Carroll Kathleen A, Grey Fabian, Anderson Nicholas, Anderson Nelson, Fisher Jason T
Quest Lab, Department of Natural Resources Science University of Rhode Island Kingston Rhode Island USA.
Whitefish Lake First Nation #459 General Delivery Atikameg Alberta Canada.
Ecol Evol. 2025 Mar 28;15(4):e71170. doi: 10.1002/ece3.71170. eCollection 2025 Apr.
Subsistence hunting, or "country food," on traditional territories is essential for numerous Indigenous Peoples who face food insecurity. For many First Nations of Canada, subsistence hunting is also inextricably linked to traditional conservation practices, as hunting is an important way of engaging with nature. In Canada's boreal forest, large game such as moose () is a primary source of protein. However, resource extraction-including forestry and oil and gas-has shifted large game distributions and affected the availability and abundance of food resources. Here, the Indigenous authors designed the study and processed remote camera trap data, then sought out Western scientists to generate generalized linear models to evaluate moose habitat use and spatial-numerical responses to possible stressors in north-central Alberta, including fire, harvest, oil and gas extraction, and other disturbances. Together, through the coproduction of knowledge, we examined the effects of human-caused stressors on moose habitat use by sex and age class. The proportion of various land cover types and human land use for resource extraction was important in moose habitat use. Notably, male, female, and young moose all used habitat differently and at different spatial scales. However, young moose (with their mothers) strongly selected natural forest disturbances such as burned areas but avoided human-created disturbances such as petroleum exploration "seismic" lines. Female moose with young attempts to maximize forage opportunities do not use human-disturbed forests in the same ways they use naturally disturbed areas. Our findings, in the context of Indigenous interpretation from remote cameras and community insights, have linked human disturbance to declines in moose densities and displacement from traditional hunting grounds. Evaluating and predicting shifts in large game distributions is critical to supporting Indigenous food security and sovereignty and identifying where industries operating on First Nations lands can better engage responsibly with First Nations.
在传统领地进行自给性狩猎，即“乡村食物”采集，对众多面临粮食不安全问题的原住民来说至关重要。对加拿大许多第一民族而言，自给性狩猎还与传统的保护做法紧密相连，因为狩猎是与自然互动的重要方式。在加拿大的北方森林，驼鹿等大型猎物是蛋白质的主要来源。然而，包括林业和石油天然气在内的资源开采改变了大型猎物的分布，影响了食物资源的可获取性和丰富程度。在此，原住民作者设计了这项研究并处理了远程相机陷阱数据，随后找来西方科学家生成广义线性模型，以评估阿尔伯塔中北部驼鹿的栖息地利用情况以及对包括火灾、采伐、石油和天然气开采及其他干扰在内的可能压力源的空间数值反应。通过共同生成知识，我们一起研究了人为压力源对不同性别和年龄组驼鹿栖息地利用的影响。各种土地覆盖类型的比例以及用于资源开采的人类土地利用情况在驼鹿栖息地利用中很重要。值得注意的是，雄性、雌性和幼年驼鹿在栖息地利用方式和空间尺度上都有所不同。然而，幼年驼鹿（与其母亲在一起）强烈选择诸如火烧区域等自然森林干扰区域，但避开石油勘探“地震”线等人为造成的干扰区域。带着幼崽的雌性驼鹿试图最大化觅食机会，但其利用受人类干扰森林的方式与利用自然干扰区域的方式不同。在从远程相机获得的原住民解读以及社区见解的背景下，我们的研究结果将人类干扰与驼鹿密度下降以及从传统狩猎地的迁移联系了起来。评估和预测大型猎物分布的变化对于保障原住民的粮食安全和主权以及确定在第一民族土地上运营的产业能够更好地与第一民族负责任地互动的地点至关重要。
