Simulated effects of forest management options on timber and caribou habitat in the Northern Columbia Mountains Assessing the application of multivariable habitat models in landscape simulation

Mountain caribou, an ecotype of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), are a species at risk and so are a primary focus in forest management in the Columbia Mountains Forest District. Two multivariate habitat models have been developed based on telemetry data to predict caribou habitat by associating forest cover and physiographic variables at various spatial scales and seasons: one using logistic regression (Apps et al. 1998, 1999) and the other using the Mahalanobis distance statistic (Clark, 1993). Using a GIS, these models produce maps that can be used to classify the landscape into good, moderate, poor and non caribou habitat with relative certainty.