Undermining subsistence: Barren-ground caribou in a "tragedy of open access"

Variation in stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope compositions along antlers of Qamanirjuaq caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus)

Annual antler growth begins in the spring and is completed by late summer for male caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) from the Qamanirjuaq herd (Nunavut, Canada), aligned with both the spring migration and a seasonal dietary shift. Antlers may provide a non-lethal means of studying short- and long-term changes in caribou ecology through incorporated isotopes of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N). We sampled the antlers of 12 male caribou from the Qamanirjuaq herd culled in September 1967. We predicted that serial sampling of antlers would reflect the known seasonal dietary change from lichen to grass-like and shrub diet based on rumen contents from individuals culled during the same period. The δ13C and δ15N were analyzed in food sources and every 3 cm along each antler's length. The carbon isotope compositions of collagen (δ13Ccol) varied by ~0.5‰ among individuals and within antlers, while the carbon isotope compositions of antler bioapatite (δ13CCO3) increased by 1-1.5‰ from pedicle to tip. Values of δ15Ncol increased within antlers by 1-3‰ from pedicle to tip and varied by 3‰ among the individuals sampled. Antler collagen was lower in δ15Ncol by ~1‰ relative to bone collagen. Bayesian mixing models were conducted to test for changes in dietary proportions from antler isotope compositions. Mixing models did not indicate significant dietary shifts for any individual during antler formation, showing consistently mixed diets of fungi, horsetail, lichen, and woody plants. Increases in δ15Ncol in antler tissue could, therefore, correspond to subtle seasonal dietary changes and/or the physiological stress of antler tissue development.

Effects of vehicle traffic on space use and road crossings of caribou in the Arctic

Assessing the effects of industrial development on wildlife is a key objective of managers and conservation practitioners. However, wildlife responses are often only investigated with respect to the footprint of infrastructure, even though human activity can strongly mediate development impacts. In Arctic Alaska, there is substantial interest in expanding energy development, raising concerns about the potential effects on barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti). While caribou generally avoid industrial infrastructure, little is known about the role of human activity in moderating their responses, and whether managing activity levels could minimize development effects. To address this uncertainty, we examined the influence of traffic volume on caribou summer space use and road crossings in the Central Arctic Herd within the Kuparuk and Milne Point oil fields on the North Slope of Alaska. We first modeled spatiotemporal variation in hourly traffic volumes across the road system from traffic counter data using gradient-boosted regression trees. We then used generalized additive models to estimate nonlinear step selection functions and road-crossing probabilities from collared female caribou during the post-calving and insect harassment seasons, when they primarily interact with roads. Step selection analyses revealed that caribou selected areas further from roads (~1-3 km) during the post-calving and mosquito seasons and selected areas with lower traffic volumes during all seasons, with selection probabilities peaking when traffic was <5 vehicles/h. Using road-crossing models, we found that caribou were less likely to cross roads during the insect seasons as traffic increased, but that response dissipated as insect harassment became more severe. Past studies suggested that caribou exhibit behavioral responses when traffic exceeds 15 vehicles/h, but our results demonstrate behavioral responses at much lower traffic levels. Our results illustrate that vehicle activity mediates caribou responses to road infrastructure, information that can be used in future land-use planning to minimize the behavioral responses of caribou to industrial development in sensitive Arctic landscapes.

Industrial Vestiges: Legacies of Ancillary Impacts of Resource Development

This article offers a different way to understand the heritage of extractive industries by exploring the material afterlives of what has been termed the "ancillary impacts of resource development"-a variety of quarries, forest cuts, transportation corridors, and power lines that surround industrial operations, especially those created in areas distant from established industrial population centers. To study this, the article expands upon the concept of "vestige" to explore the landscapes around two single-industry mining towns in Kola Peninsula, Russia, and in Labrador, Canada, by specifically focusing on two abandoned quarries located in each. The results highlight the need to explore developments that trail behind industrial settlement of colonial hinterlands. By focusing specifically on the afterlives of such developments, the article demonstrates how chronological and geographical boundaries of resource extraction are blurred over time, creating a deep, unruly, self-perpetuating set of legacies.

Imposing calculations: The visibility and invisibility of harm in the Mackenzie Gas Project environmental assessment

Environmental assessment is an institutional apparatus through which proponents concede harm associated with extractive projects. Within these processes proponents define the nature and scope of harm, which is made visible through the production of indicators and measurements and made manageable through mitigation measures or economic compensation. That the activities of extractive industries may have effects on surrounding ecologies is rarely in question; proponents of extractive projects regularly concede that their activities will result in negative (but also positive) changes to environments and communities. What is often contested in the course of environmental assessment and regulatory processes is the "significance" of the impacts identified, the nature of the harm caused, and whether or not it is possible or acceptable to accommodate it. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the Sahtu Settlement Area, NWT during the Mackenzie Gas Project environmental assessment, along with regulatory documents and transcripts, this paper examines how proponents and regulatory regimes work to make the impacts of extractive industries visible, and how these logics deviate discursively and materially from many Indigenous peoples' understandings of appropriate relationships between human beings and nature.

The metacoupled Arctic: Human-nature interactions across local to global scales as drivers of sustainability

The Arctic is an epicenter of complex environmental and socioeconomic change. Strengthened connections between Arctic and non-Arctic systems could threaten or enhance Arctic sustainability, but studies of external influences on the Arctic are scattered and fragmented in academic literature. Here, we review and synthesize how external influences have been analyzed in Arctic-coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) literature. Results show that the Arctic is affected by numerous external influences nearby and faraway, including global markets, climate change, governance, military security, and tourism. However, apart from climate change, these connections are infrequently the focus of Arctic CHANS analyses. We demonstrate how Arctic CHANS research could be enhanced and research gaps could be filled using the holistic framework of metacoupling (human-nature interactions within as well as between adjacent and distant systems). Our perspectives provide new approaches to enhance the sustainability of Arctic systems in an interconnected world.

Caribou and reindeer migrations in the changing Arctic

Caribou and reindeer, Rangifer tarandus, are the most numerous and socio-ecologically important terrestrial species in the Arctic. Their migrations are directly and indirectly affected by the seasonal nature of the northernmost regions, human development and population size; all of which are impacted by climate change. We review the most critical drivers of Rangifer migration and how a rapidly changing Arctic may affect them. In order to conserve large Rangifer populations, they must be allowed free passage along their migratory routes to reach seasonal ranges. We also provide some pragmatic ideas to help conserve Rangifer migrations into the future.

Causes, Consequences, and Conservation of Ungulate Migration

Our understanding of ungulate migration is advancing rapidly due to innovations in modern animal tracking. Herein, we review and synthesize nearly seven decades of work on migration and other long-distance movements of wild ungulates. Although it has long been appreciated that ungulates migrate to enhance access to forage, recent contributions demonstrate that their movements are fine tuned to dynamic landscapes where forage, snow, and drought change seasonally. Researchers are beginning to understand how ungulates navigate migrations, with the emerging view that animals blend gradient tracking with spatial memory, some of which is socially learned. Although migration often promotes abundant populations—with broad effects on ecosystems—many migrations around the world have been lost or are currently threatened by habitat fragmentation, climate change, and barriers to movement. Fortunately, new efforts that use empirical tracking data to map migrations in detail are facilitating effective conservation measures to maintain ungulate migration.

Tempo-spatial patterns of PM2.5 measured using a portable particulate monitor around a mine complex in Canada's Arctic

