Northern development and Rangifer risks: a review of the impacts of resource extraction for caribou and reindeer.

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Title: Northern development and Rangifer risks: a review of the impacts of resource extraction for caribou and reindeer.
Authors: Lessard, Éloïse1 (AUTHOR) elessard@mun.ca, Walker, Philip D.2 (AUTHOR), Vander Wal, Eric1 (AUTHOR)
Source: Environmental Reviews. 2/5/2026, Vol. 34, p1-13. 13p.
Subject Terms: *Resource exploitation, *Demography, *Wildlife management, *Ecological impact, Reindeer, Caribou, Arctic climate
Geographic Terms: Arctic regions
Abstract: As the global demand for energy continues to rise rapidly, northern ecosystems—i.e., Arctic, subarctic, and boreal regions—are especially at risk from extractive industries due to their rich mineral and hydrocarbon potential. The expansion of infrastructure associated with extractive industries often impacts species and may ultimately contribute to population declines, particularly for those less resilient to human-induced rapid environmental changes. If we aim to support effective conservation and mitigation measures for Rangifer tarandus as resource extraction intensifies, there is an urgent need to compile their response toward resource extraction. We present a scoping review of 71 studies addressing the impact of mineral and hydrocarbon extraction on Rangifer to synthesize the evidence currently available in the literature, uncover trends in results, and identify remaining knowledge gaps. We recorded effects for various Rangifer populations impacted by resource extraction, with most (76%) of the studies concluding that such activities had a significant negative impact on Rangifer, ranging from impacts on (1) distribution and habitat selection, (2) movement and behaviour, (3) forage, contaminants, and body condition, and (4) vital rates and demographics. Our work highlights an important gap as few studies assessed impacts on vitals rates and population trends. We think there is a need to implement long-term, non-invasive contaminant surveys and to uncover mechanisms linking contaminant levels and behavioural responses to vital rates to better understand the long-term impact of these activities on demographic trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Environmental Reviews is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
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  Data: Northern development and Rangifer risks: a review of the impacts of resource extraction for caribou and reindeer.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Lessard%2C+Éloïse%22">Lessard, Éloïse</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> elessard@mun.ca</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Walker%2C+Philip+D%2E%22">Walker, Philip D.</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Vander+Wal%2C+Eric%22">Vander Wal, Eric</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Environmental+Reviews%22">Environmental Reviews</searchLink>. 2/5/2026, Vol. 34, p1-13. 13p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subject Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Resource+exploitation%22">Resource exploitation</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Demography%22">Demography</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Wildlife+management%22">Wildlife management</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ecological+impact%22">Ecological impact</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Reindeer%22">Reindeer</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Caribou%22">Caribou</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Arctic+climate%22">Arctic climate</searchLink>
– Name: SubjectGeographic
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Arctic+regions%22">Arctic regions</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: As the global demand for energy continues to rise rapidly, northern ecosystems—i.e., Arctic, subarctic, and boreal regions—are especially at risk from extractive industries due to their rich mineral and hydrocarbon potential. The expansion of infrastructure associated with extractive industries often impacts species and may ultimately contribute to population declines, particularly for those less resilient to human-induced rapid environmental changes. If we aim to support effective conservation and mitigation measures for Rangifer tarandus as resource extraction intensifies, there is an urgent need to compile their response toward resource extraction. We present a scoping review of 71 studies addressing the impact of mineral and hydrocarbon extraction on Rangifer to synthesize the evidence currently available in the literature, uncover trends in results, and identify remaining knowledge gaps. We recorded effects for various Rangifer populations impacted by resource extraction, with most (76%) of the studies concluding that such activities had a significant negative impact on Rangifer, ranging from impacts on (1) distribution and habitat selection, (2) movement and behaviour, (3) forage, contaminants, and body condition, and (4) vital rates and demographics. Our work highlights an important gap as few studies assessed impacts on vitals rates and population trends. We think there is a need to implement long-term, non-invasive contaminant surveys and to uncover mechanisms linking contaminant levels and behavioural responses to vital rates to better understand the long-term impact of these activities on demographic trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Environmental Reviews is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1139/er-2025-0182
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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      Pagination:
        PageCount: 13
        StartPage: 1
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      – SubjectFull: Resource exploitation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Demography
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Wildlife management
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Ecological impact
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Reindeer
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Caribou
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Arctic climate
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Arctic regions
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Northern development and Rangifer risks: a review of the impacts of resource extraction for caribou and reindeer.
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            NameFull: Lessard, Éloïse
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            NameFull: Walker, Philip D.
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            NameFull: Vander Wal, Eric
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            – D: 05
              M: 02
              Text: 2/5/2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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