Data for: Climate change alone cannot explain boreal caribou range recession in Quebec since 1850

The contraction of species range is one of the most significant symptoms of biodiversity loss worldwide. While anthropogenic activities and habitat alteration are major threats for several species, climate change has not been overlooked either. For species at risk, differentiating the effects of human disturbances and climate change on past and current range transformations is an important step towards improved conservation strategies. We paired historical range maps with global atmospheric reanalyses from different sources (ERA5, CERA-20C, 20CRv3) to assess the potential effects of recent climate change on the observed northward contraction of the distribution range of boreal populations of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in Quebec (Canada) since 1850. We quantified these effects by highlighting the discrepancies between different southern limits of the caribou’s range (used as references) observed in the past and reconstitutions obtained through the hindcasting of the cli..., Adult caribou females were captured and fitted with GPS-collars.
We examined archives and other sources to find reliable information on past boreal caribou distributions.
We extracted the climate data used in this study from three datasets, i.e. ERA5, CERA-20C and 20CRv3. 
We modelled the realized climate niche of boreal caribou by linking current climate conditions and occurrences of caribou and then hindcasted past boreal caribou distributions using the identified climatic niche. Different algorithms were used to do so: Generalized Linear Models (GLM), Generalized Additive Models (GAM), Random Forests (RF) and Boosted Regression Trees (BRT). , , # Data for: Climate change alone cannot explain boreal caribou range recession in Quebec since 1850

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t2d](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t2d)

Boreal caribou GPS Telemetry Data:

* The GPS telemetry data cannot be shared with the reviewers, editors and readers of this manuscript, as a request of the Government of Quebec.
* Potential users interested in accessing these datasets have to contact the Direction générale de la gestion de la faune et des habitats of the
* Ministère de l'Environnement, de la Lutte contre les Changements Climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs du Québec and submit their data access request.
* They can be contacted at: [e-mail].

Southern limits of the boreal caribou ranges between 1850 and 2010:
\- These shapefiles were uploaded on Dryad in a \.zip file named \"Morineau et al\_Southern limits caribou distribution ranges\.zip\"\. This \.zip file contained the 4 southern limits for 1850 \(\"limite\_su...