Comparison of Woodland Caribou Calving Areas Determined by Movement Patterns Across Northern Ontario

Adult female survival and calf recruitment influence population dynamics, but there is limited information on calving and neonatal mortality of boreal woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou; caribou) in Ontario, Canada. We identified calf parturition sites and 5-week neonatal mortality using a movement-based approach across 3 northern Ontario study regions (Pickle Lake, Nakina, and Cochrane) that vary in their capacity to support caribou populations. In comparing 22 caribou-years of video-collar footage during 2010–2013 to predictions of the movement-based approach, we found live parturition events were 100% correctly classified, date of parturition was within 1.08±0.28 (x̄ ± SE) days, and mortality events up to 5 weeks postpartum were 88% correctly classified. Across study regions, 87% of 186 caribou were pregnant and 76% of 107 caribou-years indicated birth events with median parturition dates a week later in Cochrane (23 May) than in Pickle Lake (17 May) and Nakina (16 May). Based on selection ratios of caribou-years with calves-at-heel (n=80), caribou consistently selected for lowlands and closed-canopied forests and mostly against early-seral stands (