Pond, Bruce

190 species of birds are known to breed in Ontario's far north making the region an important nursery for boreal birds. Digital point count data were collected using two different autonomous recording units (ARUs): one model with two standard microphones to detect birds and anurans, and one model with one standard microphone and one ultrasonic microphone for detecting bats. ARUs were deployed either in short or long-term plots, which were four to six days or approximately 10 weeks, respectively. I assessed differences in breeding bird richness detections between ARU and plot types. I also tested the relative impact of the habitat heterogeneity and species-energy hypotheses in relation to breeding birds and created predictive maps of breeding bird diversity for Ontario's far north. I found no difference in species richness estimates between the two ARU models but found that long-term plots detected about 7 more bird species and 1.5 more anuran species than short-term plots. I found support for both the species-energy and habitat heterogeneity hypotheses, but support for each hypothesis varied with the resolution of the analysis. Species-energy models were better predictors of breeding bird diversity at coarser resolutions and habitat heterogeneity models were better predictors at finer resolutions. Breeding bird diversity was highest in the Ontario Shield Ecozone compared with the Hudson Bay Lowlands Ecozone, but concentrated areas of higher diversity found in the Lowlands were associated with large rivers and the associated coastlines.

Author Keywords: boreal birds, breeding birds, habitat heterogeneity, Hill diversity, Ontario, species-energy hypothesis

Natural populations of flowering plants rarely have perfectly uniform distributions, so trends in pollen dispersal should affect the size of the pollination neighbourhood and influence mating opportunities. Here I used spatial analysis to determine the size of the pollination neighbourhood in a stand of the herbaceous, wind-pollinated plant (Typha latifolia; broad-leaved cattail) by evaluating patterns of pollen production and seed set by individual cattail shoots. I found a positive correlation between pollen production and seed set among near-neighbour shoots (i.e., within 4 m2 patches of the stand; Pearson's r = 0.235, p < 0.05, df = 77) that was not driven by a correlation between these variables within inflorescences (Pearson's r = 0.052, p > 0.45, df = 203). I also detected significant spatial autocorrelations in seed set over short distances (up to ~ 5 m) and a significant cross-correlation between pollen production and seed set over distances of < 1 m indicating that the majority of pollination events involve short distances. Patterns of pollen availability were simulated to explore the shape of the pollen dispersal curve. Simulated pollen availability fit actual patterns of seed set only under assumptions of highly restricted pollen dispersal. Together, these findings indicate that even though Typha latifolia produces copious amounts of pollen, the vast majority of pollen dispersal was highly localized to distances of ~ 1 m. Moreover, although Typha latifolia is self-compatible and has been described as largely selfing, my results are more consistent with the importance of pollen transfer between nearby inflorescences. Therefore, realized selfing rates of Typha latifolia should largely depend on the clonal structure of populations.

Author Keywords: clonal structure, correlogram, dispersal curves, pollination, spatial analysis, Typha latifolia

A wind tunnel study was conducted to investigate aeolian impact ripples in sand beds of varied texture from coarsely skewed to bimodal. Experimental data is lacking for aeolian megaripples, particularly in considering the influence of wind speed on ripple morphometrics. Additionally, the modelling community requires experimental data for model validation and calibration.

Eighteen combinations of wind speed and proportion of coarse mode particles by mass were analysed for both morphometrics and optical indices of spatial segregation. Wind tunnel conditions emulated those found at aeolian megaripple field sites, specifically a unimodal wind regime and particle transport mode segregation. Remote sensing style image classification was applied to investigate the spatial segregation of the two differently coloured size populations.

Ripple morphometrics show strong dependency on wind speed. Conversely, morphometric indices are inversely correlated to the proportion of the distribution that was comprised of coarse mode particles. Spatial segregation is highly correlated to wind speed in a positive manner and negatively correlated to the proportion of the distribution that was comprised of coarse mode particles. Results reveal that the degree of spatial segregation within an impact ripple bedform can be higher than previously reported in the literature.

