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Deliverables, Outcomes and Extension
Year 1: Objectives 1 and 2.
Deliverables: 1) an annual technical report. 2) A report on the analysis of the historic and current Tweedsmuir-Entiako caribou habitat and poster showing habitat change, and 3) a web site with map service.
Outcomes: 1) Resource managers having access to the most current knowledge on the potential responses of caribou to the MPB disturbance and timber salvaging. 2) Identification of knowledge and information gaps on habitat change and the caribou population response to disturbance events.
Extension Events: 1) an initial workshop with topic experts and partners to synthesize information described in objective 1. Participants will include; caribou ecologists, forest ecologists and forest dynamics researchers. 2) A First Nations and Hereditary Chiefs communication and consultation to describe the project and to share scientific and traditional ecological knowledge of caribou habitat use; and 3) a website.
Year 2: Objectives 3 and 4.
Deliverables: 1) Final project report on scenario analysis and management strategies that enhance the Tweedsmuir-Entiako caribou population's resilience. 2) Maps of caribou, moose and deer seasonal habitat. 3) Formal publication of research methods and results.
Outcomes: 1) Resource managers will have access to project results to inform strategies for managing the caribou herd given the various sources of uncertainty. 2) Identification of future research to address the knowledge and information gaps on caribou habitat use and landscape change. 3) Mapping of moose, deer and caribou's seasonal habitat for operational forest planning.
Extension Events: Follow up workshop with topic experts and partners to present year 1 results and to identify management strategies that would enhance caribou resilience and to develop scenarios of potential future landscape condition. The work will be presented to forest management representatives through extension events in Prince George and Smithers.
Promotion of application of research results
The project's target audience will be managers and decision-makers responsible for developing strategies concerning the MPB outbreak and the management of species at risk. The chief benefit of the project's products will be to inform our audience of the consequences of current policy and articulate alternative management strategies based on principles of sustainable forest management. These strategies will be designed to mitigate the impact of MPB and timber salvaging on the Tweedsmuir-Entiako caribou, while considering uncertainty and the trade offs between timber and non-timber values. For example, Nadina Forest District will apply project results in the development of silvicultural strategies for caribou and moose to mitigate operational forestry impacts on the Tweedsmuir-Entiako caribou herd.
Two of the three people in the research team are MoFR employees and will promote the project within MoFR. As well, Nadina Forest District is offering in-kind contributions, including helicopter time for map validation work, for the project. The Morice-Lakes IFPA and Canfor, Houston Division, have agreed to participate in the project and are interested in the application of project results to forest operations. Further, project results will be applied in the development of Recovery Action Plans for the northern caribou in the SMNEA through the Northern Caribou Technical Advisory Committee. The project will be promoted within the First Nation communities through the communication and consultation workshops with First Nation groups and Hereditary Chiefs.
The project will use a collaborative process to engage stakeholders, experts, partners and researchers. By using workshops to engage stakeholders early in the project, trust will be developed assisting in the acceptance of the project methodology and results. Factors such as, amount of habitat, forest structure within habitat patches, connectivity of habitat patches and matrix quality will be captured using influence diagrams and formalized into BBNs. As well, shifts in predator-prey dynamics will be captured by mapping seasonal moose and deer habitat and using this as a surrogate for wolves (McNay et al. 2006). Habitat maps, influence diagrams and formalized BBN representations provide a transparent presentation of the key relationships assisting in the accessibility of the research to the forest sector.
Research results will be hosted on the Habitat Supply Research Network with links from the MoFR Research Branch's and the BVCentre's web site. The web site will include a map service showing caribou habitat change and landscape projections to further enhance the dissemination and promotion of the project within the forest sector.