Seasonal Diets of the Porcupine Caribou Herd
Thompson DC and McCourt KH. 1981. Seasonal Diets of the Porcupine Caribou Herd. The American Midland Naturalist. 105(1):70-76
Microhistological techniques were used to quantify the diet of the Porcupine Caribou Herd of the northern Yukon during seven phenological periods. Winter diet was characterized by a dominance of lichens (66.7%) and mosses (28.8%). The shift from winter to summer diet was marked by a large increase in the use of vascular vegetation. Sedges comprise the bulk (55.5%) of the spring diet with orthophyll shrubs assuming dominance (over 98%) during the postcalving period. The use of orthophyll shrubs begins to decline during August and by autumn the diet is essentially similar to that during winter.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Thompson, D; McCourt, K
- Units
- ARCN , CAKN , GAAR , YUCH
- Keywords
- Caribou, Food Preferences, Mammals, Nutrition