CARMA – Rangifer HealthInventory and Beyond

Susan Kutz, Ryan Brook, Pat Curry, Julie duCrocq and Danna SchockA big thanks to Dean Brown

Bottom Line• “ensure barren-ground caribou continue to

use their ranges and remain an important aspect of the lives of NWT residents.” Caribou Forever GNWT

CARMA IPY• Bring together a network of biological,

social, and physical scientists, First Nations peoples, wildlife managers, and others, to examine the health and vulnerability of Rangifer species around the Arctic

• Opportunity to compile historical and existing traditional and scientific knowledge and generate new knowledge to inform management and policy

Overview of CARMA Collections• N=649 caribou sampled from 2004-2009 from 8 herds:• Ahiak (n=36)• Akia-Maniitsoq population Greenland (n=41)• Bathurst (n=150)• Beverly/Qaminirjuaq (n=56)• Bluenose East (n=65)• Bluenose West (n=51)• George (n=116)• Leaf (n=118)• Porcupine (n=15)

• Adults (79%), Calves (19%), Yearlings (2%)• Males (37%), Females (63%)

• Body condition, pregnancy, body size and composition, pathogens

Inventory - Biodiversity

• Essential first step to understanding the role of pathogens in – Rangifer individual and herd health– human health (zoonotic diseases)– ecosystem health (spillover to sympatric species)

If you don’t know the wolves are there you can’t understand how they are affecting the population

Preliminary findings – Biodiversity new and varied across populations

• Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (Map, or Johnes disease), in Akia-Maniitsoq caribou, Greenland (Orsel and Cuyler)– Free-ranging Rangifer susceptible– Spill-over from domestics?

• Increased diversity of gastrointestinal nematodes in Greenland and Labrador– Spill-over from domestics? – Different sympatric species and recent evolutionary history– Significance in health of populations?

• Trypanosoma genotypes (Schock) – Hidden diversity – multiple genotypes in Canada,

only one genotype in Greenland.

Inventory - Distribution of Pathogens within Herds

• Knowing how parasites are distributed within a population is essential for understanding transmission dynamics and population level impact

Inventory - Distribution within Herds

Inventory - Distribution within Herds

Distribution Across Seasons

• Provides information on• When pathogen may have an impact• When to sample• When transmission occurs

Inventory – Establish Normal (?) Status and Variability among Individuals

Inventory – Establish Normal (?) Status and Variability among Herds

Caribou, Southampton Island

Brucella suis and Pregnancy

• A compelling case for inventory and monitoring

Beyond Inventory - Comparison across herds

• Compare parasites vs disease, herd trajectory, climate, density, demographics, sympatric species, etc.

Herd Comparisons

Herd Comparisons

• These analyses provide insight into what to focus on, where are the key differences, what sort of patterns are present.

• However, – Correlational– If we look at a herd at its low, expect very low

pathogen abundance – few interesting pathogen events

What does this mean to the herds?

How can it inform management?

• Move beyond correlational to predictive.Move beyond correlational to predictive.• How do pathogens impact individuals?How do pathogens impact individuals?

How do pathogens impact individuals?

Approach• IPY collections – can analyze pathogens relative

to body condition etc.• Interpretation limited because– Cross-sectional study– Lag effects– Seroprevalence =exposure, not disease

• Some correlations will be biologically valid• Longitudinal and manipulative studies can

provide insight (Svalbard, Red Grouse)• Experimental approach

The Health Continuum - Time 0

The Health Continuum – Time 1 - Environmental Change

The Health Continuum – Severe weather event

Drivers of Health

What is the relative contribution of these drivers?Are there drivers that we are missing?Are we incorporating known drivers into our existing models?

Drivers of Health

How do they interact?How to move to a more integrative, predictive framework?

What is ‘Normal’?

• Under what biotic and abiotic conditions do Rangifer survive?

• Under what conditions do they thrive?• What is acceptable variability?

• CARMA as a network – provides the medium to mobilize our diverse knowledge, expertise and resources, cross disciplinary boundaries, and develop enhanced predictive capacity