The critical habitat requirements of wolverines and conservation measures needed to protect viable populations through climate change.
Wolverine habitat protection is one of the clearest examples where climate change creates welfare and conservation challenges that local management alone cannot address. The specific snow depth requirement for denning means that wolverine welfare is directly threatened by temperature rise that reduces snowpack in mountain environments. Individual wolverines in ranges experiencing reduced snowpack face denning failure, reduced winter prey access through scavenging on ungulate carcasses revealed by snow melt, and competition from predators that previously could not access deep snow areas. Protected area designations that safeguard high-elevation wolverine habitat provide some buffer, but range-wide population viability ultimately depends on limiting climate warming.