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Spring 2021

Hynes, Ashley

Climate change may cause reduced forest productivity and higher tree mortality due to water deficits that result from increased evapotranspiration. Such limitations may occur in some areas of the North American boreal forest, where precipitation is low and warming trends are high. This thesis...

Fall 2023

Scaria, Francis

Alberta’s forest industry is predicted to be impacted by a short to medium-term decline in timber supply. Intensive silviculture tools, such as pre-commercial thinning, have been shown to increase individual tree growth, shorten rotation lengths and improve stand merchantability in important...

Spring 2024

Lau, Nicole

Mountain pine beetle (MPB; Dendroctonus ponderosae) disturbances, amplified by climate change, have led to extensive tree mortality and ecosystem succession in boreal forests across western Canada. Often following attack, former ectomycorrhizal (EM) pine stands in Alberta are replaced by...

Spring 2018

Isaac-Renton, Miriam G

As climates warm and extreme climatic events occur with more frequency and severity, maintaining forest health and productivity may involve planting seed sources from warmer, drier areas. To guide such reforestation strategies, this work analyzes the risks of both climate change and assisted...

Spring 2013

Pina Poujol, Pablo Cesar

In recent decades mountain pine beetle (MPB) has become an important natural disturbance agent in western Canada, thus the impact of this disturbance will likely be an important component affecting water resources in this region. Despite the widespread recognition of the potential changes, there...

Fall 2012

Therrien, Janet FCA

Warming winter trends due to climate change have allowed for a range expansion of the mountain pine beetle, and the beetle now threatens Canada’s economically and ecologically important jack pine forests. The beetle’s success in jack pine trees will depend upon successful colonization of the...

Spring 2014

Cigan, Paul W

The expansion of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae; MPB) into naïve host ecosystems has been met by gaps in two key areas of research: (A) affects on the chemistry of forest soils, and (B) impacts on the regeneration of tree seedlings. To investigate linkages between both, we paired...

Fall 2015

Gendreau-Berthiaume, Benoit

In forest ecosystems, structure and species composition change over time as a function of ageing and minor disturbances and it is important to understand these changes for predicting forest productivity and habitat suitability for other plant and animal biota. Disturbances play a major role in...

Spring 2013

McIntosh, Anne C. S.

As climate changes and disturbance regimes shift, there is a need to better understand and anticipate potential impacts of both natural and anthropogenic disturbance agents on forest ecosystems. Lodgepole pine forests in western Canada are experiencing an unprecedented mountain pine beetle (MPB)...

Spring 2019

Beck, Jackson, L

Disturbances are frequent events across the Canadian boreal forests and can affect both below and above ground ecosystem processes at various temporal and spatial scales. We have limited understanding of how changes in the below ground fungal communities affect above ground plant communities....