WILDLIFE DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Rangifer tarandus | Caribou 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
The caribou's range extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from
Greenland south through northern Canada.  A narrow band extends from the
border between British Columbia and Alberta south into the northern tip
of the Idaho Panhandle.  Specific ranges of each subspecies are listed
below [5]:

R. t. ssp. caribou - extends from the mid-central Yukon Territory and
                     western Northwest Territories south through mid
                     Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific;
                     Newfoundland Island; the border between British
                     Columbia and Alberta, south into the Idaho
                     Panhandle
R. t. ssp. groenlandicus - eastern and northern Northwest
                           Territories, northern Manitoba, and Baffin
                           and Southampton Islands, Canada
R. t. ssp. pearyi - Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canada  
R. t. ssp. granti - Alaska, northern half of Yukon Territory, and the
                    northwestern corner of the Northwest Territories
R. t. ssp. eogroenlandicus - isolated portions of the Northwest
                             Territories, northeastern Alberta,
                             northern Saskatchewan, northwestern
                             Manitoba, and southwestern Greenland


ECOSYSTEMS : 
FRES10 White-red-jack pine
FRES11 Spruce-fir
FRES22 Western white pine
FRES23 Fir-spruce
FRES24 Hemlock-Sitka spruce
FRES25 Larch
FRES26 Lodgepole pine
FRES37 Mountain meadows
FRES44 Alpine


STATES : 


    
AK
    
ID
	
MT
    
	
WA






    
AB
    
BC
    
MB
    
NB
    
NF
    
NT
    
NS
    
ON
    
PQ


    
SK
    
YT
    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    






BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    8  Northern Rocky Mountains


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K001  Spruce - cedar - hemlock forest
   K002  Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
   K004  Fir - hemlock forest
   K008  Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest
   K013  Cedar - hemlock - pine forest
   K014  Grand fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K015  Western spruce - fir forest
   K052  Alpine meadows and barren
   K093  Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
   K096  Northeastern spruce - fir forest


SAF COVER TYPES : 
     5  Balsam fir
    12  Black spruce
    13  Black spruce - tamarack
    16  Aspen
    17  Pin cherry
    18  Paper birch
    32  Red spruce
    33  Red spruce - balsam fir
    35  Paper birch - red spruce - balsam fir
    37  Northern white cedar
    38  Tamarack
   107  White spruce
   201  White spruce
   202  White spruce - paper birch
   203  Balsam poplar
   204  Black spruce
   205  Mountain hemlock
   206  Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
   208  Whitebark pine
   212  Western larch
   213  Grand fir
   215  Western white pine
   217  Aspen
   218  Lodgepole pine
   219  Limber pine
   221  Red alder
   222  Black cottonwood - willow
   223  Sitka spruce
   224  Western hemlock
   225  Western hemlock - Sitka spruce
   227  Western redcedar - western hemlock
   228  Western redcedar
   251  White spruce - aspen
   252  Paper birch
   253  Black spruce - white spruce
   254  Black spruce - paper birch


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
The woodland caribou inhabits dense spruce (Picea spp.)-fir (Abies
spp.), western redcedar (Thuja plicata)-hemlock (Tsuga spp.), and subalpine fir
(Abies lasiocarpa)-whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) forests of the
West.  They also inhabit mixed age stands of black and white spruce
(Picea mariana, P. glauca) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea), or
ericaceous shrub and willow (Salix spp.) communities of the taiga
[5,24,30].  The barren-ground caribou most frequently inhabits the
arctic tundra, sparsely vegetated with willows, sedges (Carex spp.),
grasses, and forbs [24].  Some barren-ground caribou seek shelter in the
coniferous forests of northern Canada during winter [30].


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Rangifer tarandus | Caribou