Varvara Vladimirova
Doctorat
Forecasting the distribution of woodland caribou in the face of global changes
Université Laval
Directeur: Daniel Fortin
Codirecteur: Glenn Yannic
varvara.vladimirova.1@ulaval.ca
Project summary:
Boreal caribou decline is prevalent across many areas of Canada, mainly due to past and ongoing anthropogenic activities. Continuing natural resource extraction in prime caribou habitat, together with climate changes, are expected to exacerbate the magnitude of the population decline for the coming decades. The Quebec government proposed conservation strategies to mitigate the negative impact of forest harvesting on the caribou populations. Yet, the long-term effect of those strategies on caribou populations remains unclear. To predict the future distribution and abundance of caribou, information is needed on how caribou’s response to the changing landscape impacts their vital rates. Boreal caribou typically restrict their space use to previously used patches. Still, such site fidelity is not observed in all individuals, and home-range shifts may occur following local habitat disturbance. The study aims to assess how caribou shift their annual home range due to the proportion of landscape features within their yearly range and identify a threshold that induces relatively high mortality risk and low recruitment. We will assess fine-scale caribou movement behaviours and associated mortality collected from radio collars and aerial surveys with landscape disturbances. Given global changes, the study aims to bridge caribou movement, population dynamics, and landscape features and contribute parameters to a predictive model of boreal caribou's long-term distribution and abundance in Quebec province.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Research Supervisor - Fundacion Para La Tierra, Paraguay
Oct 2019 - Oct 2020
Associate Research Officer - Frontier, Costa Rica
Oct 2018 - Jun 2019
Animal Management Lecturer - Capel Manor College, London, UK
Nov 2015 - Aug 2018
Lecturer - Kwantu Private Game Reserve, South Africa
Jul 2017 - Aug 2017
