Moose and caribou are two very important animals to both subsistence and sport hunting economies in Alaska. Their survival and reproduction is dependent on sufficient winter habitat and food sources, which may be threatened by climate change.
During the winter, caribou eat lichens (organisms made up of algae and fungus) that grow on the snow-covered ground. Lichens will likely have a complex response to climate change, affected in different ways by factors like changing precipitation, wildfire, and competition with plants. For example, as temperatures warm, there will likely be less snow cover, exposing more of the lichen to caribou. Simultaneously, increased fire frequency could reduce lichen availability.
Moose, on the other hand, eat the twigs of deciduous shrubs that stick up above the snow. Unlike lichen, shrub habitats may actually be affected positively by increased fire. Warmer temperatures and less snow are also likely to increase shrub biomass.
Project researchers are using the
Alaska Integrated Ecosystem Model to unravel some of these complex relationships and estimate the effects of climate change on food availability for these two species throughout most of Alaska and parts of Canada (from about 1970-2100). The resulting maps will be divided by land ownership and landscape characteristics to show expected changes in winter food for moose and caribou that will be tailored to and directly useable by natural resource managers as they devise strategies for adapting to a changing climate.
