Bison Research, Mitigation and Monitoring

This project aimed to fill knowledge gaps about the habitat and population ecology of the Ronald Lake wood bison herd in northeast Alberta to inform herd management planning and strategies to mitigate potential effects of industrial activities (operational and reclamation) on the Ronald Lake herd. The project had four key questions: (1) What is the spatial distribution of male and female bison in relation to season, habitat type and natural and anthropogenic disturbances? (2) What bottom-up (forage & habitat supply) or top-down (predation) factors limit the Ronald Lake wood bison herd? (3) What is the expected response of the Ronald Lake wood bison herd to resource development? (4) What mitigation or reclamation strategies can be used to minimize adverse effects of development if it does occur?

Bison primarily used habitats in the eastern portion of their range during spring, summer, and winter, and use a distinct area in the northwest in late spring/early-summer (calving period). Bison generally avoided cut-blocks, except for male bison in the summer/fall, when males selected for more recent cut-blocks (post-2005) and avoided older ones (pre-2006). Black bear activity in the calving meadow peaked in the spring when bison and their calves were present (black bears commonly prey on young calves), whereas wolf activity was more prevalent in the fall when moose, their primary prey, were more common. Forage resources were less of a habitat use factor in summer, when bison reduced use of areas where biting flies are abundant and soil conditions are soft. In winter, when biting fly activity is low to nil and soil is harder/frozen, bison increased use of marshes, which have large quantities of sedges.