Influence of fur trade,famine, and forest fires on moose and woodland caribou populations in northwestern Ontario from 1786 to 1911 |
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Authors: | Fritz Ronald Suffling Roger Younger Thomas Ajit |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Biology, Carleton University, K1S 5B6 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada;(2) Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Waterloo, N2L 3G1 Waterloo, Ontario, Canada |
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Abstract: | Hudson’s Bay Company records were used to estimate the 1786–1911 annual number of moose (Alces alces andersonii) and caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) involved in trade by northern Ojibwa natives to the company post at Osnaburgh House (51°10′N 90°15′W) in northwest Ontario,
Canada. The human population for the early 19th century, and the number and severity of human starvations from 1786 to 1911
were estimated. The extent of forest fires in the region around Osnaburgh was documented using a “fire-day” index computed
from Hudson’s Bay Company journals and using qualitative archival information. It is argued that the human population was
too small to have caused the observed early 19th century moose and caribou population decline solely through predation. Likewise,
severe early 19th century famines were caused by climatic factors rather than by declines in moose and caribou numbers. Habitat
change caused by increased forest fires correlates with the observed decline of caribou, while moose increased and subsequently
collapsed as winter shelter was destroyed. A burgeoning human population, sustained during winter food shortages on potatoes
donated by the Hudson’s Bay Company, then kept ungulate populations to low levels until the late 19th century. Only then did
maturing forests and a new outbreak of fires provide renewed habitat for resurgences of, respectively, caribou and moose. |
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Keywords: | Moose Woodland caribou Ontario Fur trade Famine Forest fire Boreal forest Northern Ojibwa Hudson’ s Bay Company predator pit |
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