| In central Saskatchewan, boreal woodland caribou population declines have been documented. In order to contribute to the conservation efforts, historical changes in caribou distribution, land cover, and habitat quality were documented in the Prince Albert Greater Ecosystem (PAGE), Saskatchewan, for the period of 1950 to the present. To examine changes in caribou distribution, survey observations, incidental sightings and telemetry data were collated. To quantify landscape changes, land cover maps were created for 1966 and 2006 using current and historic forest resources inventories, fire, logging, and roads data.;To assess how these changes have affected the spatial arrangement of caribou habitat, a resource selection function (RSF) using GPS telemetry data and generalized estimating equations was developed. Results showed selection for treed muskeg and mature jack pine dominated stands and avoidance of hardwood, young coniferous stands, logging and linear features. The best model was applied to the 1966 and 2006vegetation maps to produce a predictive habitat map. Results showed greater area covered by high quality habitat in 2006 however the high quality habitat was clustered. In 1966 there was less high quality habitat but it was distributed throughout the landscape. To assess changes in habitat connectivity between 1966 and 2006, spatial graph theory was used to create minimum planar graphs. The results showed the 1966 landscape was connected at much lower cost distance thresholds. Although there is presently a greater amount of caribou habitat on the landscape, the high level of anthropogenic activities on the PAGE area reduces the overall potential of this landscape for caribou.;To ensure the viability of boreal caribou on this landscape, habitat connectivity should be maintained throughout the area with larger clusters of habitat present at all times and adequate connectivity between these areas. To ensure caribou use of the range, habitat connectivity within and beyond Park boundaries should be maintained. Understanding historical landscape changes will assist with ongoing provincial and federal recovery efforts for boreal caribou, forest management planning activities, and landscape restoration efforts within and beyond the Park boundaries.;Results indicate that woodland caribou are still found throughout the study area although their distribution has changed and their use of Prince Albert National Park is greatly limited. Transition probabilities and landscape composition analyses point to an ageing landscape for both the National Park and provincial crown land portions of the PAGE. In addition, increased logging and the development of extensive road and trail networks on provincial crown land has resulted in significant landscape fragmentation and reduced functional attributes of caribou habitat. |
