Year: 2024, 2024
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Penney, Chantelle, Thesis advisor (ths): Wilson, Chris C, Thesis advisor (ths): Burness, Gary, Degree committee member (dgc): Scott, Graham, Degree committee member (dgc): Craig, Paul, Degree committee member (dgc): Freeland, Joanna, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Climate change is a major conservation concern, especially for many cold-adapted species. The rate of warming due to climate change will likely outpace adaptive responses, and many populations will likely need to rely on phenotypic plasticity to cope with environmental warming. It is currently unclear whether plasticity in physiological responses to warming will be sufficient to offset… more Year: 2024, 2024
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>I investigated the climate vulnerability of a cold-water salmonid by observing the upper thermal tolerance of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) across multiple life stages. Using hatchery- and wild-ancestry fish, I assessed variation in thermal tolerances and carryover effects within and among brook trout life stages and populations that were reared under varying winter thermal regimes… more Year: 2021, 2021
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Identifying population declines and mitigating biodiversity loss require reliable monitoring techniques, but complex life histories and cryptic characteristics of anuran species render conventional monitoring challenging and ineffective. Environmental DNA (eDNA) detection is a highly sensitive and minimally invasive alternative to conventional anuran monitoring. In this study, I… more Year: 2018, 2018
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Understanding the maintenance and spread of invasive diseases is critical in evaluating threats to biodiversity and how to best minimize their impact, which can by done by monitoring disease occurrences across time and space. I sought to apply existing and upcoming molecular tools to assess fluctuations in both presence and strain variation of frog virus 3 (FV3), a species of Ranavirus,… more Year: 2018, 2018
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>North American freshwater fishes are declining rapidly due to habitat fragmentation, degradation, and loss. In some cases, translocations can be used to reverse local extirpations by releasing species in suitable habitats that are no longer naturally accessible. Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) experienced historical overharvest across their distribution, leading to endangered… more Year: 2018, 2018
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Effective population size (Ne) is a foundational concept in conservation biology, in part due to its relationship to the adaptive potential of populations. Although Ne is often estimated for wild populations, it is rarely calibrated against actual population estimates (Nc) other than to produce Ne/Nc ratios. This project used demographic and genetic data for from two intensively-studied… more Year: 2017, 2017
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Currier, Charise A., Thesis advisor (ths): Freeland, Joanna, Thesis advisor (ths): Wilson, Chris C, Degree committee member (dgc): Morris, Todd J, Degree committee member (dgc): Schaefer, James A, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Environmental DNA (eDNA) detection uses species-specific markers to screen DNA from bulk samples, such as water, to infer species presence. This study involved the development and testing of species-specific markers for four freshwater pearly mussels (Unionidae). The markers were applied to water samples from intensively sampled mussel monitoring sites to compare species detections from… more Year: 2017, 2017
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Masson, Laurence, Thesis advisor (ths): Fox, Michael G, Degree committee member (dgc): Wilson, Chris C, Degree committee member (dgc): Copp, Gordon H, Degree committee member (dgc): Beisel, Jean-Nicolas, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Researchers have shown increasing interest in biological invasions for the associated ecological and economic impacts as well as for the opportunities they offer to study the mechanisms that induce range expansion in novel environments. I investigated the strategies exhibited by invasive species that facilitate range expansion. Invasive populations exhibit shifts in life-history strategy… more Year: 2016, 2016
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Long-term studies of demographic processes such as survival and abundance conducted in unexploited systems provide unique insight into the natural population ecology of fish, but are rarely available. I used historical tagging records of a sanctuary population of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in Algonquin Park, Ontario to investigate long-term population dynamics in an unexploited… more Year: 2016, 2016
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Serrao, Natasha Rosemary, Thesis advisor (ths): Wilson, Chris C, Degree committee member (dgc): Dextrase, Alan, Degree committee member (dgc): Freeland, Joanna, Degree committee member (dgc): Reid, Scott, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Recent range reductions of endangered species have been linked to urban development, increased agricultural activities, and introduction of non-native species. I used Redside Dace (Clinostomus elongatus) as a focal species to examine the utility of novel monitoring approaches, and to understand historical and contemporary processes that have influenced their present distribution. I… more Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Kelly, Nick, Thesis advisor (ths): Burness, Gary, Thesis advisor (ths): Wilson, Chris C, Degree committee member (dgc): Ridgway, Mark S., Degree committee member (dgc): McDermid, Jenni L., Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>In the face of climate change, the persistence of cold-adapted species and populations will depend on their capacity for evolutionary adaptation of physiological traits. As a cold-adapted Ice Age relict species, lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) are ideal for studying potential effects of climate change on coldwater fishes. I studied the thermal acclimation capacity and aerobic… more