Mining activities in Canada's pristine Arctic (e.g., driving on unpacked roads, blasts, rock grinding, diesel combustion, and garbage incineration) could add local sources of airborne fine particulate matter with a diameter of < 2.5 μm (PM_2.5) to their surrounding area. The increase in PM_2.5 above the background level around a mine represents a potential disturbance to caribou. To quantify the spatial distribution of the elevated PM_2.5, we investigated three different sampling schemes to measure PM_2.5 concentration using a portable monitor. We found that the best sampling scheme was to use the regional background PM_2.5 as the reference and analyze the anomaly of PM_2.5 measured at sites around the mine complex from the background level. The regional background PM_2.5 values were measured at the Daring Lake Tundra Research Station during 2018 and 2019. Our results indicated that the background PM_2.5 was not a low and constant value but varied with rain events, wind direction, and the impacts of forest fire smoke. After excluding periods affected by forest fires smokes, we found the background PM_2.5 was close to 0 μg m^-3 for the first few hours after rain, and then increased logistically with the time after rain (t_ar) to the maximum of 5 (or 10) μg m^-3 when the wind came from the north (or south) of the NW-SE axis. The NW-SE axis in western Canada divides the tundra north with few anthropogenic PM_2.5 sources from the forested south with many PM_2.5 sources from forest fire smokes and human activities. Analyses of PM_2.5 anomaly from the background (i.e., PM_2.5 measured at a site around the mining complex-the background level at the corresponding t_ar and wind direction) revealed that the zone of elevated PM_2.5 around the mine (Z_epm) expanded with t_ar. In the first few hours after rain, PM_2.5 was close to 0 everywhere except within meters of a source (e.g., a truck exhaust) in the downwind direction. During t_ar = 6 to 96 h, Z_epm expanded to 6.3 km in the downwind direction when the wind came from south of the NW-SE axis. A similar result was found in the downwind direction when the wind came from north of the NW-SE axis, with Z_epm = 4.4 km. In the upwind direction, the value of Z_epm was much smaller, being 0.7 km (or 1.0 km) when the wind came from the north (or south) of the NW-SE axis. For the period of t_ar between 96 and 192 hours, Z_epm further expanded to 21.2 km when the wind from the south of the NW-SE axis. The results from this study indicated that this reference paradigm that uses the regional background PM_2.5 as the reference in combination with a portable PM_2.5 monitor worked well for quantifying the tempo-spatial patterns of PM_2.5 at locations in remote and mostly pristine Arctic. However, their effectiveness for other regions needs further investigation.

Characterizing Wetland Inundation and Vegetation Dynamics in the Arctic Coastal Plain Using Recent Satellite Data and Field Photos

Arctic wetlands play a critical role in the global carbon cycle and are experiencing disproportionate impacts from climate change. Even though Alaska hosts 65% of U.S. wetlands, less than half of the wetlands in Alaska have been mapped by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) or other high-resolution wetlands protocols. The availability of time series satellite data and the development of machine learning algorithms have enabled the characterization of Arctic wetland inundation dynamics and vegetation types with limited ground data input. In this study, we built a semi-automatic process to generate sub-pixel water fraction (SWF) maps across the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska using random forest regression and 139 Sentinel-2 images taken in ice-free seasons from 2016 to 2019. With this, we characterized the seasonal dynamics of wetland inundation and explored their potential usage in determining NWI water regimes. The highest levels of surface water expression were detected in June, resulting from seasonal active layer thaw and snowmelt. Inundation was most variable in riverbeds, lake and pond margins, and depressional wetlands, where water levels fluctuate substantially between dry and wet seasons. NWI water regimes that indicate frequent inundation, such as permanently flooded wetlands, had high SWF values (SWF ≥ 90%), while those with infrequent inundation, such as temporarily flooded wetlands, had low SWF values (SWF < 10%). Vegetation types were also classified through the synergistic use of a vegetation index, water regimes, synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) data, topographic data, and a random forest classifier. The random forest classification algorithms demonstrated good performance in classifying Arctic wetland vegetation types, with an overall accuracy of 0.87. Compared with NWI data produced in the 1980s, scrub-shrub wetlands appear to have increased from 91 to 258 km2 over the last three decades, which is the largest percentage change (182%) among all vegetation types. However, additional field data are needed to confirm this shift in vegetation type. This study demonstrates the potential of using time series satellite data and machine learning algorithms in characterizing inundation dynamics and vegetation types of Arctic wetlands. This approach could aid in the creation and maintenance of wetland inventories, including the NWI, in Arctic regions and enable an improved understanding of long-term wetland dynamics.

Grassroots and Global Governance: Can Global–Local Linkages Foster Food System Resilience for Small Northern Canadian Communities?

Communities in Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT) are at the forefront of the global climate emergency. Yet, they are not passive victims; local-level programs are being implemented across the region to maintain livelihoods and promote adaptation. At the same time, there is a recent call within global governance literature to pay attention to how global policy is implemented and affecting people on the ground. Thinking about these two processes, we ask the question: (how) can global governance assist northern Indigenous communities in Canada in reaching their goals of adapting their food systems to climate change? To answer this question, we argue for a “community needs” approach when engaging in global governance literature and practice, which puts community priorities and decision-making first. As part of a collaborative research partnership, we highlight the experiences of Ka’a’gee Tu First Nation, located in Kakisa, NWT, Canada. We include their successes of engaging in global network building and the systemic roadblock of lack of formal land tenure. Moreover, we analyze potential opportunities for this community to engage with global governance instruments and continue connecting to global networks that further their goals related to climate change adaptation and food sovereignty.

