Post_time:
- Tuesday, 21 July 2026 11:37

