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时间愈发延后，解冻时间则愈发提前。由于适宜在冰面行进的时段大幅缩短，淡水水域可能会对依赖冰封湖泊与河流完成生境斑块间移动、扩散或迁徙的陆生动物造成通行阻碍。研究个体对冰覆盖范围与物候大范围变化的精细响应，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濒危物种的保护与管理提供支撑。2007年至2014年间，我们为加拿大魁北克北部火溪（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研究。我们分别测定了当代（2000–2014年，每8天更新一次的数字化MODIS影像）与历史（1947–1985年的年度观测数据）的淡水冰覆盖范围变化，并评估了驯鹿对这些变化的同步响应。