Mapping potential effects of proposed roads on migratory connectivity for a highly mobile herbivore using circuit theory

Migration is common worldwide as species access spatiotemporally varying resources and avoid predators and parasites. However, long-distance migrations are increasingly imperiled due to development and habitat fragmentation. Improved understanding of migratory behavior has implications for conservation and management of migratory species, allowing identification and protection of seasonal ranges and migration corridors. We present a technique that applies circuit theory to predict future effects of development by analyzing season-specific resistance to movement from anthropogenic and natural environmental features across an entire migratory path. We demonstrate the utility of our approach by examining potential effects of a proposed road system on barren ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) and subsistence hunters in northern Alaska. Resource selection functions revealed migratory selection by caribou. We tested five scenarios relating habitat selection to landscape resistance using Circuitscape and GPS telemetry data. To examine the effect of potential roads on connectivity of migrating animals and human hunters, we compared current flow values near communities in the presence of proposed roads. Caribou avoided dense vegetation, rugged terrain, major rivers, and existing roads in both spring and fall. A negative linear relationship between resource selection and landscape resistance was strongly supported for fall migration while spring migration featured a negative logarithmic relationship. Overall patterns of caribou connectivity remained similar in the presence of proposed roads, though reduced current flow was predicted for communities near the center of current migration areas. Such data can inform decisions to allow or disallow projects or to select among alternative development proposals and mitigation measures, though consideration of cumulative effects of development is needed. Our approach is flexible and can easily be adapted to other species, locations and development scenarios to expand understanding of movement behavior and to evaluate proposed developments. Such information is vital to inform policy decisions that balance new development, resource user needs, and preservation of ecosystem function.

The Retail Food Sector and Indigenous Peoples in High-Income Countries: A Systematic Scoping Review

Indigenous Peoples in high-income countries experience higher burdens of food insecurity, obesity, and diet-related health conditions compared to national averages. The objective of this systematic scoping review is to synthesize information from the published literature on the methods/approaches, findings, and scope for research and interventions on the retail food sector servicing Indigenous Peoples in high-income countries. A structured literature search in two major international databases yielded 139 relevant peer-reviewed articles from nine countries. Most research was conducted in Oceania and North America, and in rural and remote regions. Several convergent issues were identified across global regions including limited grocery store availability/access, heightened exposure to unhealthy food environments, inadequate market food supplies (i.e., high prices, limited availability, and poor quality), and common underlying structural factors including socio-economic inequality and colonialism. A list of actions that can modify the nature and structure of retailing systems to enhance the availability, accessibility, and quality of healthful foods is identified. While continuing to (re)align research with community priorities, international collaboration may foster enhanced opportunities to strengthen the evidence base for policy and practice and contribute to the amelioration of diet quality and health at the population level.

“We’re Made Criminals Just to Eat off the Land”: Colonial Wildlife Management and Repercussions on Inuit Well-Being

Across Inuit Nunangat, Inuit rely on wildlife for food security, cultural continuity, intergenerational learning, and livelihoods. Caribou has been an essential species for Inuit for millennia, providing food, clothing, significant cultural practices, and knowledge-sharing. Current declines in many caribou populations—often coupled with hunting moratoriums—have significant impacts on Inuit food, culture, livelihoods, and well-being. Following an Inuit-led approach, this study characterized Inuit-caribou relationships; explored Inuit perspectives on how caribou have been managed; and identified opportunities for sustaining the Mealy Mountain Caribou. Qualitative data were collected in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut, Labrador, Canada through 21 in-depth interviews and two community open houses. Data were analyzed using constant comparative methods and thematic analysis. Rigolet Inuit described: how conservation management decisions had disrupted important connections among caribou and Inuit, particularly related to food, culture, and well-being; the socio-cultural and emotional impacts of the criminalization of an important cultural practice, as well as perceived inequities in wildlife conservation enforcement; and the frustration, anger, and hurt with not being heard or included in caribou management decisions. These results provide insights into experiences of historic and ongoing colonial wildlife management decisions, and highlight future directions for management initiatives for the health and well-being of Inuit and caribou.

