Available Reports
As ARCKP-funded projects are completed, final reports will become available here for our partners to easily access the project outcomes. To date, three projects have been completed. Additional project reports/deliverables, like literature reviews, are also available in this section.
Toward Undisturbed Habitat: Forest Management in Alberta’s Caribou Ranges
Completed by Steven F. Wilson of EcoLogic Research in May 2024, this project addresses the lack of clear guidance on when caribou habitat, after being disturbed by anthropogenic activities such as forest harvesting, should once again be considered “undisturbed,” for the purposes of caribou recovery planning.
This report:
- Reviews work on this issue by other jurisdictions as they align recovery efforts with the federal boreal and mountain caribou recovery strategies;
- Presents a review of relevant literature to inform the development of undisturbed habitat definitions;
- Proposes caribou forest management goals, desired outcomes, forestry objectives, related strategies and beneficial management practices for managing to undisturbed habitat conditions;
- Identifies a proposed workflow for companies operating in caribou habitat, and,
- Identifies knowledge gaps and next steps.
Exploring the Implementation of Aggregated Harvest in Woodland Caribou Range
Completed by FORCORP Solutions in May 2022 this modelling project aimed to:
- Assist in answering the questions “In different regions of the province, will aggregated harvest approaches work to improve caribou habitat outcomes, how can they be tailored to work most effectively for caribou and provide for a working landscape, and what will the trade-offs be for other values, both ecological and socioeconomic?”
- Test a range of different aggregated harvest scenarios against business as usual (BAU) approaches (existing Spatial Harvest Sequences) to compare different harvest levels, spatial layouts, and re-entry rules.
- Provide an assessment of the impact of the tested scenarios on caribou habitat and a wide range of other species and values and socio-economic metrics.
- Develop a methodology to test how the scale of aggregation affects outcomes.
Alternative Silvicultural Systems and Harvesting Techniques for Caribou Habitat
This project was completed by FORCORP Solutions in January 2022. Findings were informed by an extensive literature review and subject matter expert interviews to:
- Identify alternative harvesting and silvicultural systems applicable to Alberta’s forests and investigate them through the lens of caribou biology and habitat requirements.
- Describe and assess each potential system in terms of their resulting vegetation dynamics, how this relates to use by caribou and other ungulates, and in terms of potential trade-offs for implementing these systems (e.g., economic implications, access, etc.).
This report is available in three formats:
Full Report (101 pages plus reference list and appendices)
Summary report (11 pages of key findings and recommendations)
Review of Alberta’s Integrated Land Management Policies, Practices and Legislation
Awarded to the Foothills Landscape Management Forum, this review was completed in May 2021. During this project, the consultants:
- Conducted a thorough literature review and structured interviews to synthesize ILM practices in Alberta and review and analyze ILM practices used in other comparable jurisdictions.
- Provided a review of Alberta’s ILM policy potential and identify useful cross-sector communication/collaboration techniques.
- Collated draft recommendations for cross-industry ILM approaches for improved woodland caribou habitat outcomes and tested these in a one-day stakeholder workshop to help inform the final recommendations included in the final report.
Other reports:
Evaluation of the feasibility of terrestrial lichen seeding and/or transplantations
The first deliverable of this multi-year study was a critical review of research advances on lichen transplantation and seeding technologies, and an interpretation of these results for application in caribou habitat restoration.
A review of lichen transplant studies and methods
Study to advance harvest systems and silviculture practices for improved woodland caribou and fibre outcomes
This three-year study being conducted by the fRI Research Caribou Program is scheduled to be complete in 2023. However, the research team has published a literature review, Caribou, fire and forestry, and presented findings in an ARCKP webinar.