| The forest-dwelling populations of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) across Canada are listed as threatened by COSEWIC. Included in the threatened populations is the Mealy Mountain Caribou Herd, Labrador, Canada. Understanding the ecology of this population is crucial to assisting in developing sustainable management strategies. One ecological concept that may assist in this is site fidelity. Site fidelity is the tendency for an animal to return to a specific site year after year. Determining if site fidelity exists is important as sites to which an animal returns each year, once identified, can be protected from human disturbance. Satellite telemetry data of 12 collared female caribou were analyzed and locations between consecutive years were used to generate profiles identifying the most philopatric times of the year. Caribou inhabiting George Island, an island 9 Ian from the coast of the herd's range, displayed a high degree of fidelity to the whole island but did not display finer, seasonal fidelity. Calving and post-calving seasons displayed the highest degrees of fidelity for the mainland caribou, while fidelity differed among years, possibly related to snow cover; fidelity was lower when snow accumulation was greater.;Determining whether subpopulations exist is also important to determine as management as separate units rather than managing the herd as a whole. Using non-invasive genetic techniques, the mucosal layers of the caribou feces were used to analyse mitochondrial and nuclear DNA. The nDNA genetic analysis was coupled with spatial analysis and supported the conclusion that the Mealy Mountain Caribou Herd represented a single inter-breeding population. However, the results of the mtDNA analysis suggested two clusters, one to the east and one to the west of the herd's range. Because mtDNA is matrilineal, the results are suggestive of strong site fidelity displayed by females. Further analysis of the genetic structure of the herd should be performed with a larger sample size of female caribou before recommendations are made. |
