Wood bison population recovery and forage availability in northwestern Canada

Journal of Environmental Management

Volumn 90, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 434-440

  Strong, Wayne L ^a   Gates, C Cormack ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY   (Canada)

Author keywords

Bison bison athabascae; Carrying capacity; Landscape change; Species at risk

Indexed keywords

ECOSYSTEMS; FORESTRY; PLANTS (BOTANY); SNOW;

'CURRENT; ALBERTA; BISON BISON ATHABASCAE; CANADIAN BOREAL FOREST; CARRYING CAPACITY; LANDSCAPE CHANGES; SPECIES AT RISKS; STOCKING RATES; VEGETATION TYPE; WOOD BISON;

WETLANDS;

SNOW;

ASSESSMENT METHOD; BOREAL FOREST; DOMINANCE; FORAGE; FORAGING EFFICIENCY; HABITAT AVAILABILITY; LANDSCAPE CHANGE; MAMMAL; POPULATION DYNAMICS; SUMMER; VEGETATION;

AGRICULTURAL LAND; ARTICLE; BUFFALO; CANADA; CLIMATE; CONTROLLED STUDY; CYPERACEAE; ENDANGERED SPECIES; ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT; FIRE PROTECTION; FLOODING; FORAGE QUALITY; FORAGING BEHAVIOR; FOREST MANAGEMENT; HABITAT; NONHUMAN; PLANT GROWTH; POPULATION RECOVERY; STOCKING DENSITY; SUMMER; TAIGA; VEGETATION; WETLAND; WILLOW; WINTER;

ALBERTA; CANADA; NORTH AMERICA;

ANIMALIA; BISON; BISON BISON; BISON BISON ATHABASCAE; CALAMAGROSTIS STRICTA; CAREX AQUATILIS; CAREX ATHERODES; CAREX UTRICULATA; SALIX; SCOLOCHLOA FESTUCACEA;

EID: 55249108267     PISSN: 03014797     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2007.11.002     Document Type: Article

References (43)

