Data from: Caribou, water, and ice – fine-scale movements of a migratory arctic ungulate in the context of climate change

Freshwater lakes and rivers of the Northern Hemisphere have been freezing increasingly later and thawing increasingly earlier during the last century. With reduced temporal periods during which ice conditions are favourable for locomotion, freshwater bodies could become impediments to the inter-patch movements, dispersion, or migration of terrestrial animals that use ice-covered lakes and rivers to move across their range. Studying the fine-scale responses of individuals to broad-scale changes in ice availability and phenology would help to understand how animals react to ongoing climate change, and contribute to the conservation and management of endangered species living in northern environments. Between 2007 and 2014, we equipped 96 migratory caribou Rangifer tarandus caribou from the Rivière-aux-Feuilles herd in northern Québec (Canada) with GPS telemetry collars and studied their space use. We measured contemporary (digital MODIS maps updated every 8 days, 2000–2014) and historical (annual observations, 1947–1985) variations in freshwater-ice availability and evaluated the concurrent responses of caribou to these changes.

近一个世纪以来，北半球的淡水湖泊与河流的封冻期持续延后，解冻期持续提前。随着适宜冰层通行的时段不断缩短，淡水水体可能会对依赖冰封河湖完成跨栖息地斑块间移动、种群扩散或长距离迁徙的陆生动物造成移动障碍。探究个体动物对冰层可利用性与物候变化的精细响应，有助于理解动物如何应对当前的气候变化，同时可为北方生境中的濒危物种保护与管理工作提供理论支撑。2007年至2014年间，我们为加拿大魁北克北部火河（Rivière-aux-Feuilles）种群的96头迁徙性北美驯鹿（Rangifer tarandus caribou）佩戴了GPS遥测项圈，并对其空间利用模式展开了研究。我们分别测定了当代（2000年至2014年，每8天更新一次的MODIS（中分辨率成像光谱仪，Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer）数字化影像）与历史（1947年至1985年，年度观测数据）时期的淡水冰层可利用性变化，并评估了驯鹿对这些变化的同步响应。