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EnvironmentWildlife9TuesdayJune11201313062WW0ByMEAGANWOHLBERGScientistsareonestepclosertounlockinganswerssurroundingthemysteriousgeneticpoolofwoodlandandbarrengroundcaribouintheSahturegionfollowingalargecommunityefforttocollectandsubmitscatsamplesoverthewinter.HeadresearcherJeanPol-fusaPhDstudentfromtheUniversityofManitobasaid112samplesfromwoodlandcaribouand34frombarrengroundcaribouwerecol-lectedwiththehelpofhunt-erstrappersandcommunitymembersfromalltheSahtucommunitiesbetweenJanu-aryandApril.Withthersteldcom-ponentofthestudydonethehardpartbegins.ScatsamplesarenowatthelabhavingtheirDNAidenti-edwhichrequirestheuseofhigh-techmachineryandtwoanalystspersampletodothescoringorDNAprolingtobeabletotellwhatgeneticmutationeachcaribouhas.Polfussaidpreliminaryresultsshouldbeinbytheendofthesummer.ThoughshescollectingbarrengroundscatandevenmoosescatsamplesPolfussaidherpriorityisthewood-landcaribouwhichisnotaswellknownandisaneasiersamplegroup.Ithinkunderstandingthewoodlandcariboupopulationissomethingwecandenitelydothroughgeneticdatashesaidpartlybecausetheyremoresedentarythanthebar-rengroundcaribouandalsolesspopulous.Withthebarrengroundweretalkingsometimeshundredsofthousandsofanimalsatleasttensofthou-sandssowejustcantsampleaverylargeproportionofthepopulationrightnowwithgenetics.Butwecanprob-ablyinsomeplacessampleadecentproportionofthepopulationofthewoodlandcariboubecausetheresalotfeweranimals-hundredsmaybethousands.Thestudywasbornpar-tiallyoutofcommunityin-terestinthemovementandfamiliesofcaribouintheregionwithanunderlyingconcernaboutwildlifehealthunderscoringtheircuriosity.LastfalltheSahtuRenew-ableResourcesBoardpassedacaribouresearchresolutionwantingmoreinvolvementincaribouresearchusingtraditionalknowledgeandwantingtolookintonon-invasivemethods.ThatsdenitelywherethisstudyhasstemmedfromPolfussaid.Weveworkedcollaborativelywiththerenewableresourcecoun-cilsinallthevecommuni-tiesoftheSahtutodevelopthequestionsandthemethodthatwewoulduseandtheresaverylargecomponentoftraditionalknowledgeinthisstudy.Besidesinvolvingcom-munitiesinthesamplingPolfushasledfocusgroupmeetingsinNormanWellsTulitaFortGoodHopeColvilleLakeandDelinetosharetheresultsofthesam-plingandideasforimprove-mentnextyear.StudyimportantformonitoringeffectsofroadsWithatleastoneyearofsamplingleftinthestudyPolfussaidthecomingre-sultsarejustastartbuttheycouldholdimportantimpli-cationsformonitoringcari-bouasindustryswellsintheregionoverthenextfewde-cadeswiththeadventofoilandgasactivity.StudiesinsouthernCanadahaveshownroadsactuallyblockgeneow-theabil-ityofcariboutobeabletospreadtheirgenesacrossthelandscape-becausecaribouarecrossingthemlessfre-quentlytobreedwithothergeneticpopulations.Whathappensisyouhavetwopopulationsoneithersideoftheroadbe-comingmorelikeeachotheramongthemselvesandlesslikeeachotheracrosstheroadPolfussaid.Youcanactuallypickthatupin10or20yearsofaroaddevelopment.Thatleadstoconcernsaboutalossofgeneticdi-versityandsotheoverallhealthofthecaribou.Ithinktheresdefiniteconcernwiththedevelop-mentintheindustryblockssoespeciallypeopleinTulitaandNormanWellsandFortGoodHopeareinterestedintryingtomonitorandlookatthepopulationsthereshesaid.Ifwestartnowwellbeabletoseeiftheresanychangesthatoccurduetoincreaseddevelopmentincreasedroadsandthingslikethat.Polfussaidshewasencour-agedbythenumbersofpeoplewhohelpedcollectsamples.Ithinkitbodeswellfornextyearbecausethepeoplewillknowabouttheprojectandbereadytostartbring-inginsamplesagainwhenthegroundisfrozenandwehavesnowinNovemberorOctobershesaid.NextyearPolfusishopingtheyllbeabletollingeo-graphicsamplinggapsespe-ciallyforwoodlandcaribouwiththehelpoflocals.Cur-rentlyshehassamplesfromaroundthecommunitiesandalongtheMackenzieRiverandwinterroadsaswellasfromnearindustrialsitesthankstosupportfromConocoPhillipsHuskyandExplor.Onethingthatweregoingtoworkonisworkingwithindividualtrappersandhunterswhoarereallyinter-estedingoingoutwithustosortofllthosesamplinggapsindifferentareasshesaidbothtargetingspecicareasmissedbythisyearssamplingandwherepeopleknowcaribouare.SahtucariboustudylooksforgeneticlinksFindingscouldhaveimplicationsforimpactofroadsonherdhealthPhotosJeanPolfusLabtechniciansatTrentUniversityusescatsamplestocollectDNAfortesting.VeroniqueKochontheyoungestparticipantinthestudycollected23caribouscatsamplesfromColvilleLakeonherown.