Barren-ground caribou in the Canadian north comprise one of the world’s last remaining large-scale ungulate migrations.  They are well-known to experience population fluctuations over long temporal scales. The majority of Canadian herds are declining at present, and it is not know whether this decline is consistent with historical changes in population size.

Given the vast degree of change (e.g., climate change and landscape change) occurring in the north, it behooves us to understand the factors that drive changes in caribou population size, especially how changes in individual quality may precipitate population-level changes in survival and fecundity.

My research in the Boyce Lab at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, examines the interrelationships of caribou body condition, population dynamics, climate and forage. A description of current research projects, selected publications, information about caribou and reindeer, and links of interest may be found here.

       

                                                                                --L.S. Vors

Contact us for more information:  vors’at’ualberta.ca

(replace the ‘at’ with @)