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Biological and environmental correlates of cougar (Puma concolor) survival in west central Alberta
DownloadSpring 2023
Large carnivores have a significant role in ecosystems and their role as apex predators can have cascading effects that influence ecosystem stability. Managing large carnivores requires an understanding of how they use the land and their vital rates, including survival. For cougars (Puma...
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Description of new species of Osteostraci from the Man On The Hill locality, Northwest Territories, Canada, with consideration of the phylogenetic and biogeographic significance of the new taxa
DownloadFall 2011
The Lochkovian (Lower Devonian) Man on the Hill (MOTH ) locality, Northwest Territories, Canada, is a Konservat-Lagerstätte, where articulated early vertebrate remains are found. Among the early vertebrates preserved at the MOTH locality are the Osteostraci. Many specimens of osteostracan have...
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Disentangling competitive processes to better understand their drivers and consequences in a native grassland community
DownloadSpring 2021
Competition is often highlighted as a major force influencing community structure. However, there are multiple facets of competition that may have independent and differential impacts, making the understanding of what drives competition and how it structures communities difficult. In this thesis,...
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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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Early late Paleocene mammals from the Roche Percée local fauna, southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada
DownloadFall 2009
The occurrence of vertebrate fossils from the Ravenscrag Formation near Roche Percée, southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada, documents the presence of a large and diverse assemblage of early late Paleocene (approximately 58 million years) mammals. Previous studies of the Roche Percée localities have...
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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 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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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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Genetic structure of a large recolonizing carnivore: the case of the northern cougars (Puma concolor)
DownloadFall 2023
Anthropogenic activities have pressured and altered landscapes resulting in extinctions and extirpations. However, increased conservation efforts and changing management strategies in some large carnivores have resulted in population and range expansion. Population growth and range expansion are...
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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...