Protecting boreal caribou habitat can help conserve biodiversity and safeguard large quantities of soil carbon in Canada.

ABSTRACT: Boreal caribou require large areas of undisturbed habitat for persistence. They are listed as threatened with the risk of extinction in Canada because of landscape changes induced by human activities and resource extraction. Here we ask: Can the protection of habitat for boreal caribou help Canada meet its commitments under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change? We identified hotspots of high conservation value within the distribution of boreal caribou based on: (1) three measures of biodiversity for at risk species (species richness, unique species and taxonomic diversity); (2) climate refugia or areas forecasted to remain unchanged under climate change; and, (3) areas of high soil carbon that could add to Canada's

SUBMITTER: Johnson CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9556649 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature