From behaviour to demography: capacity of large terrestrial mammals to cope with HIREC in boreal ecosystems

北方森林生态系统传统上由自然干扰(野火、虫害暴发)构成，现在由人类引起的快速环境变化(如伐木、道路、石油和天然气)主导，这些变化凌驾于自然干扰之上，迫使野生动物适应也受到快速气候变化影响的不断变化的环境。提高我们对这些环境变化驱动因素对物种-栖息地关系、物种相互作用(捕食、竞争)和种群动态(衰退、范围收缩)的影响的理解是至关重要的，以指导保护工作，同时促进动物生态学的知识。我的研究项目旨在回答保护生态学中的一个基本问题：物种是否能够应对(并最终适应)HIREC，如果能够，如何应对？我使用林地驯鹿作为生物模型，它是加拿大生物多样性不可替代的组成部分，我还研究了它的捕食者(狼、黑熊、郊狼)和它的主要竞争对手(驼鹿、鹿)的反应。我使用GPS遥测来描述行为并监测每个人的生命频率，沿着研究区域总面积约375,000平方公里的自然和人为干扰强度梯度进行监测。在接下来的5年里，我的目标是提高我们对个人行为变化与环境变化中适应价值之间关系的理解。基于我们最近的发现，我建议对参与以下4个相互关联的短期目标的7名研究生(4名硕士，3名博士)进行培训：1)确定行为边缘(即与相同种群的其他个体不同的行为)对沿干扰梯度的生存的影响；2)评估历史上暴露在自然干扰(如野火)中的影响(约300年)对行为-生存关系的影响；3)记录过去的经验在调整动物对干扰的行为反应中的作用；4)探索当地气候对对干扰的行为反应的附加或协同效应。这些目标将检验这一假设，即大型哺乳动物具有不同的能力来“学习应对”，并最终适应累积的干扰和不断变化的气候，从而为进一步的生态进化问题铺平道路。我的研究项目已经为改善北方驯鹿(受威胁)和大西洋驯鹿(濒危)的保护战略做出了贡献，这两种生态类型对全国社会经济活动的发展具有重大影响。我相信，我对进一步了解驯鹿种群普遍减少的原因的科学参与，将提供科学支持的解决方案，以减轻全球变化对野生动物的影响，修改国家层面的法律和法规，并协调管理的北部针叶林可持续发展的社会经济和环境两极。

Traditionally structured by natural disturbances (wildfires, insect outbreaks), boreal forest ecosystems are now dominated by human-induced rapid environmental changes (HIREC: e.g. logging, roads, oil and gas) that override natural disturbances, forcing wildlife to adapt to a changing environment also affected by rapid climate change. It is of utmost importance to improve our understanding of the influence of these drivers of environmental change on species - habitat relationships, species interactions (predation, competition) and population dynamics (decline, range contraction) to guide conservation efforts while advancing knowledge in animal ecology. My research program aims at answering a fundamental question in conservation ecology: are species able to cope with (and ultimately adapt to) HIREC, and if so, how? I use woodland caribou, an irreplaceable component of Canada's biodiversity, as a biological model, and I also study the responses of its predators (wolf, black bear, coyote) and its main competitors (moose, deer). I use GPS telemetry to describe behaviour and monitor vital rates on an individual basis along a gradient of natural and anthropogenic disturbance intensity in study areas totalling ~375,000 km2. Over the next 5 years, my goal is to improve our understanding of the relationships between individual variation in behaviour and adaptive value in a changing environment. Building upon our recent findings, I propose the training of seven graduate students (4 MSc, 3 PhD) involved in the following 4 interrelated short-term objectives: 1) Determine the influence of behavioural marginality (i.e. behaving differently than other individuals of the same population) on survival along a disturbance gradient; 2) Evaluate the effect of historical exposure (~300 years) to natural disturbance (e.g. wildfires) on the behaviour - survival relationship; 3) Document the role of past experience in adjusting behavioural response toward disturbance during an animal's life; 4) Explore the additive or synergistic effects of local climate on behavioural response to disturbances. These objectives will test the hypothesis that large mammals have different capacities to "learn to cope with" and ultimately adapt to cumulative disturbances and changing climate, thus paving the way for further eco-evolutionary questions. My research program already contributes to the improvement of conservation strategies for boreal (Threatened) and Atlantic-Gaspésie (Endangered) caribou, two ecotypes that have a major influence on the development of socioeconomic activities across the country. I believe that my scientific involvement in further understanding the causes of the generalized caribou population decline will provide scientifically supported solutions to mitigate the impacts of global changes on wildlife, modify laws and regulation at the national scale, and reconcile the socioeconomic and environmental poles of sustainable development in managed boreal forests.