Jean-Pierre Ouellet

Jean-Pierre Ouellet
Université du Québec à Rimouski UQAR | uqar · Département de Biologie, Chimie et Géographie

Ph.D.

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135
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Publications

Publications (135)
Article
Prey may trade off resource acquisition with mortality risk by using various habitat selection strategies. Empirical assessments have shown that the functional and numerical responses of predators to human disturbances are variable, yet spatial changes in predation risk by two predators have seldom been studied for prey occurring in human‐modified...
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Ecological theory predicts that the intensity of antipredator responses is dependent upon the spatiotemporal context of predation risk (the risk allocation hypothesis). However, most studies to date have been conducted over small spatial extents, and did not fully take into account gradual responses to predator proximity. We simultaneously collecte...
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Anthropogenic disturbances have been demonstrated to affect animal behavior, distribution, and abundance, but assessment of their impacts on fitness-related traits has received little attention. We hypothesized that human activities and infrastructure cause a decrease in the individual performance of preys because of anthropogenically enhanced pred...
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For conservation purposes, it is important to design studies that explicitly quantify responses of focal species to different land management scenarios. Here, we propose an approach that combines the influence of landscape matrices with the intrinsic attributes of remaining habitat patches on the space use behavior of woodland caribou (Rangifer tar...
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Species interactions within food webs are driven by multiple constraints, including those imposed by seasonal changes in the environment. Ecologically sound definitions of seasons may therefore be a prerequisite for clarifying predatorprey interactions. Most studies define biological seasons based on fixed schedules or on temporal changes in a sing...
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Avoidance of roads has been demonstrated for many animal species, but little is known about the relationship between anthropogenic disturbance levels and the degree of avoidance by animals. We investigated the hypothesis that the strength of road‐avoidance behaviour increases with the intensity of the disturbance for a large, disturbance‐sensitive...
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The impact of anthropogenic disturbance on the fitness of prey should depend on the relative effect of human activities on different trophic levels. This verification remains rare, however, especially for large animals. We investigated the functional link between habitat selection of female caribou (Rangifer tarandus) and the survival of their calv...
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A species may modify its relative habitat use with changing availability, generating functional responses in habitat selection. Functional responses in habitat selection are expected to occur when animals experience trade-offs influencing their habitat selection, but only a few studies to date have explicitly linked functional responses to the unde...
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Nous avons évalué les réactions du caribou forestier ( Rangifer tarandus caribou ) face à une route majeure avant, pendant et après son élargissement. Nous avons suivi 53 individus par télémétrie GPS de 2004 à 2010, et avons étudié leurs déplacements et leur distribution par rapport à la route 175, en réfection depuis 2006. Nous avons comparé le ta...
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Les accidents routiers impliquant l’orignal engendrent des dégâts matériels coûteux et peuvent causer des pertes de vies humaines. Nous avons étudié le comportement de l’orignal près des routes afin de développer des mesures d’atténuation pour réduire le nombre d’accidents routiers avec cette espèce. Nous avons muni plusieurs orignaux de colliers G...
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Les collisions routières impliquant l'orignal se produisent souvent à proximité des mares d'eau stagnante où se concentre le sel de déglaçage qui a une forte teneur en sodium, un élément qui attire les orignaux. Cette étude vise à évaluer l'eca-cité du drainage de ces mares salines et de l'implantation de mares salines compensatoires comme mesure d...
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We assessed habitat selection of moose in a study area containing 2 highways and a network of forest roads in Quebec, Canada. We tested the hypothesis that roadways would affect moose habitat selection and that moose behaviour would vary with time, proximity to roads, type of roadway, and environmental characteristics (i.e., habitat and topography)...
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Logging negatively affects the threatened forest-dwelling caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) through its positive effects on large predator populations. As recruitment is a key component of caribou population growth rate, we assessed calving rates of females and calf survival rates during the most critical period for calf survival, the calving per...
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Efforts in isolating the relative effects of resources and disturbances on animal-distribution patterns remain hindered by the difficulty of accounting for multiple scales of resource selection by animals with seasonally dynamic drivers. We developed multi-scale, seasonal models to explore how local resource selection by the threatened forest-dwell...
