The Wisconsin Center for Wildlife and the UW-Stevens Point College of Natural Resources invites you to the final seminarin the Changing Climate of Natural Resources series
This seminar was held via Zoom. Recording of the seminar is available to view here
by Perry Barboza, Ph.D.Professor of Wildlife and Fisheries SciencesandBoone and Crockett Chair in Wildlife Conservation and PolicyTexas A&M University
Changes in climate are predicted at large scales across geographic and political boundaries over decades. However, those large scale changes also operate at smaller scales to alter the environmental supplies and demands on individual animals and thus the populations of wildlife. Wild ungulates such as caribou and bison operate at large spatial scales because they change their behavior and their bodies through the year as forage supplies rise and fall with seasonal temperatures. Migratory ungulates often traverse social and political boundaries that can cause conflicts for stewardship of social and ecological services such as hunter harvest vs. oil or mineral yield. Wild ungulates are culturally important – we have long records of measurement and also established our wildlife management systems around these species. Despite their large size and productivity, we are often surprised by apparent crashes in these populations – they apparently reach tipping points when they lose their ability to tolerate environmental change. The legacies of natural and human disturbances to these populations can last for many human generations. This presentation will describe a social and ecological framework for considering wildlife issues. We will apply that framework to the management of arctic caribou and bison on the Great Plains to compare and contrast management of ungulates on public and private lands in relation to projected changes in climate.
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