Engaging Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in Environmental Management Could Alleviate Scale Mismatches in Social–Ecological Systems

Scale mismatches in social–ecological systems constrain conservation by obscuring signals of environmental change, which could otherwise feed back to inform adaptive responses and solutions. We argue that engaging indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLC) in place-based environmental management could generate the fine-resolution information and workforce needed to alleviate scale mismatches. We illustrate our argument using a case study initiated by Māori in Aotearoa/New Zealand and demonstrate that the current broad scales of hunting regulation and assessment in black swan (kakī anau, Cygnus atratus) management could obscure local ecological drivers of populations. Many IPLC can facilitate adaptive place-based management by continually monitoring ecological feedbacks (e.g., population numbers, habitat conditions) at fine resolutions through customary resource use and observations. However, disregard for IPLC rights, scepticism of traditional ecological knowledge, restricted opportunity to connect with resources, compartmentalization of resource management, and insufficient funding limit IPLC engagement and must be overcome to alleviate scale mismatches.

COVID-19, extractive industries, and indigenous communities in Canada: Notes towards a political economy research agenda

As the economic ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to unfold, it is becoming increasingly apparent that this crisis will have significant and lasting implications for the relationship between extractive industries and Indigenous communities. Using a case study from Canada, this paper examines how the political dynamics of industry-Indigenous relations have changed and speculates about how these dynamics might continue to change in the future. The economic crisis has already intensified political conflicts and struggles between Indigenous peoples and mining, oil, and gas companies. We identify and discuss four points of conflict between Indigenous communities and extractive industries that have become more acute as a result of the current economic crisis. It is important for researchers to pay close attention to how these conflicts are affected by the pandemic, in order to help Indigenous communities develop strategies to cope with changes in industry-Indigenous relations.

Cumulative Environmental Impacts in the Gwich’in Cultural Landscape

Environmental changes are impacting northern environments and human communities. Cumulative impact assessments are vital to understanding the combined effects of regional industrial developments and natural disturbances that affect humans and ecosystems. A gap in cumulative impacts literature includes methods to evaluate impacts in cultural landscapes. In this study, we utilized spatial overlay analysis to assess cumulative environmental impacts in the cultural landscape of northern Canada’s Gwich’in Settlement Region. In three analyses, we quantified and mapped: (1) Cultural feature density, (2) cumulative environmental disturbance, and (3) potential overlap between disturbances and cultural features. Our first analysis depicts the extent and pattern of cultural relationships with regional landscapes and illustrates the Gwich’in cultural landscape, with widespread harvesting trails, named places, traditional use areas, and archaeological sites found in highest densities near important waterways. Our second analysis suggests that spatial overlay can track multiple disturbances, illustrating diffuse, lower intensity cumulative environmental impacts. The final analysis shows that overlaying disturbance and cultural feature data provides a novel way to investigate cumulative impacts in a cultural landscape, indicating relatively low levels of potential overlap between Gwich’in cultural features and disturbances. These methods provide one way to investigate cumulative impacts, relevant for well- documented cultural landscapes.

The utility of joinpoint regression for estimating population parameters given changes in population structure

The method of joinpoint regression has been used in numerous domains to assess changes in time series data, including such things as cancer mortality rates, motor vehicle collision mortalities, and disease risk. To help improve estimation of population parameters for use in ecological risk assessment and management, we present a simulation and analysis to describe the utility of this method for the ecological domain. We demonstrate how joinpoint regression can accurately identify if the population structure changes based on time series of abundance, as well as identify when this change occurs. In addition, we compare and contrast population parameter estimates derived through joinpoint and surplus production methods to those derived from standard surplus production methods alone. When considering a change point at 32 years (out of a 64 year simulation), the joinpoint regression model was able, on average, to estimate a joinpoint time of 32.31 years with a variance of 6.82 and 95% confidence interval for the mean relative bias of (0.0085, 0.0112). The model was able to consistently estimate population parameters, with variance of these estimations decreasing as the change in these population parameters increased. We conclude that joinpoint regression be added to the list of methods employed by those who assess ecological risk to allow for a more accurate and complete understanding of population dynamics.

Potential impact of restricted caribou (Rangifer tarandus) consumption on anemia prevalence among Inuit adults in northern Canada

Background

Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) is the top dietary source of iron and several micronutrients necessary for red blood cell production (erythropoiesis) in the contemporary diet of Inuit adults across Canada. Many caribou populations across the circumpolar north, however, have experienced dramatic declines in recent decades. Restricted access to caribou may negatively impact the nutrition and health of Inuit communities.

