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Skip to Search Results- 1Azam Nikzad
- 1Bakker, Nicola A. K.
- 1Belanger, Robert J
- 1Bell, Aaron J
- 1Brewin, M. K.
- 1Brookson, Cole B
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Disentangling the relative effects of structural complexity and substrate composition on fish habitat selection in coral reef environments
DownloadFall 2021
Identifying features of biogenic habitats (i.e. made of living plants and animals) that attract and retain resident species is a key theme in ecology with important implications for habitat conservation and restoration. Using corals (class Anthozoa, phylum Cnidaria) —a group of foundational...
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Ecological Ideologies of Modernity and Their Temporal-Spatial Representations in Canadian, Russian, and Polish Literatures of the Twentieth Century
DownloadFall 2015
The dissertation focuses on the temporal-spatial representations of the ecological ideologies of modernity in the writings of Canadian authors Georges Bugnet, Sheila Watson, and Howard O’Hagan, Russian authors Andrei Bitov and Tatiana Tolstaia, and Polish author Czesław Miłosz. The concept of...
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Ecology and management of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (O. hemionus) of east-central Alberta in relation to chronic wasting disease
DownloadFall 2010
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal pathogen affecting white-tailed and mule deer in east-central Alberta, and I addressed two current limitations of CWD management. First, to improve precision and accuracy of density estimates obtained from aerial surveys, I evaluated alternative survey...
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Fall 2019
The genetic structure of Escherichia coli is diverse in virulence genes that are required for disease pathogenesis. Stress factors presented in nature, agricultural and food production shape the population structure and drive the acquisition of virulence and resistance genes. Shiga toxin...
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Effects of linear anthropogenic corridors on insect pollinator movement and diversity, and understory shrub fruit production in the boreal forest of northeastern Alberta
DownloadSpring 2021
Fragmentation of habitats is a primary concern in the conservation of global biodiversity. Anthropogenic linear disturbances, such as roads, trails, and power lines, are a major source of habitat fragmentation worldwide. In Alberta’s boreal forest, a common, pervasive type of disturbance is...
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Fall 2023
Global melting of mountain glaciers is altering downstream ecosystems. As glaciers disappear, downstream water temperatures are rising while turbidity and nutrient concentrations decline. Here, knowledge gaps exist concerning how these abiotic changes will affect primary producers in glacial...
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Evaluating trade-offs: the effects of foraging, biting flies, and footing on wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) habitat use
DownloadSpring 2018
Understanding the distribution of forage is important in predicting the distribution, habitat use (behaviour), movements, and fitness-related traits of large, grazing ungulates. Although this bottom-up perspective provides a foundation for understanding habitat supply and thus nutrition, foraging...
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Examination of the diversity and assembly processes of digenean trematode communities in Alberta, and the implications of spatio-temporal community dynamics on swimmer's itch transmission in recreational lakes
DownloadSpring 2019
The preservation of biodiversity on our planet is crucial to our health. However, we cannot preserve what we do not understand. Biodiversity surveys most often forget to include some of the most diverse organisms on our planet, the parasites. Historically given a bad rap because of the diseases...
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Genetic diversity and selection in North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus): A Hamiltonian perspective into the processes and mechanisms of evolution
DownloadFall 2013
The theory of natural selection has advanced our understanding in every aspect of biological sciences, yet despite this seeming ubiquity, there remain some components that are not fully resolved. Natural selection predicts the “selfish” advancement of genes that are optimally suited for their...
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Spring 2014
The worldwide biodiversity crisis has intensified the need to better understand how biodiversity and human disturbance are related. Yet this relationship lacks both consensus in theoretical expectations and consistency in observed empirical patterns. I present one of the largest extent studies...