Biodiversity Climate change Conservation planning Mountains Natural resource development Wolverines

Supporting the Regional Assessment in the Ring of Fire Area: Cumulative Impacts of Climate Change and Development on Wolverine in Northern Ontario

Farrell, C., Hornseth, M., Rempel, R., Gobin, J., O'Connor, C., Scrafford, M., Southee, M., McCaw, L., Ray, J., Carlson, M. & Chetkiewicz, C.

Access

---

Key points

• The vast landscapes of northern Ontario play a vital role in climate change mitigation, provide habitat for at-risk species, and hold significant socioecological value for Indigenous Peoples of the region.
• There is mounting economic and political pressure to extract mineral deposits in the Ring of Fire Area and across northern Ontario. This underscores the importance of initiatives such as the Regional Assessment in the Ring of Fire Area, which aims to evaluate current and future development and climate change impacts in this globally significant region
• We used wolverine (Gulo gulo) as a focal species in this analysis because of their sensitivity and response to both developmental and climatic factors
• Our simulation-based cumulative effects analysis showed that wolverine habitat suitability declined substantially in response to climate change at a regional scale, while linear features (e.g. roads, pipelines etc) and mining development produced additional impact.
• The model predicted a complete loss of suitable wolverine habitat across northern Ontario within as little as 30 years. Climate change was the dominant driver of regional impacts, often masking local development-related effects

Recommended citation

Farrell, C., Hornseth, M., Rempel, R., Gobin, J., O'Connor, C., Scrafford, M., Southee, M., McCaw, L., Ray, J., Carlson, M. & Chetkiewicz, C. (2026). Supporting the Regional Assessment in the Ring of Fire Area: Cumulative Impacts of Climate Change and Development on Wolverine in Northern Ontario. Wildlife Conservation Society Canada [WCS Canada]. https://wcscanada.org/resources/cumulative-impacts-of-climate-change-and-development-on-wolverine/