Methods

We used data from the Inuit Health Survey, a cross-sectional survey of 2550 Inuit adults in thirty-six communities across northern Canada (conducted in 2007-2008) to examine the relationship between caribou consumption, hemoglobin (Hb), and blood biomarkers of nutrient intake and contaminant exposure. Multivariable linear regression was used to investigate the potential public health impact of a theoretical restriction in caribou consumption, by estimating the response of Hb concentrations (and the attendant change in anemia prevalence), to theoretical changes in caribou consumption (with and without substitution of caribou with other country food meat).

Results

Mean (95% CI) daily caribou meat consumption differed by an order of magnitude 4.3 (3.9-4.7), 51.1 (48.5-53.8), and 236.7 (224.7-248.7) grams/day between tertiles of caribou consumption. Mean (95% CI) hemoglobin levels increased from 129.1 (128.1-130.2) g/L to 132.5 (131.3-133.7) g/L between the highest and lowest tertiles of caribou consumption. In multivariable regression analyses, average daily caribou meat consumption was positively associated (P< 0.001) with hemoglobin levels. This relationship translated into approximately 4 g/L hemoglobin increase in participants in the third tertile of caribou consumption. The overall prevalence of anemia observed in the study population was 26.5% (24.5 - 28.3%) and a modelled restriction in caribou consumption (i.e. caribou = 0) increased the overall prevalence of anemia by approximately 6%. The maximum negative effect of caribou restrictions was related to a complete restriction on caribou consumption, coupled with the substitution of caribou with other country food meat (35.4% prevalence).

Conclusions

Given the importance of caribou to Inuit culture, health and wellbeing, and the high price of healthful market foods in remote northern communities, strategies to promote the sustainable harvest of country foods are urgently required to ensure the health and nutrition security of the Inuit, in the context of rapidly changing Arctic environments and ecosystems.

Biocultural Hysteresis Inhibits Adaptation to Environmental Change

Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLC) often use natural resources as both a reason and mechanism for environmental management, yet a number of environmental, social, and economic drivers disrupt this relationship. Here, we argue that these drivers can also trigger a set of feedback mechanisms that further diminish the efficacy of local management. We call this process biocultural hysteresis. These feedbacks, which include knowledge loss and a breakdown of social hierarchies, prevent IPLC from adapting their management to change. Biocultural hysteresis worsens as IPLC spend an increasing amount of time outside their social-ecological context. Therefore, we argue for adaptive policies and processes that favour protecting and enabling IPLC engagement with their environment.

Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) and Inuit Nutrition Security in Canada

Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) has been fundamental to the diet and culture of Arctic Indigenous Peoples for thousands of years. Although caribou populations observe natural cycles of abundance and scarcity, several caribou herds across the Circumpolar North have experienced dramatic declines in recent decades due to a range of interrelated factors. Broadly, the objectives of this study are to examine food and nutrition security in relation to wildlife population and management status across Inuit Nunangat (the Inuit homeland, consisting of four regions across the Canadian Arctic). Specifically, we: (1) characterize the contribution of caribou to Inuit nutrition across northern Canada and (2) evaluate the population and management status of caribou herds/populations harvested by Inuit. Dietary data were derived from the 2007-2008 Inuit Health Survey, which included dietary information for Inuit adults (n = 2097) residing in thirty-six communities, spanning three regions (the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Nunavut, and Nunatsiavut) of the Canadian North. Published information regarding the range, abundance, status, and management status of caribou herds/populations was collected through document analysis and was validated through consultation with northern wildlife experts (territorial governments, co-management, and/or Inuit organizations). While caribou contributed modestly to total diet energy (3-11% of intake) across the regions, it was the primary source of iron (14-37%), zinc (18-41%), copper (12-39%), riboflavin (15-39%), and vitamin B12 (27-52%), as well as a top source of protein (13-35%). Restrictions on Inuit subsistence harvest (harvest quotas or bans) are currently enacted on at least six northern caribou herds/populations with potential consequences for country food access for over twenty-five Inuit communities across Canada. A holistic multi-sectorial approach is needed to ensure the sustainability of wildlife populations, while supporting Inuit food and nutrition security in the interim.