Importance of scale, season, and forage availability for understanding the use of recent burns by woodland caribou during winter

During winter, woodland caribou ( Rangifer tarandus caribou) may avoid burned forest for up to 60 years. Typically, that is the time required for lichens to recover following fire. We examined the response of caribou of the Klaza population (west-central Yukon, Canada) to recent burns (≤50 years) during winter. We quantified resource selection of individual caribou across the winter range and use of habitats that were adjacent to or within burns. Typically, caribou selected or used areas with greater density of terrestrial lichen. There was considerable inter-animal variability, but in some season-years caribou selected burned habitat with stronger selection of relatively small burns. Approximately 6.2% of GPS-collar locations were located outside but within 500 m of the boundary of a recent burn and 5.6% of locations occurred within a burn. During late winter, when snow was deeper, caribou demonstrated greater avoidance of burns. Our results suggest that the relationship between caribou and burns is dynamic. Caribou will use recent burns, but such relationships are complicated by cumulative landscape change. It is important to recognise plasticity in behaviour when developing land-use strategies that represent the multi-year, seasonal requirements of the population.