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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 2022

Campos Valverde, Rebeca

Northern hemisphere evergreen forests assimilate a significant fraction of global atmospheric CO2. Conifers undergo winter-downregulated photosynthetic activity and spring-onset photosynthetic activation. Currently, increased temperatures are leading to shifts in photosynthetic phenology (early...

Fall 2016

Mahon, Elizabeth Louise

To date mountain pine beetle (MPB) has affected more than 19 million ha. of pine forests in Canada. The primary species affected by the current outbreak has been lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), however as MPB range expands eastward beyond its historical habitat, the bark beetle has encountered a...

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 2018

Baydack, Micki

The impacts of mining activity on human-caribou relationships in the Northwest Territories have been a focus of study in both the natural and social sciences for decades. Guided by Łutsel K’e Dene First Nation elders and harvesters, this study used dendrochronology methods and best practices for...