Ecology of Boreal Woodland Caribou in Arctic Canada
Boreal caribou were listed as Threaten in

Canada in 2002.  The most northern limit of the range of this species in

Canada is in the area of the Mackenzie River Delta, Northwest Territories (NT).  Current threats to boreal woodland caribou in this area include oil and gas exploration and development, roads developments, logging, increased tourism and other non-consumptive human activities, forest fires, and climate change.  At present, much of the boreal caribou range in the

Mackenzie River
Valley has been altered by wildfires, past seismic activity, and road development, but the Mackenzie River Delta area is relatively pristine.  However, this area is currently experiencing a significant increase in oil and gas exploration activities.  A pipeline along the
Mackenzie River
Valley has been proposed to deliver natural gas to southern

Canada.  In response to potential large-scale changes to boreal caribou habitats and populations resulting from these activities, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, GNWT in partnership with the Gwich’in Renewable Resource Board began collecting baseline information on boreal caribou in the area of the Mackenzie Delta in 2001.  Traditional knowledge of boreal caribou was documented during the winter of 2001/2002.  In the fall of 2001, a more detailed assessment was initiated to collect baseline information on the demography, distribution, movements, home range size, and habitat use for boreal caribou in the Lower Mackenzie River area . 

Study Area
The study area is largely north of the Arctic Circle (66.55° latitude) and is primarily in the Gwich’in Settlement Area in the Northwest Territories (NT), although the western portion extends into the

Yukon Territory and the northern portion extends into the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT.  Moose occur throughout the area but are at low densities.  Predators include wolves, grizzly bears, black bears, and lynx, but numbers of wolves, grizzly bears, and black bears appear to be relatively low based on frequency of sightings.  The terrain is relatively flat to rolling with the median elevation at approximately 90 m above sea level.  Open black spruce, fens, and shrub meadows dominate upland and lowland areas.  White spruce and mixed stands of spruce and paper birch occur on steeper slopes along rivers and streams.  Wildfires have been common, with approximately 37 percent of area burned since 1960.  The

Dempster Highway follows nearly 160 km of the northwestern boundary of the study area between Inuvik, Tsiigehtchic and

Fort
McPherson.  Oil and gas exploration has led to 11,052 km of seismic lines within the study area or an average of 0.25 km/km2.  The majority of the activity took place during 1970-1979 and 1965-1969 when 20.4 and 10.5 percent of the seismic lines were cut, respectively.  The majority of the seismic lines occur on the eastern and southern portions of the study area.