Author Keywords: Aeolian, Impact Ripples, Megaripple, Self-organization, Wind Tunnel

Hunting represents the principal tool for managing populations of migratory caribou (Rangifer tarandus), but harvest may be affected by landscape features that govern animal distribution and hunter access. Such effects are unclear. I capitalized on an existing dataset of 21 355 caribou harvest records, 1980 – 2009, to determine the influence of landscape features on caribou harvest across the island of Newfoundland. Using a landcover map and spatial data for anthropogenic features, I modelled caribou harvest at the island scale for three phases of numerical change (growth in the 1980s, cessation of growth in the 1990s, decline in the 2000s) and harvest type (total harvest, resident harvest of males and females, resident harvest of males, resident harvest of females, and non-resident harvest of males) in relation to multiple putative predictor variables: proportion of lichen cover and distances to nearest forest cut, road, outfitter, transmission line, and town. I did the same analysis for seven individual Caribou Management Areas (CMAs).

At the island scale, the number of harvested caribou increased with proximity to the nearest forest cut and with greater proportions of lichen habitat. I attribute this to landscape features that provide forage for caribou, but also access and caribou visibility for hunters. Caribou harvest increased in proximity to transmission lines for the harvest of caribou by resident hunters in the 2000s, which could be a result of more risk-prone foraging Newfoundland caribou. Non-resident hunters harvested greater numbers of male caribou further from towns, likely a result of the placement of outfitter camps and activities. At the management area scale, in most instances, more caribou harvest occurred in close proximity to transmission lines. Proximity to forest cuts and high proportions of lichen were still important landscape features leading to a greater harvest. I conclude that the caribou harvest was largely governed by hunter access and visibility of their prey, augmented by open habitats preferred by caribou.

KEYWORDS

Caribou, Newfoundland, Rangifer tarandus, harvest, hunting, management area, landscape, human disturbances, game species vulnerability.

Author Keywords: caribou, game species vulnerability, harvest, hunting, newfoundland, rangifer tarandus

Maintaining functional connectivity among wildlife populations is important to ensure genetic diversity and evolutionary potential of declining populations, particularly when managing species at risk. The Boreal Designatable Unit (DU) of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan has declined in southern portions of the range because of increased human activities and has been identified as 'threatened' by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). In this dissertation, I used ten microsatellite DNA markers primarily from winter-collected fecal samples to delineate genetic structure of boreal caribou in declining portions of the range and increase understanding of the potential influence of the non-threatened Eastern Migratory DU of woodland caribou on genetic differentiation. Eastern migratory caribou are characterized by large home ranges compared to boreal caribou and migrate seasonally into portions of the Boreal DU range. A regional- and local-scale analysis using the spatial Bayesian clustering algorithm in program TESS delineated four regional clusters and 11 local clusters, with the majority of local clusters occurring along the southern periphery of the range. One of those clusters in Ontario corresponded spatially with the seasonal overlap of boreal and eastern migratory caribou and was characterized by substantial admixture, suggesting that the two DUs could be interbreeding. Next, I decoupled the impacts of historical and contemporary processes on genetic structure and found that historical processes were an important factor contributing to genetic differentiation, which may be a result of historical patterns of isolation by distance or different ancestry. Moreover, I found evidence of introgression from a currently unsampled population in northern Ontario, presumably barren-ground caribou (R. t. groenlandicus). Finally, because our analysis suggested recent processes were also responsible for genetic structure, I used a landscape genetics analysis to identify factors affecting contemporary genetic structure. Water bodies, anthropogenic disturbance, and mobility differences between the two DUs were important factors describing caribou genetic differentiation. This study provides insights on where conservation and management of caribou herds should be prioritized in threatened portions of the boreal caribou range and may have implications for future delineation of evolutionarily significant units.

Author Keywords: boreal forest, genetic structure, landscape genetics, microsatellite DNA, Rangifer tarandus, woodland caribou