Applied Experience
FERIT’s project work spans forest management planning, wildlife conservation, cumulative effects assessment, infrastructure and resource development, and species-at-risk applications. Across these projects, the common focus is on helping clients understand how alternative actions may affect ecological systems and wildlife populations over time.
These examples illustrate how FERIT applies integrated ecological modelling, habitat analysis, cumulative effects assessment, and population-based decision support to real-world planning and environmental assessment challenges.
Selected Applications
Decision-Support Tool for Boreal Caribou Conservation
Funded under Ontario’s Caribou Conservation Stewardship Program, this project produced a comprehensive web-based decision-support tool for boreal caribou management built on the ALCES Flow simulation platform. The tool integrates landscape composition, climate change trajectories, disturbance regimes, habitat quality, and population vital rates to evaluate how forest harvest, wildfire, roads, wolf control, and moose management may influence long-term caribou persistence. Applied to the Trout Lake, Lac Seul, and Red Lake Forest Management Units in northwestern Ontario, the work demonstrated how integrated landscape and population simulations can be used to evaluate conservation actions before implementation on the ground.
George River Caribou Herd: Movement, Habitat, Population, and Cumulative Effects
Prepared in support of an Environmental Assessment project in Quebec, this work provided an integrated assessment of movement behaviour, habitat selection, population dynamics, and cumulative effects for the George River Caribou Herd. Multiple analytical frameworks were applied, including seasonal movement and road-crossing analyses from long-term GPS telemetry, landscape-scale resource selection models using XGBoost, finer-scale integrated step-selection functions, and a Bayesian integrated population model aligned with federal recovery science. Results were used to evaluate how the proposed access road and associated project activities could affect movement, habitat effectiveness, and long-term sustainability.
Wetland Functional Habitat and Biodiversity Assessment and Mapping
In support of the work by AtkinsRealis on the environmental assessments for the Webequie Supply Road and Northern Road Link in the Ring of Fire area, FERIT modelled and mapped functional habitat and biodiversity loss using resource selection modelling across multiple species groups. The work used locally collected field observations, GIS-based resource units, and machine learning approaches, including gradient boosted regression trees, to quantify relative probability of use for wetlands and related habitat types. The resulting models were linked to GIS layers to map functional habitat, species diversity, and projected habitat loss under future development scenarios, providing a quantitative basis for biodiversity assessment in the environmental assessment process.
Caribou Sustainability Metrics for the Springpole Project
In support of an environmental assessment project by WSP for the Springpole Gold Project in Ontario, FERIT assessed caribou sustainability metrics under current and future condition scenarios at regional and local analysis scales. The study evaluated alternative methods for estimating long-term population sustainability (lambda), including empirical, analytical, and Leslie matrix approaches, and compared how project-related disturbance influenced sustainability at the regional, local, and project foot-print scales. Results showed strong consistency among methods and indicated that project-related changes in lambda were small at ecologically meaningful regional scales, while still providing a transparent, defensible framework for assessing the effects of nursery-site disturbance on long-term caribou persistence.
Scenario Analysis of Moose Population Dynamics for Beaver Lake Cree Nation (BLCN)
In collaboration with Integrated Ecology Group (IEG), FERIT contributed to a comprehensive assessment of moose population dynamics and Indigenous harvesting opportunity across the Beaver Lake Cree Nation (BLCN) traditional territory in east-central Alberta. The study integrated landscape reconstruction, cumulative effects analysis, and population dynamics modelling to evaluate how industrial development, linear disturbance, and land-use constraints have affected moose populations and the meaningful exercise of Treaty 6 rights. Using the ALCES landscape simulator and a PopDyn population model, the analysis linked habitat condition, carrying capacity, harvest pressure, and predator–prey dynamics to long-term population outcomes. A novel accessibility framework was developed to quantify Indigenous Land-Use Opportunity by accounting for regulatory exclusions, safety constraints, and practical access limitations. Scenario analysis demonstrated that linear disturbances such as roads and seismic lines are key drivers of increased predation and harvest pressure, contributing to substantial declines in both moose abundance and accessible harvest. Results showed that coordinated management actions—particularly limiting new access and reclaiming existing corridors—have strong potential to restore both ecological conditions and Indigenous harvesting capacity, providing a defensible, quantitative basis for land-use planning and rights-based decision-making.
Louisiana-Pacific Forest Ecosystem Management Plan
FERIT collaborated with Forsite to support Louisiana-Pacific Corporation’s Forest Ecosystem Management Plan for FML 3 in Manitoba. The work included spatial landscape and habitat analysis, resource selection probability modelling for species at risk and focal species, and evaluation of how alternative harvest scenarios could affect moose, biodiversity, and ecological integrity. FERIT also contributed to cumulative effects assessment using Bowtie-based risk evaluation for moose populations, biodiversity, carbon balance, and watersheds.
What These Applications Demonstrate
Although these applications vary in geography and application, they share a common theme: the need to understand how multiple environmental pressures interact, and how alternative management strategies may influence ecological outcomes.
- integration of habitat, disturbance, and population response
- scenario-based evaluation of management alternatives
- support for cumulative effects and environmental assessment
- use of geospatial and analytical tools in operational planning
- application to species-at-risk and broader biodiversity questions
- decision-focused interpretation of complex ecological information
Collaborators and Application Context
FERIT has worked with a range of collaborators and organizations on integrated modelling, cumulative effects, wildlife conservation, and land-use planning initiatives.
Application Work with a Decision Focus
FERIT’s project experience reflects an emphasis on practical ecological analysis that helps clients compare options, understand trade-offs, and support defensible planning and conservation decisions.
Whether the context is forestry, infrastructure, wildlife conservation, or cumulative effects, the objective is the same: to connect sound science with real-world decisions.