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Controlled feeding experiments can provide valuable insights into food selection of herbivores. We conducted cafeteria trials on captive yearling white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) during 2 years to determine feeding preferences in relation to plant chemical constituents, i.e., nitrogen and fibers. We simultaneously offered 8 species of cul...
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Moose-vehicle collisions are a frequent traffic-safety issue, particularly in northern regions where moose are attracted to the near-road areas because they can consume sodium from de-icing salts that accumulate in pools at snowmelt. Moose that find salt pools near roads tend to remember their location and to re-visit them to get the sodium they ne...
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Terrestrial lichens are an important part of the winter diet of forest-dwelling caribou (Rangifer taranduscaribou (Gmelin, 1788)), and developing forest management guidelines to support high lichen biomass could enhance both individual- and population-level health of this threatened species. Our objective was to develop an index to assess terrestri...
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The physical and behavioral postnatal development of woodchucks (Marmota monax) was analyzed from birth to 42 days of age, the age at which weaning begins. Postnatal growth was evaluated by means of daily measurements of body weight, body length, tail length, and length of hind foot. Data on length of ear pinnae, vibrissae, and fur, and on the timi...
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From 1994 to 1997, we compared summer and winter space utilisation by two white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations wintering in adjacent areas in southeastern Quebec characterised by deep snow cover. One population lived at low density (10 deer/km2) with access to abundant forage in winter (127 000 twigs/ha), whereas for the other, hi...
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We used several spatial and temporal scales to determine space and habitat use of the caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) of the Gaspé Peninsula. Thirty-five radio-collared caribou were followed from November 1998 to April 2001. Habitat use was studied by superimposing radiolocations on ecoforestry maps using five predefined habitat types (deciduou...
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We assessed the influence of temporal and spatial changes in food availability on home-range size and movements of moose (Alces alces (L., 1758)). Ten adult moose were radio-collared and monitored with GPS telemetry collars during two contrasting time periods based on food quality and availability: summer (growing period) and winter (dormant and sn...
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We investigated daily partitioning of summer habitat and use of space by the snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) by means of radiotelemetry. Two periods corresponding to low and high activity were considered: resting during daytime and feeding at dawn and dusk. Areas used during the feeding and resting periods overlapped within each home range. During...
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We investigated the consequences of simulated grazing and browsing on net primary production and chemical composition (nutrients, fiber, and total nonstructural carbohydrates) of some plant types available to caribou on Southampton Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. Clipping experiments were conducted in three large exclosures (22 × 22 m) on on...
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Nous avons étudié les préférences hivernales d’habitat chez le Cerf de Virginie (Odocoileus virginianus) dans l'est du Québec. Dans ces conditions limites d'environnement, la mortalité hivernale par inanition peut dépasser 40% lors d’hivers rigoureux. Afin d'identifier les paramètres du milieu reliés à la répartition des cerfs, nous avons analysé l...
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The movements of female moose, 14 in 1995 and 20 in 1996, were recorded by radio-tracking to examine the characteristics of calving sites in the centre of Quebec. Females were spotted by helicopter every 3 or 4 days mean = 3,5 ± 0,4; n = 15) between mid-May and early June (1995: May 17 - June 9; 1996: May 21 - June 6) so that the exact dates and si...
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The objective of this paper is to study the postnatal physical development of the Northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) from birth to the age of 55 days, when it is weaned and its socialization period ends. The effect of growth on weight and on several linear measurements is presented with the corresponding instantaneous growth rates. The t...
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The purpose of the study was to attempt to understand how feeding requirements, reproductive constraints, and fluctuating environmental conditions (specifically, ambient temperature and food availability) are integrated in the time budget of the red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), an arboreal sciurid of the North American coniferous forest that...
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A contextual analysis of scent marking by cheek rubbing in wild red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), based on the study of behavioural time budgets and sequences, is presented. Scent-marking rates do not differ significantly between adult males and females. Comparison of the relative frequency of occurrence of each behaviour pattern in a scent-...
