We studied 100s of forest stands in the first 40 years after either fire or forest harvesting, as well as 100s more in older forest with confirmed caribou use. This study is both broad in scope – we went to most Alberta caribou home ranges – and detailed, exploring the fine scale forest attributes that are important to caribou and forest managers.
Caribou-use, harvested, and burned sites started out very different from each other and follow different rates of regeneration, although some difference lessen over time. In areas targeted for caribou conservation, forestry practices such as replanting more conifer, controlling deciduous regeneration, and retaining more standing dead trees and coarse woody debris could reduce attractants for moose and bears in the first decades after harvest.