1. Bergman C.M., Fryxell J.M., Gates C.C., and Fortin D. Ungulate foraging strategies: energy maximizing or time minimizing?. J. Anim. Sci. 70 (2001) 289-300
2. Bradley R.S., Diaz H.F., Eischeid J.K., Jones P.D., Kelly P.M., and Goodess C.M. Precipitation fluctuations over northern hemisphere land areas since the mid-19th century. Science 237 (1987) 171-175
3. Brown C.M., and Theberge J.B. The effect of extreme snow covers on feeding site selection by woodland caribou. J. Wildl. Manag. 54 (1990) 161-168
4. Canadian Wildlife Service. Species at risk, wood bison. Available from: (2006). http://www.speciesatrisk.gc.ca/search/speciesDetails_e.cfm?SpeciesID=143 (accessed 01.01.07.)
5. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Canadian species at risk. Available from: (2006). http://www.cosewic.gc.ca/eng/sct0/rpt/rpt_csar_e.cfm (accessed 01.01.07.)
6. Davi N.K., Jacoby G.C., and Wiles G.C. Boreal temperature variability inferred from maximum latewood density and tree-ring width data, Wrangell Mountain region, Alaska. Quat. Res. 60 (2003) 252-262
7. Fortin D. Searching behavior and use of sampling information by free-ranging (Bos bison). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 54 (2003) 194-203
8. Fuller W.A. Behavior and social organization of the wild bison of Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada. Arctic 13 (1960) 3-19
9. Fuller W.A. Canada and the "buffalo", Bison bison: a tale of two herds. Can. Field-Nat. 116 (2002) 141-159
10. Gates C.C., Chowns T., and Reynolds H. Wood buffalo at the crossroads. In: Foster J.E., Harrison D., and MacLaren I.S. (Eds). Buffalo (1992), University of Alberta Press, Edmonton 139-165
11. Gates G.C., Stelfox B., Muhly T., Chowns C., and Hudson R.J. The Ecology of Bison Movements and Distribution in and Beyond Yellowstone National Park (2005), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
12. Gates C.C., Stephenson R.O., Reynolds H.W., van Zyll de Jong C.G., Schwantje H., Hoefs M., Nishi J., Cool N., Chisholm J., James A., and Koonz B. National Recovery Plan for the Wood Bison (Bison bison athabascae). Plan 21 (2001), Recovery of Nationally Endangered Wildlife, Ottawa
13. Hudson R.J., and Frank S. Foraging ecology of bison in aspen boreal habitats. J. Range Manag. 40 (1987) 71-75
14. Jacoby Jr. G.C., and D'Arrigo R. Reconstructed northern hemisphere annual temperature since 1671 based on high-latitude tree-ring data from North America. Clim. Change 14 (1989) 39-59
15. Jeffrey W.W. A prairie to forest succession in Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta. Ecology 42 (1961) 442-444
16. Jensen, O.C., 2005. Assessing Suitable and Critical Habitat for Wood Bison (Bison bison athabascae) Using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems. M.Sc. thesis, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta.
17. Kartesz J.T., and Wilson H.D. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands. Available from: (1998). http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/b98/c98open1.htm (accessed 01.01.07.)
18. Larter C.P.S., and MacDonald G.M. An 840-year record of fire and vegetation in a boreal white spruce forest. Ecology 79 (1998) 106-118
19. Larter N.C., and Gates C.C. Home ranges of wood bison in an expanding population. J. Mammal. 71 (1990) 604-607
20. Larter N.C., and Gates C.C. Diet and habitat selection of wood bison in relation to seasonal change in forage quantity and quality. Can. J. Zool. 69 (1991) 2677-2685
21. Larter N.C., and Nagy J.A. Seasonal and annual variability in the quality of important forage plants on Banks Island, Canadian High Arctic. Appl. Veg. Sci. 4 (2001) 115-128
22. Lewis H.T. A Time for Burning. Boreal Institute for Northern Studies Occasional Paper 17 (1982), University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
23. Miller Jr. R.G. Simultaneous Statistical Inference (1966), McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York
24. Mitchell J.A., and Gates C.C. Status of the Wood Bison (Bison bison athabascae) in Alberta. Wildlife Status Report 38 (2002), Alberta Sustainable Resource Development and Alberta Conservation Association, Edmonton
25. Moss E.H. Grassland of the Peace River region, western Canada. Can. J. Bot. 30 (1952) 98-124
26. Raup H.M. The Botany of Southwestern Mackenzie, Arnold Arboretum Contribution VI (1947), Harvard University, Jamaica Plain
27. Renecker L.A., and Hudson R.J. Seasonal quality of forages used by moose in the aspen-dominated boreal forest, central Alberta. Holarct. Ecol. 11 (1988) 111-118
28. Reynolds H.W., Hansen R.M., and Peden D.G. Diets of the Slave River lowlands bison herd, Northwest Territories, Canada. J. Wildl. Manag. 42 (1978) 581-590
29. Reynolds H.W., Gates C.C., and Glaholt R.D. Bison. In: Feldhamer G.A., Thompson B.C., and Chapman J.A. (Eds). Wild Mammals of North America: Biology, Management, and Economics (2003), John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1009-1060
30. Schwarz A.G., and Wein R.W. Threatened dry grasslands of Wood Buffalo National Park. Can. J. Bot. 75 (1997) 1363-1370
31. Soil Classification Working Group. The Canadian System of Soil Classification, Agriculture and Agric-Food Canada Publication 1646 (1998), NRC Research Press, Ottawa
32. Sokal R.R., and Rohlf F.J. Biometry (1981), W.H. Freeman and Company, Baltimore
33. Soper J.D. History, range and home life of the northern bison. Ecol. Monogr. 11 (1941) 347-412
34. Statsoft. STATISTICA for Windows (1995), Statsoft Inc., Tulsa
35. Stoddart J., Smith A.D., and Box T.W. Range Management. third ed. (1975), McGraw-Hill, New York
36. Strong, W.L, 1992. Ecoregions and Ecodistricts of Alberta, Technical Report T/244. Alberta Forestry, Lands and Wildlife, Edmonton.
37. Tessaro S.V. Review of the diseases, parasites and miscellaneous pathological conditions of North American bison. Can. Vet. J. 30 (1989) 416-422
38. Thorpe J. Range Assessment Techniques for Forested Land in Saskatchewan. Publication R-1540-3-E-96 (1996), Saskatchewan Research Council, Saskatoon
39. Turner M.G., Wu Y., Wallace L., Romme W., and Brenkert A. Simulating interactions among ungulates, vegetation and fire in northern Yellowstone Park. Ecol. Appl. 4 (1994) 472-496
40. Wetherill G.B. Intermediate Statistical Methods (1981), Chapman & Hall, London
41. Whittaker R.H. Communities and Ecosystems. second ed. (1975), MacMillan Publishing Company, New York
42. Willoughby M.G., Stone C., Hincz C., Moisey D., Ehlert G., and Lawrence D. Guide to Range Plant Community Types and Carrying Capacity for the Dry and Central Mixedwood subregions in Alberta. Publication T/103 (2006), Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Edmonton
43. Wroe R.A., Smoliak S., and Wheeler G.W. Alberta Range Plants and Their Classification. Agdex 134/6 (2000), Alberta Agriculture, Edmonton