User:Oceanflynn/sandbox/Caribou ecotypes in Canada

In Canada, caribou are classified by ecotype, which is defined by their habitat, for example, woodland or barren-ground, and by their behaviour, for example, migratory. There are several ecotypes of Rangifer tarandus caribou woodland caribou, (boreal woodland caribou), woodland (migratory) and woodland (mountain).

According to Mallory and Hillis in their 1996 article in Rangifer, commonly used taxonomic designations did "not appear to reflect current ecological conditions". They observed that "populations of the same subspecies have evolved different demographic and behavioural adaptations, while populations from separate sub-species have evolved similar demographic and behavioural patterns." Examples they provided included Insular ecotype, montane ecotype, barren-ground ecotype,, and woodland caribou ecotype.

I = increasing; S = stable; D = declining; TH = threatened.