Sask. team works to understand rapid change in boreal forest
Change has come to the boreal forest — and a University of Saskatchewan research team is working to understand it.
Biology professor Philip McLoughlin and his team are looking at a swath of forest between Prince Albert and La Ronge, which is part of the Boreal Plains ecosystem stretching from eastern Manitoba to the foothills of Alberta.
"In particular, we have white-tailed deer moving deeper and deeper into the boreal forest, species like wild boar moving into the forest and fundamentally the ecosystem is changing. So we're tasked with this really difficult assignment of how to assess change, how to do that effectively, and then how to respond to some of the risks presented by change," McLoughlin told CTV News.
The deer are moving north partly due to milder winters and partly due to physical inroads humans have made into the forest with roads, trails and seismic lines, he said. In western Alberta, one part of the caribou range saw a 17-and-a-half-fold increase in white-tailed deer over around 15 years. That led to a much higher number of wolves and a decrease in caribou. In addition, researchers now know that white-tailed deer with chronic wasting disease are present in the caribou ranges in the Boreal Plains, he said.
That's important because Indigenous communities in that area and further north rely on moose and caribou for food and cultural practices, he said.
"And you look at this occurring across this really important ecozone, the boreal plains, what does this mean for how we use our forests? How we hunt there, what species can hunt there? And are there ways in which we can manage things better?
"So for example, right now, we have a policy in Alberta of wolf control, to promote caribou in some of these ranges. But we're asking the extent to which that is a good idea if one of the beneficiaries of wolf control is white-tailed deer and those white-tailed deer have chronic wasting disease."
To measure the deer, caribou, moose and wolf populations in a large area, his team is using a thermal drone camera attached to a plane that can cover about 1,000 square kilometres a day.
"This is a first at this scale for Canada, using some equipment that is one-of-a-kind in Canada, in fact, right now," McLoughlin said.
While many of the issues at play could be difficult to address, especially climate change-related issues, the team may be able to learn practical ways to mitigate the invasive deer and boar.
"I myself am a population ecologist. And so there's always a lot of math involved in understanding how populations work and predator-prey dynamics. So out of an academic curiosity point of view, I just love to understand how systems work, how complex population dynamics might work, the mechanics behind them. That's where I'm quite excited.
"I work on a number of systems. And this, the western boreal because of the change that's happening, was a very interesting system for me to study."
The team is working with other departments, other universities and Indigenous groups, he said, giving special credit to Coun. Chris Gareau of The Key First Nation.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.