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The impacts of forest management on habitat characteristics, species richness, and population dynamics of small mammals remain ambiguous. We studied the response of small-mammal populations, including snowshoe hares, to clear-cutting with protection of advanced regeneration and soils (CPRS) and precommercial thinning (PCT). We compared stands recen...
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We evaluated the reliability of forest maps for describing wildlife habitats. During the summer of 1997, we sampled 186 boreal forest stands located in Jacques-Cartier Park, Quebec. In each stand, we measured slope, crown closure, basal area, as well as tree height and age. We determined if map classifications, with regard to dominant species compo...
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We developed a habitat suitability index (HSI) model for moose (Alces alces) in the boreal forest. The model used two components: a suitability index for food (SIfood) and another for the interspersion between cover and food (SIedge). We used forest maps as the input data source, and the value of each stand type in terms of cover and food was based...
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We documented how commercial logging influenced the spatial behavior and nutritional ecology of northern white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Using periodic browse surveys, we estimated the additional biomass of twigs available from felled trees to deer in the Pohénégamook wintering area (25 km2) at 55 kg/ha in a 43-ha cut conducted in 1995-...
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The standing biomass accumulation of lichens from the genera Alectoria, Bryoria, and Usnea was studied along two environmental gradients, altitude and height along the vertical tree axis, in an old-growth balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) forest. Lichens were sampled from 50 trees in five sampling sites at an altitude of 720-1068 m asl and enc...
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Omnivores feed on animals with dynamic distributions and on plants with static distributions. The search tactics they adopt will not only define the risk for the targeted prey, but also for other prey that may be consumed when encountered. The potential impact of omnivores on the dynamics of multi-prey systems thus depends on resource selection and...
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ABSTRACT We developed and validated a density-adjusted spatial model to predict moose (Alces alces) highway-crossing probability to see if the model could be used as an index of moose-vehicle collision risk. We installed Global Positioning System telemetry collars on 47 moose in the north of the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve, Québec, for 2–36 months...
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ABSTRACT  Reduced to small isolated groups by anthropogenic habitat losses or habitat modifications, populations of many endangered species are sensitive to additive sources of mortality, such as predation. Predator control is often one of the first measures considered when predators threaten survival of a population. Unfortunately, predator ecolog...
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Abstract Roads often negatively affect terrestrial wildlife, via habitat loss or fragmentation, noise, and direct mortality. We studied moose (Alces alces) behavior relative to a road network, in an area with a history of moose-vehicle accidents, to determine when moose were crossing roadways or using areas near roads and to investigate if environm...
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Sodium has many fundamental physiological functions in animals but is rare in boreal ecosystems where moose (Alces alces) thrive. In Québec (Canada), sodium is readily available in aquatic vegetation and in salt pools that form along highways. We do not know if moose are adopting specific behaviors to access sodium sources or if they simply use the...
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ABSTRACT  Wildlife-vehicle collisions cause numerous human fatalities and injuries, and generate considerable expenses in property damage each year. Certain characteristics of the road and its surroundings are known to have an impact on collision probability. Roadside salt pools increase the risk of collision by attracting moose (Alces alces) to th...
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We tested the effectiveness of electric fences to reduce moose (Alces alces)-vehicle collisions in 2 fenced sectors (5 km and 10 km) using weekly track surveys and Global Positioning System telemetry. Number of moose tracks along highways decreased by approximately 80% following fence installation. Only 30% (16/53) of moose tracks observed on the r...
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Anthropogenic disturbances can promote establishment and growth of predator populations in areas where secondary prey can then become threatened. In this study, we investigated habitat selection of eastern coyotes (Canis latrans), a relatively new predator in the vicinity of an endangered population of caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). We hypoth...
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Conservation of forest-dwelling caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) is of great concern across most of its range. Anthropogenic disturbances, primarily logging activities, have been identified as the most important cause of caribou decline, although the mechanisms underlying this decline are not fully understood. Caribou commonly display fidelity t...
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We examined the response of understory plants in mature maple-dominated forests of southern Québec, Canada, following about 30 years of high deer densities, using a deer exclosure experiment. An exclosure and a paired control of 625m2 each were established on six sites in 1998. An exclosure and a paired control of 16m2 were added at each of the sam...
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Unlabelled: Premise of the study: Over-browsing of the understory vegetation by white-tailed deer has been a cause of decline in many plant populations. Liliaceae are particularly sensitive, yet individual species differ in their tolerance to deer herbivory. In this paper, we examine whether differences in clonal habit, carbon allocation pattern...
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Understanding animal movements across heterogeneous landscapes is of great interest because it helps explain the dynamic processes influencing the distribution of individuals in space. Research on how animals move relative to short-range environmental characteristics are scarce. Our objective was to determine the variables influencing movement of a...
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Forest harvesting involves the creation of roads and cutblocks, both of which can influence animal habitat use. We evaluated the cumulative effects of forestry on habitat selection by six packs of gray wolf (Canis lupus) widely distributed in Quebec’s boreal forest. Resource selection functions were used to evaluate cumulative effects at two levels...
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Stable isotope composition (delta(13)C and delta(15)N) of moose (Alces alces) and caribou (Rangifer tarandus) hair from the boreal forest of Jacques-Cartier Park and Cote-Nord (Quebec) and arctic tundra of Queen Maud Gulf and Southampton Island (Nunavut) was investigated as an indicator of dietary preferences and habitat use. Values of delta(13)C(h...
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"Between 1990 and 2002, more than 200 moose–vehicle collisions occurred each year in Quebec, including about 50/yr in the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve. One cause is the presence of roadside salt pools that attract moose near roads in the spring and summer. Using the computer simulation technique of agent-based modeling, this study investigated whet...
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We studied the population dynamics of snowshoe hare in 2 areas of the southern boreal forest of eastern North America that differed with respect to furbearer harvest. We predicted that hare density and survival would be higher in the area with trapping (TRAP) than in the protected area (PROT) as a response to differential predator abundance. Indice...
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Habitat alteration caused by forest harvesting seems to contribute to the decline of forest-dwelling caribou, an ecotype of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) inhabiting the boreal ecosystem. To serve as basework to the establishment of conservation measures for the species, we have studied the hierarchical habitat selection of forest-dwe...
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We tested whether snow-urine ratios to creatinine of urea nitrogen (U:C), potassium (K:C), allantoin (A:C) and 3-methylhistidine (M:C) could be used to determine when to initiate an emergency feeding program in white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus. Food distribution to 11 experimental adult deer was gradually reduced over 64 days to simulate th...
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Unambiguous species identification is fundamental, especially when attempting to study species-specific interactions or management and conservation issues. Current weasel identification methods are based on external and cranial morphology, yet North American weasels show significant geographic variation in size and considerable overlap occurs in me...
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In winter ungulates must compete for forage of low quality that may be energetically costly to obtain due to high locomotion costs associated with snow. We hypothesized that white-tailed deer would select plant species and plant parts to maximize their net energy budget based on snow conditions and forage availability. We predicted that as winter p...
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Long snowy winters combined with a short growing season make boreal forests an unproductive environment that challenges black bears (Ursus americanus). We used resource selection functions (based on GPS telemetry of 16 bears), diet analysis, surveys of plant phenology, and vegetation inventories to study adaptations of black bears to boreal forest....
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Extensive logging of the boreal forest rejuvenates landscapes once dominated by old-growth stands. As black bear (Ursus americanus Pallas, 1780) fitness and behavior are known to be primarily related to the abundance of shade-intolerant soft mast species in northern forests, we hypothesized that logging will influence habitat and space use patterns...
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We investigated immediate, medium and long-term effects of logging on arboreal lichen biomass in old-growth balsam fir forests (Abiesbalsamea (L.) Mill.) in the highlands of Québec's Gaspé Peninsula using three complementary approaches. Firstly, we estimated the immediate loss of lichen biomass following logging and the annual lichen litterfall fro...
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Lactation is the most energetically costly component of maternal investment in mammals. For large temperate herbivores, summer is characterized by relatively abundant forage but also high energetic needs for lactation and recovery from winter mass loss. We experimentally restricted food supply by about 20%, and compared the nursing and foraging beh...
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Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), a threatened species in Canada, inhabit landscapes dominated by mature and over-mature coniferous stands and tend to avoid areas used by other cervids, wolves (Canis lupus), and humans. We hypothesized that habitat modifications through logging and forest fire alter the space-use pattern of woodland car...
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When resources are limited, life history theory predicts a trade-off between growth, reproduction and survival. In summer, lactating females of temperate large herbivores such as the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) normally have access to abundant forage but also face the high energetic needs of lactation and recovery from winter mass lo...
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Limiting factors of caribou (Rangifer tarandus) populations vary regionally. In tundra environments, this species appears to be regulated by food, either because wolves (Canis lupus) are absent or because migration of caribou allows escape from predation during part of the year. In the boreal forest, the main limiting factors are hunting and predat...
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Deer-vehicle accidents are an increasing problem in many regions of the world. To elaborate effective mitigation measures, it is necessary to determine environmental factors associated with the occurrence of such accidents. The Lauren-tides Wildlife Reserve in Quebec, Canada, is a prime example of an area having a long-lasting problem of moose-vehi...
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Complex interactions such as interference competition and predation, including intraguild predation, are now recognized as important components in animal community structure. At the lower end of a guild, weasels may be highly affected by other guild members due to small body size in relation to other predators. In 2000 and 2001, we radio-collared 2...
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The study of habitat selection usually compares assessments of habitat use to habitat availability. To investigate habitat selection of large mammals today, researchers must choose between a few very expensive Global Positioning System (GPS) telemetry collars that can provide many locations and several inexpensive very high frequency telemetry coll...
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White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations in southern Québec have recently reached record densities after almost collapsing at the turn of the twentieth century. High densities of deer can dramatically alter forest vegetation and tend to increase use of tree plantations, orchards, and agricultural fields, which can induce severe financ...
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It has been suggested that patterns of habitat selection of animals across spatial scales should reflect the factors limiting individual fitness in a hierarchical fashion. Animals should thus select habitats that permit avoidance of the most important limiting factor at large spatial scales while the influence of less important factors should only...
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The forest-dwelling ecotype of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) is vulnerable to predation, hunting, and disturbances due to anthropogenic activities. Its strategies of space and habitat use are oriented towards reducing the effects of these limiting factors. Caribou occupy large home ranges, undertake extensive movements, and avoid fra...
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We investigated summer diets of two White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations through rumen content analyses. Samples from 93 deer were collected in a low density, LD (1 deer/km2) and a high density, HD (14 deer/km2) area of southern Québec during the growing seasons of 1997 and 1998. Availability of preferred forage in forests was gre...
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Among ungulate species living in boreal regions, moose (Alces alces) are most likely to suffer from heat stress since they have a relatively low upper critical temperature (14 °C in summer and -5 °C in winter . We tested the hypothesis that moose adopt behaviours to reduce thermoregulatory costs. We predicted that moose exposed to high intensities...
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The role that limiting factors play in population dynamics and the physical condition of animals may be easier to detect at the edge than the centre of a species' range. We took advantage of a density cline at the periphery of distribution range of white-tailed deer to study trophic interactions between this herbivore and understory vegetation. We...
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We tested four predictions derived from the hypothesis that the guild of avian and terrestrial predators should regulate small mammal populations at low densities in relatively productive ecosystems of the southeastern part of the North American boreal forest. We estimated the density of two small mammal populations and the abundance of their preda...
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Accurate and precise population estimates for the forest-dwelling ecotype of Woodland Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) are very difficult to obtain because these Caribou are found at very low densities and in small herds dispersed over large areas. In order to suggest a standardized method, data from aerial surveys conducted in 1991 and 1993 (12...
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Maltais. 2003. Historical changes and current distribution of Caribou, Rangifer tarandus, in Quebec. Canadian Field-Naturalist 117(3): 399–414. We examined published historical information, reports on aerial surveys conducted since 1953, and harvest data collected since 1971 to describe changes in the distribution and abundance of Caribou (Rangifer...
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Three caribou ecotypes are present in easternNorth America: the mountain caribou which isfound south of the St. Lawrence River, thebarren-ground caribou which calves in thetundra, and in between, the forest-dwellingecotype which lives all year long in the borealforest. Blood and muscle samples were collectedfrom seven populations and characterized...