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20TuesdayFebruary172015ENVIRONMENTWILDLIFEByDALICARMICHAELAspoliticaldiscussionsonhowtoaddressthedecliningnumbersoftheBathurstcaribouherdcontinueintheNWTonescientistsayschangesinthesnowpackcouldbeacontrib-utingfactortothegrowingcrisis.Dr.MichaelEnglishwhoco-directsWilfridLaurierUniversitysColdRegionsResearchCentreandactsaschairofitsGeographyandEnvironmentalstudiesdepartmenttooktimeawayfromhisannualresearchtosharehisndingswiththepubliconFeb.5.Theobjectiveoftheworkweredoingistotryandunderstandifchangesinthesnow-packareperhapsafactorinthedeclineoftheBathurstcaribouherdEnglishsaidinanin-terviewwithTheJournal.Thismightapplytootherherdsaswellbecauseabout65-70percentofallthecaribouherdsintheNorth-ernhemispherearedecliningsignicantly.TheBathurstherdhasshrunkbyalmost90percentinthelastdecadeorsooverwhichtimehuntersonthelandsaytheyhavenoticedanincreaseinicecrustsaidEnglishwhohasspentthepastthreeyearsfocusinghisstudiesontheregionaroundWekweeti.Forsixtosevenmonthsoftheyearcaribouhavetodigthroughthethicklayersofsnowcovertogettoburiedlichenandotherfoodsources-animpossibletaskwhenicelensesorthickcrustsbuildupduetoincreasedsolarradia-tionemissionsandtemperatureuctuations.Whileroamingaroundinsearchoftheirnextmealcaribouoftenbecomebloodiedandbruisedontheirforelegsastheystepthroughthejaggedicethatscratchesattheirskinhinderingtheirabilitytorun.Thisalsoincreasesthecaribouschanceofbeingtakendownbywolveswhichhavetheadvantageofbeinglightenoughtorunontopofthesnowtohuntdowntheirweakenedprey.Asanindicatorofchangingclimatecondi-tionssnowcanalsoprovideinsightastohowseverereswillbeoverthesummer.Below-averagesnowfallmeasurementsusuallymeanhigherchancesofwildreandburntold-growthlichen-caribousprimaryfoodsource-whichcantake50to60yearstorecover.Englishandhisteamareemployingacom-binationofstrategiestoresearchthesnow-packfactorsallofwhichheishopingtoteachWekweetiresidentsinordertocreateacom-munitymonitoringprogram.Thoseincludeusingsatelliteimagesofnatu-rally-occurringradiationintheformofmicro-wavelengthsemittingfromthesnowwhichcanhelpindicatewherethethickerlayersofsnow-packsarelocated.Samplesfromthesnowandsurroundingwaterbodiesarealsocollectedinordertomeasurethesnowswaterequivalencyorthedensityofwaterinthesnow.Thesemea-suresinconjunctionwithEnvironmentandNaturalResourcesENRrecordstrackingthemovementsofcollaredcaribouhelpthescien-tistsunderstandwhetherherdsareavoidingthesehard-snowpackareasthoughsometimesEnglishacknowledgedtheyjustcantbeavoided.ItcertainlylooksliketheNorthiswarm-ingnowanditsprobablygoingtocontinuetowarmwhichmeansthatthelengthoftimethesnowpackisonthegroundisprobablygoingtobereducedasthegrowingseasonincreasesEnglishsaid.Theperiodoftimewherethesnowpackcanbeaffectedbychangesintem-peratureisprobablygoingtobeincreasedtoo.Thiscouldmeanshortharshwintersfortheherdinthefuture.HopefullyEnglishsaidhisresearchwillhelpinformpolicyonthepreservationofthecaribousuchasthisyearsharvestbanfortheBathurst.IdontknowwhatelsetheycoulddoatthispointEnglishsaid.Itsatoughsituation.ChangingsnowpackaconcernforcaribouscientistPhotoDr.MichaelEnglishAgroupofBathurstcariboutravelsjustsouthofWekweeti.Scientistsbelievetheherdsdeclinecouldbedueinparttochangestothesnowpackcausedbyclimatechangethatmakeitdifcultfortheanimalstoaccesstheirprimaryfoodsourcelichen.