Modeling Caribou Movements: Seasonal Ranges and Migration Routes of the Central Arctic Herd.

ABSTRACT: Migration is an important component of the life history of many animals, but persistence of large-scale terrestrial migrations is being challenged by environmental changes that fragment habitats and create obstacles to animal movements. In northern Alaska, the Central Arctic herd (CAH) of barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) is known to migrate over large distances, but the herd's seasonal distributions and migratory movements are not well documented. From 2003-2007, we used GPS radio-collars to determine seasonal ranges and migration routes of 54 female caribou from the CAH. We calculated Brownian bridges to model fall and spring migrations for each year and used the mean of these over all 4 years to identify areas that were used repeatedly. Annual estimates of sizes of season

SUBMITTER: Nicholson KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4821536 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature