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- OPEN ACCESSWe examined the diet of Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) chicks at three midcoast Maine, USA, colonies during the years 2005–2014 and found that the puffins at each island have a distinct diet that has changed in recent years. White hake (Urophycis tenuis) is by far the most frequently delivered prey at each island. Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) is the second most frequently delivered food, but has declined in recent years on two islands. In contrast, butterfish (Poronotus triacanthus), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), and redfish (Sebastes spp.) have increased in the puffin diet on all islands. Chick condition declined significantly from 1993 to 2009. We demonstrate that puffin chicks with greater body weight experience a higher chance of postfledging survival as compared to chicks with lower body weight. The years 2012–2013 were a period of extreme sea surface warming, in which puffin hatching success and productivity sharply declined. This study provides new insight into changes in marine communities, examining changes in chick diet. We discuss our findings in relation to warming sea surface temperatures, recent climate-related decline in puffin productivity in the Gulf of Maine, and the impact of commercial fisheries on forage fish.
- OPEN ACCESSAn age-structured life-cycle model of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) for the Stillaguamish River in Puget Sound, Washington, USA, was employed to estimate the number of age-1 steelhead parr that could have produced the estimated adult return of 69 000 in 1895. We then divided the estimated parr numbers by the estimated area of steelhead rearing habitat in the Stillaguamish River basin in 1895 and under current conditions to estimate density of rearing steelhead then and now. Scaled to estimates of total wetted area of tributary and mainstem shallow shoreline habitat, our historic estimates averaged 0.39–0.49 parr·m−2, and ranged from 0.24 to 0.7 parr·m−2. These values are significantly greater than current densities in the Stillaguamish (mainstem average: 0.15 parr·m−2, tributaries: 0.07 parr·m−2), but well within the range of recent estimates of steelhead parr rearing densities in high-quality habitats. Our results indicate that modest improvement in the capacity of mainstem and tributary rearing habitat in Puget Sound rivers will yield large recovery benefits if realized in a large proportion of the area of river basins currently accessible to steelhead.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Mathieu Guillemette,
- Catherine Potvin,
- Lauliano Martinez,
- Bonarge Pacheco,
- Dioniz Caño, and
- Ignacio Pérez
Natural forest management and conservation projects such as reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and enhancing forest carbon stocks (REDD+) face many challenges in the field. Implementation of these projects depends on such factors as clarity of information among stakeholders, legal security of territories, and local decision-making power. These challenges have been previously identified in the Upper Bayano watershed of eastern Panama, where a long history of land cover and land-use conflicts is present between three different human groups. With a long-term objective of natural forest conservation, this study aims to develop and test participatory approaches (participatory mapping and participatory 3D modelling) for the Upper Bayano watershed in an attempt to create a consensus among all stakeholders on current land cover and land-use conflicts to overcome challenges faced by projects as REDD+. We found that the third dimension allows a common understanding over the landscape, creates a common ground discussion, and leads towards a consensus, while the participatory approach brings discussion and positive effects among the stakeholders and the bridging institutions bring equity and transparency. Finally, we discuss implications of this knowledge generation and common agreement over the landscape for future forest management projects such as REDD+’s implementation. - OPEN ACCESSThe cardiovagal baroreflex is an important physiological reflex that is commonly taught in health-related university physiology courses. This reflex is responsible for the rapid maintenance of blood pressure through dynamic changes in heart rate (HR) and vascular resistance. The use of lower-body negative pressure (LBNP) and lower-body positive pressure (LBPP) can manipulate these stretch sensitive baroreceptors. High performance and relatively inexpensive homemade LBNP and LBPP chambers can be easily constructed providing a valuable tool for both research and teaching purposes. There has been previous documentation of how to build a LBNP chamber; however, the information available usually lacks appropriate construction details, and there is currently no literature on how to build a chamber that can accommodate both LBNP and LBPP. In addition, a recently developed novel LBNP/LBPP chamber positioned on a 360° tilt-table provided the unique utility of superimposing both LBNP/LBPP and body position as independent or combined stressors to alter central blood volume. The primary purposes of this manuscript are to (1) provide step-by-step instructions on how to build a tilt-table LBNP/LBPP chamber, and (2) demonstrate the effectiveness of a tilt-table LBNP/LBPP chamber to facilitate undergraduate and graduate learning in the laboratory by effectively demonstrating the cardiovagal baroreflex.
- OPEN ACCESSThe accumulation of evidence that open access publishing can increase citation rates highlights one benefit of universal accessibility to scholarly works. However, studies investigating the effect of open access publishing on citations are typically conducted across a wide variety of journals and disciplines, introducing a number of potential issues and limiting their utility for specific disciplines. Here, I used three primary marine ecology journals with an open access option as a “microcosm” of scientific publishing to determine whether or not open access articles received more citations than non-open access articles during the same time frame, controlling for self-citations, article type, and journal impact factor. I also tested for the effects of time since publication and the number of authors. Citations were positively correlated with time since publication and differed across the three journals. In addition, open access articles received significantly more citations than non-open access articles. Self-citations increased with author number and were affected by a complex interaction between open access, journal, and time since publication. This study demonstrates that open access articles receive more citations in hybrid marine ecology journals, although the causal factors driving this trend are unknown.
- OPEN ACCESS
- J.L. McCune,
- Anja M. Carlsson,
- Sheila Colla,
- Christina Davy,
- Brett Favaro,
- Adam T. Ford,
- Kevin C. Fraser, and
- Eduardo G. Martins
Preventing the extinction of species will require limiting human activities in key areas, but it is unclear to what extent the public is committed to these limits and the associated costs. We commissioned an online survey of 1000 Canadians and asked them if it is important to prevent the extinction of wild species in Canada. We used specific scenarios illustrating the need for limits to personal activities, private property rights, and industrial development to further test their support. The respondents were strongly committed to species conservation in principle (89% agree), including the need to limit industrial development (80% agree). There was less support for limiting private property rights (63% agree), and more uncertainty when scenarios suggested potential loss of property rights and industry-based jobs. This highlights the high level of public concern regarding the economic impacts of preventing extinctions, and the need for more programs to encourage voluntary stewardship of endangered species on private land. Opinion polls that measure public support for conservation without acknowledging the concessions required may result in overly optimistic estimates of the level of support. Most Canadians in our sample supported endangered species conservation even when the necessity of limiting human activities was explicitly stated. - OPEN ACCESSThis paper focuses on the multiple ways in which people who live along the rivers of the Brazilian Amazon, known as ribeirinhos, experience malaria outside of a clinical setting. It describes the local understanding of malaria, strategies to distinguish the illness from other febrile sicknesses, challenges for detecting the disease through biomedical diagnosis methods, and vicissitudes of having malaria. It draws on cases from ribeirinhos from a peri-urban community of Manaus and a rural community from Careiro, State of Amazonas, Brazil. Although malaria is biomedically characterized by the pathogens causing the disease, ribeirinhos have developed other standards to define malaria, including the intensity of the symptoms, the interval between the infections, and the types of medications dispensed to them. In the riverine communities studied, the etiology of malaria includes mosquitoes, microbes, water, wind, sun, and person-to-person transmission. Symptoms of malaria were found to overlap with other febrile sicknesses; hence, ribeirinhos developed skills to monitor how a malaise unfolds in their bodies. Experiential knowledge plays a key role in the early detection of malaria. Individuals who have no previous experience with malaria were found to spend more time seeking health care. Equally important, ribeirinhos perceive that malaria is part of the landscape they inhabit.
- OPEN ACCESSIntroduction: Food insecurity at the individual level has been shown to be associated with the adoption of risky behavior and poor healthcare-seeking behavior. However, the impact of household food insecurity (HFI) on the utilization of maternal healthcare services (MHS) remains unexplored. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether or not household food insecurity was associated with non/inadequate utilization of MHS. Methods: Participants consisted of 3562 mothers aged between 15 and 49 years and with at least one child. The outcome variable was the utilization of MHS, e.g., institutional delivery, attendance ante-, and pre-natal visits. The explanatory variables included various sociodemographic factors (e.g., age, residence, education, wealth) apart from HFI. HFI was measured using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). Result: The prevalence of non- and under-utilization of MHS was 5.3 and 36.5, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, HFI, wealth index, and educational level were independently associated with MHS status. The odds of non- and under-utilization of MHS were 3.467 (CI = 1.058–11.354) and 4.104 (CI = 1.794–9.388) times higher, respectively, among women from households reporting severe food insecurity. Conclusion: Severe HFI was significantly associated with both under- and non-utilization of MHS. Interventions programs that address HFI and the empowerment of women can potentially contribute to an increased utilization of MHS.
- OPEN ACCESSContemporary approaches to market-oriented agricultural development focus on increasing production and economic efficiency to improve livelihoods and well-being. For seed system development, this has meant a focus on seed value chains predicated on standardized economic transactions and improved variety seeds. Building formal seed systems requires establishing and strengthening social institutions that reflect the market-oriented values of efficiency and standardization, institutions that often do not currently exist in many local and informal seed systems. This paper describes and analyzes efforts to develop formal seed systems in Sahelian West Africa over the past 10 years, and identifies the impacts for farmers of the social institutions that constitute formal seed systems. Using qualitative and spatial data and analysis, the paper characterizes farmers’ and communities’ experiences with seed access through the newly established formal seed system. The results demonstrate that the social and spatial extents of the formal and informal seed systems are extended and integrated through social institutions that reflect values inherent in both systems. The impacts of current market-oriented agricultural development projects are, therefore, more than in the past, in part because the social institutions associated with them are less singular in their vision for productive and economic efficiency.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Lesya Marushka,
- Malek Batal,
- Donald Sharp,
- Harold Schwartz,
- Amy Ing,
- Karen Fediuk,
- Andrew Black,
- Constantine Tikhonov, and
- Hing Man Chan
Consumption of fish and n-3 fatty acids (n-3 FAs) has been postulated to prevent type 2 diabetes (T2D). Objective: To explore the association between self-reported T2D and fish consumption, dietary n-3 FAs, and persistent organic pollutants (POP) intake in a regionally representative sample of First Nations (FNs) in Manitoba. Design: Data from the cross-sectional First Nations Food, Nutrition and Environment Study (FNFNES) collected from 706 members of 8 Manitoba FNs in 2010 were used. Household interviews were used to collect social and lifestyle data. The consumption of fish was estimated using a traditional food frequency questionnaire. Fish samples were analyzed for the presence of POP. Multiple logistic regression models adjusted for potential risk factors for T2D were developed. Results: A negative, dose–response relationship was found between fish intake and self-reported T2D. Fish consumptions of 2–3 portions per month and ≥1/week were inversely associated with T2D with odds ratio (OR) values of 0.51 (95% CI: 0.28–0.91) and 0.40 (95% CI: 0.19–0.82), respectively, compared with no fish intake. Similarly, intake of n-3 FAs was negatively associated with T2D (OR = 0.48 (95% CI: 0.30–0.77). Dietary POP intake was not associated with T2D. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the consumption of traditionally harvested fish may have a beneficial effect on T2D in Manitoba FNs. - OPEN ACCESSIntroduction: In Canada, the progestin-only dedicated pill is the most widely used method of emergency contraception (EC). This method gained over-the-counter status in Ontario in 2008. Our mixed methods study explored the progestin-only EC knowledge, attitudes, and provision practices of Ontario pharmacists. Methods: From June 2015 to October 2015, we collected 198 mailed surveys from Ontarian pharmacy representatives and conducted 17 in-depth interviews with a subset of respondents. We analyzed these data using descriptive statistics and for content and themes. Results: Results from our English/French bilingual survey indicate that respondents’ knowledge is generally accurate, but confusion persists about the mechanism of action and the number of times the drug can be used in one menstrual cycle. Nearly half (49%) of our survey respondents indicated that progestin-only EC pills are only available behind the counter. Interviewees strongly supported the introduction and promotion of more effective methods of EC in Ontario. Conclusion: Continuing education focusing on both the regulatory status of progestin-only EC and information about the medication appears warranted. Health Canada’s recent approval of ulipristal acetate for use as a post-coital contraceptive may provide a window of opportunity for engaging with health service providers, including pharmacists, about all available modalities of EC in Canada.
- OPEN ACCESSDebates concerning how to achieve food security tend to fall into one of two camps. The first is that high-technology, market-oriented approaches promise to enhance agricultural productivity and improve food security. The counterargument is that low-technology approaches, when combined with building social and physical infrastructure, are more effective at meeting people’s food needs. Using a survey of 540 farm households in northern Ghana, we assess the level of food security for smallholders by analyzing the influence of a low-technology and low-external-input approach, such as sweet potatoes, and that of the production of an improved, commercially produced crop, such as rice. We also measure the influence of market access. Our results indicate that sweet potato producers are more likely to be food secure than commercial rice producers. However, the proximity to and interaction with markets is also associated with farmer food security, even when controlling for measures of prosperity. These findings suggest that low-technology approaches and high-technology, market-oriented approaches should not be treated as diametrically opposed to each other. Enhancing smallholder production of low-technology staple crops like sweet potatoes is likely to improve well-being. At the same time, interventions to build the physical and social infrastructure necessary to enable market participation would also be likely to enhance smallholder well-being.
- OPEN ACCESSSmallholder dairy production dominates the country of Uganda, with over 90% of the national herd owned by smallholders. To reduce hunger, malnutrition, and raise families out of poverty agricultural development, interventions in Uganda have focused on increasing milk production through the introduction of improved dairy cow breeds. Development actors, such as the East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) program in Uganda, see crossbreed dairy cows as a key technological intervention for improving production. Drawing on a multi-method study (spatial analysis, surveys, and qualitative interviews) of dairy smallholders, our paper examines the gendered effects of the introduction of crossbreed dairy cows. To ensure peak performance, improved breeds require more inputs (e.g., water, feed, and medicine), which are labor and time intensive with specific gendered outcomes. Our findings reveal that both men and women identify fetching water as one of the greatest challenges in maintaining dairy cows, but women and children disproportionately fetch the water and women have higher reported rates of time poverty. Water quality is also an issue, with smallholders struggling to provide clean water to cows, and our basic water testing reveals water sources with high nitrate levels that can be harmful for children and dairy cows.
- OPEN ACCESSThis paper addresses how available resources, food security, technology, and culture are shaping the choices rural Malian women are making to ensure the health, energy, and well-being of their families. This research contributed to evaluating an eight-year research project (An Be Jigi) targeting improved nutrition. The study, performed over four months, used semi-structured interviews of 120 women in six villages in Mali to assess the identified issues with qualitative and quantitative approaches. This paper describes the history of the An Be Jigi project, whole-grain processing techniques, and group cooking for knowledge sharing with rural women for improved nutrition. Interviews revealed substantial adoption of whole-grain processing techniques and women’s appreciation of the nutritional benefits of those techniques. The women engaged in group cooking (cuisines collectives) appreciated the activities and mentioned multiple benefits from using them. Women identified access to mills, and to some extent the social stigma of laziness and poverty associated with whole-grain food, as limiting factors of adoption. This study of women’s practices and perceptions regarding use of whole grain tells a story of changing consumption habits being shaped by culture, technology, knowledge, and available resources. Malian women are agents of change and care in their adoption of new techniques and recipes for the improved nutrition of young children and households.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Brett Emo,
- Li-Wen Hu,
- Bo-Yi Yang,
- Kahee A. Mohammed,
- Christian Geneus,
- Michael Vaughn,
- Zhengmin (Min) Qian, and
- Guang-Hui Dong
To assess the effects of housing characteristics and home environmental factors on lung function of Chinese children, 6740 children (aged 6–16 years) were recruited from seven cities in Northeast China in 2012. Performance of lung function was determined by comparison of forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume (FEV1), peak expiratory flow (PEF), and maximal mid-expiratory flow (MMEF). Multivariate regression models were used to evaluate the associations with lung function deficit. The results showed that housing conditions were associated with lung function deficit in children. The adjusted odds ratios were 0.47 (95% CI: 0.26–0.83) for FVC for “ping-fang” housing compared with “dan-yuan-lou-fang” housing and 2.90 (95% CI: 2.43–3.47) for FEV1 with home renovations completed within two years compared with counterparts. The linear regression models consistently showed a significant association of housing conditions and home environmental factors with lung function measurements across subjects. A residence taller than seven stories was negatively associated with FEV1 (β = −55; 95% CI: −97 to −13). In conclusion, housing conditions and home environmental factors are particularly important to the development of lung function and respiratory health in children. These factors are concerning and action should be taken to improve them. - OPEN ACCESSBackground: Abortion has been available without criminal restriction in Canada since 1988, and approximately 33 000 terminations take place in Ontario each year. Objectives: This study aimed to explore women’s expressed desire for post-abortion support services, document the priorities expressed by women in seeking post-abortion support, and identify actionable strategies to improve post-abortion support services in Ontario. Methods: Between 2012 and 2014 we conducted in-depth, open-ended interviews with 60 Anglophone women from across Ontario who had recently had an abortion. We aimed to rigorously explore the compounding issues of age and geography on women’s abortion experiences. We analyzed our data for content and themes and reported on the findings related to post-abortion support. Results: One third of our participants expressed a desire for post-abortion support, yet few were able to access a timely, affordable, non-directive service. Women were uncertain about how to find services; most contacted a provider recommended by the clinic or searched online. Women were enthusiastic about a talkline format citing anonymity and convenience as the main advantages. Conclusion: Our results suggest that exploring ways to expand post-abortion support services in Ontario is warranted. A talkline format could provide an anonymous, convenient, non-judgmental, and non-directive way to address this unmet need.
- OPEN ACCESSYoung mothers constitute a vulnerable population in Canada. Teens with children are at significant risk of subsequent pregnancy, a dynamic that can exacerbate health, emotional, and socio-economic challenges. We aimed to understand better the dynamics shaping “rapid repeat pregnancy” among young mothers in Ottawa, explore young mothers’ subsequent pregnancy experiences, and identify how services could be improved in Canada’s capital. In 2016, we conducted in-depth interviews with 10 young mothers and semi-structured interviews with 10 key informants working with pregnant and parenting youth. We analyzed interviews for content and themes using a multi-phased, iterative process. Four major themes emerged: (1) young mothers often plan their pregnancies actively or passively; (2) violence before, during, and after pregnancy is common; (3) mental health and substance abuse issues shape pregnancy risk; and (4) becoming pregnant often serves as a source of motivation for young mothers. Our results further indicate that young mothers have difficulty finding youth-friendly, non-judgmental support services and that integrated, multidisciplinary services offering individually tailored support and building on women’s strengths will likely be more successful in helping young mothers prevent subsequent pregnancies. Increasing awareness about existing services and supporting efforts that approach teen pregnancy comprehensively and holistically appear warranted.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Tse-Lynn Loh,
- Eric R. Larson,
- Solomon R. David,
- Lesley S. de Souza,
- Rebecca Gericke,
- Mary Gryzbek,
- Andrew S. Kough,
- Philip W. Willink, and
- Charles R. Knapp
Modern zoos and aquariums aspire to contribute significantly to biodiversity conservation and research. For example, conservation research is a key accreditation criterion of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). However, no studies to date have quantified this contribution. We assessed the research productivity of 228 AZA members using scientific publications indexed in the ISI Web of Science (WoS) database between 1993 and 2013 (inclusive). AZA members published 5175 peer-reviewed manuscripts over this period, with publication output increasing over time. Most publications were in the zoology and veterinary science subject areas, and articles classified as “biodiversity conservation” by WoS averaged 7% of total publications annually. From regression analyses, AZA organizations with larger financial assets generally published more, but research-affiliated mission statements were also associated with increased publication output. A strong publication record indicates expertise and expands scientific knowledge, enhancing organizational credibility. Institutions aspiring for higher research productivity likely require a dedicated research focus and adequate institutional support through research funding and staffing. We recommend future work build on our results by exploring links between zoo and aquarium research productivity and conservation outcomes or uptake. - OPEN ACCESS
- Claire N. Freeman,
- Lena Scriver,
- Kara D. Neudorf,
- Lisbeth Truelstrup Hansen,
- Rob C. Jamieson, and
- Christopher K. Yost
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been identified as hotspots for antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and thus represent a critical point where patterns in ARG abundances can be monitored prior to their release into the environment. The aim of the current study was to measure the impact of the release of the final treated effluent (FE) on the abundance of ARGs in the receiving water of a recently upgraded WWTP in the Canadian prairies. Sample nutrient content (phosphorous and nitrogen species) was measured as a proxy for WWTP functional performance, and quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to measure the abundance of eight ARGs, the intI1 gene associated with class I integrons, and the 16S rRNA gene. The genes ermB, sul1, intI1, blaCTX-M, qnrS, and tetO all had higher abundances downstream of the WWTP, consistent with the genes with highest abundance in the FE. These findings are consistent with the increasing evidence suggesting that human activity affects the abundances of ARGs in the environment. Although the degree of risk associated with releasing ARGs into the environment is still unclear, understanding the environmental dimension of this threat will help develop informed management policies to reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance and protect public health. - OPEN ACCESSInnovative, highly processed foods are often designed to “substitute” for traditional, less-processed items in the diet. Yet, concerns about the unhealthfulness of diets high in highly processed foods are growing. Their dominance in the diet has been hypothesized to relate, in part, to the strategic use of on-package nutrition promotion. Our goal was to compare front-of-package (FOP) labelling on highly processed products that appear to have been explicitly designed as substitutes for traditional foods with the FOP labelling on their traditional counterparts. FOP references were recorded from packaged foods in three major Toronto grocery stores (N = 20520). Foods were categorized as substitute or traditional counterparts if these had (1) immediate interchangeability within the diet, (2) inherently different formulation, and (3) the substitute was more heavily processed than its traditional counterpart. Eight substitute–traditional pairs were identified, comprising 18% of products in the data set. Substitute foods were more likely than traditional products to bear FOP nutrition, “organic”, and “natural” references. Substitute foods bore 1.21 times more FOP references, the majority of which highlighted nutrients inherent to the traditional counterpart. Our findings support the contention that highly processed foods may be displacing less-processed foods at least in part through the use of strategic on-package marketing.
- OPEN ACCESSAichi Biodiversity Target 19 calls on Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to improve, share, transfer, and apply knowledge. In this study, we provide an initial assessment of the state of evidence-based decision-making in Canada’s protected areas organizations by examining (1) the value and use of various forms of evidence by managers and (2) the extent to which institutional conditions enable or inhibit the use of evidence in decision-making. Results revealed that although managers value and use many forms of evidence in their decision-making, information produced by staff and their organizations are given priority. Other forms of evidence, such as Indigenous knowledge and peer-reviewed information, are valued and used less. The most significant barriers to evidence-based decision-making were limited financial resources, lack of staff, inadequate timeframes for decision-making, a lack of monitoring programs, and a disconnect between researchers and decision-makers. Overall, our results suggest that the potential benefits of evidence-based approaches are not being maximized in Canada’s protected areas organizations. We propose several recommendations to introduce or improve the use of diverse forms of evidence to enhance management effectiveness of Canada’s protected areas and by extension conservation outcomes.
- OPEN ACCESSThe Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) enables the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to develop policy to curtail international air pollution. However, regional air pollution generated during the manufacturing of products outside of Canada is not addressed in CEPA. Using cement manufacturing in China as a case study, three policy options were devised to manage export-based regional air pollution. The options investigated included Policy 1—an open border with direct support for domestic cement manufacturers, Policy 2—a restricted border with no support for domestic cement manufacturers, and Policy 3—a selective border with partial support for domestic cement manufacturers. An analytic hierarchy process, in conjunction with the three actionable solidarities of cultural theory, was applied to the policy options and their supporting mechanisms. Results indicated that Policy 3 was strongly favoured (52.5%), followed by Policy 2 (33.4%), with Policy 1 being the least favoured (14.2%). Regarding policy mechanisms, a verification process was preferred by all three solidarities. From the standpoint of a universal approach to trade it is recommended that an air quality agreement between China and Canada under CEPA be established with a framework to eventually incorporate environmental production declarations. With respect to cement exports, it is recommended that manufacturers in China provide emissions intensities and winter smog assessments.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Leonora King,
- Lucy MacKenzie,
- Marc Tadaki,
- Sara Cannon,
- Kiely McFarlane,
- David Reid, and
- Michele Koppes
Effective policies promoting diversity in geoscience require understanding of how the values and practices of the community support the inclusion of different social groups. As sites of knowledge exchange and professional development, academic conferences are important culturing institutions that can alleviate or reproduce barriers to diversity in geoscience. This study examines diversity at a 2017 geoscience conference, the joint Canadian Geophysical Union and Canadian Society of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology annual meeting, through observation of participation, presentation content, and behaviour in conference sessions. Across 256 observed presentations, women constituted 28% of speakers, whereas women of colour made up only 5%. Participation rates differed between disciplinary sections, with the most populous sessions (Hydrology and Earth Surface) having the lowest percentage of women. Examination of presentation content reveals that the methods and scholarly contributions of both women and people of colour differed from the majority, suggesting an intellectual division of labour in geoscience. Examination of audience behaviours between presenters reveals how a “chilly climate” can be experienced by women and other marginalized demographics in conferences. We argue that there is more to be done than simply increasing numbers of women or other minorities in geoscientific spaces, and we suggest pathways to making geoscience a more inclusive and democratic pursuit. - OPEN ACCESSThe measurement of statistical evidence is of considerable current interest in fields where statistical criteria are used to determine knowledge. The most commonly used approach to measuring such evidence is through the use of p-values, even though these are known to possess a number of properties that lead to doubts concerning their validity as measures of evidence. It is less well known that there are alternatives with the desired properties of a measure of statistical evidence. The measure of evidence given by the relative belief ratio is employed in this paper. A relative belief multiple testing algorithm was developed to control for false positives and false negatives through bounds on the evidence determined by measures of bias. The relative belief multiple testing algorithm was shown to be consistent and to possess an optimal property when considering the testing of a hypothesis randomly chosen from the collection of considered hypotheses. The relative belief multiple testing algorithm was applied to the problem of inducing sparsity. Priors were chosen via elicitation, and sparsity was induced only when justified by the evidence and there was no dependence on any particular form of a prior for this purpose.
- OPEN ACCESSThere have been strong calls for scientists to share their discoveries with society. Some scientists have heeded these calls through social media platforms such as Twitter. Here, we ask whether Twitter allows scientists to promote their findings primarily to other scientists (“inreach”), or whether it can help them reach broader, non-scientific audiences (“outreach”). We analyzed the Twitter followers of more than 100 faculty members in ecology and evolutionary biology and found that their followers are, on average, predominantly (∼55%) other scientists. However, beyond a threshold of ∼1000 followers, the range of follower types became more diverse and included research and educational organizations, media, members of the public with no stated association with science, and a small number of decision-makers. This varied audience was, in turn, followed by more people, resulting in an exponential increase in the social media reach of tweeting academic scientists. Tweeting, therefore, has the potential to disseminate scientific information widely after initial efforts to gain followers. These results should encourage scientists to invest in building a social media presence for scientific outreach.
- OPEN ACCESSOrganic waste, which contains essential plant nutrients such as phosphorus, constitutes 30%–50% of municipal solid waste in developed countries. Unfortunately, much of this resource is buried in landfills or incinerated. Many jurisdictions have, therefore, adopted the diversion of organic waste and the recycling of nutrients as policy goals. We used data sets from Europe and Ontario, Canada, to explore the impact of socio-economic and management factors on the rates of organic waste diversion and examined the effect of this diversion on phosphorus recycling. Organic diversion rates were highly correlated with income in Europe and with infrastructure, such as source-separated organic waste collection, in Ontario. Significant correlations were also observed between diversion rates and the use of policy instruments such as economic incentives, legislative organic waste bans, and curbside bag limits. We estimated that 39%–63% of the phosphorus in diverted organics is returned to arable land. Ultimately, we found that although socio-economic factors influence the success of organic waste diversion, policies, accessible infrastructure, economic incentives, and legislative requirements can be leveraged to improve the recycling rate of organic waste and the nutrients they contain.
- OPEN ACCESSLocal, lay, and traditional ecological knowledge (LTK) is widely discussed in academic studies of climatic and environmental change. Here, we report on a systematic literature review that examines the role of such factors as gender, age, and scholarly networks in shaping LTK research. We focused on research in the circumpolar North, where LTK research has been ongoing for at least four decades. We explored how recruitment approaches and research methods can circumscribe local expertise and found that much of the literature fails to adequately report sampling and participant demographics. There is an apparent bias towards male knowledge-holders, usually hunters and Elders, over women and youth. Studies were largely led by male authors, and male authors outnumbered female authors 2:1. We also identified two potential “invisible colleges” in the literature—communities of practice linked by one or a few authors. We discuss our findings through the lens of “intersectionality”, which captures how power differences at play within communities, whether around age or gender or some other social categorization, contribute to the creation of multiple kinds of knowledge. We conclude with a discussion of how we can improve this area of research by challenging assumptions and collaborating with a wider range of individuals.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Shakira S.E. Azan,
- Norman D. Yan,
- Martha P. Celis-Salgado,
- Shelley E. Arnott,
- James A. Rusak, and
- Peter Sutey
One possible solution to the recent decline of calcium (Ca) concentrations in Canadian Shield forests and lakes in eastern North America is the addition of Ca-rich wood ash to watersheds. We investigated the feasibility of using small, mainly residential sources of non-industrial wood ash (NIWA) for this purpose by quantifying concentrations of its major nutrients and metals, its toxicity to Daphnia in aqueous extracts, and estimating the amount of NIWA available in the District of Muskoka in central Ontario. Locally collected NIWA averaged 30% Ca, and also contained smaller but significant amounts of K, Mg, Na, and P. Of these, K was so soluble that it was toxic to Daphnia over 48 h in the concentrate and 10-fold dilution; however, sedimented ash was not toxic over 15 d. Most metal levels in NIWA were below targets permitting unrestricted land application. However, Cu and Zn were just above these targets, but well below those for conditional use. Muskoka residents generate about 235 000 kg of NIWA annually, not enough to treat all central Ontario areas affected; however, a NIWA recycling programme implemented across southern Ontario could generate enough ash to solve the Ca decline problem in Muskoka’s forests and lakes. - OPEN ACCESSDetermining how much to set aside in a system of protected areas has been widely discussed. In the past, targets that have been set internationally and domestically are best described as politically driven. In recent years, there has been a call to shift towards evidence-based targets for conservation. One element that has been largely missing from this dialogue is public perception of how much to protect. We conducted an online, regionally balanced survey of just over 2000 Canadians to ask about their values for protected areas, including how much they thought was currently and should be protected. Overall, Canadians overwhelmingly agree that protected areas are necessary and think that approximately 50% of land and sea should be protected in Canada and globally. Nation-wide support for a significant increase in the amount of land/sea protected is a new finding in Canada, although consistent with applications of the same survey in other countries. As the timeline for achieving the current 2020 protected area targets approaches, countries are beginning to discuss what targets to set for the next decade. Our findings demonstrate strong public support for significantly scaling up Canada’s conservation targets, consistent with ecological evidence.
- OPEN ACCESSMarine protected areas (MPAs) design is a complex process that typically involves diverse stakeholders, requiring compromise between diverging priorities. Such compromises, when not carefully understood, can threaten the ecological effectiveness of MPAs. Using the example of the Canadian Laurentian Channel MPA, we studied a planning process from initial scientific advice to the final MPA. We analysed the impacts of successive boundary modifications to the draft MPA, often made to accommodate extractive industries, on the protection of seven species initially identified as potential conservation priorities. We also quantified the potential economic impacts of changes in boundary modifications on the fisheries industry. Results show that reducing the proposed MPA size by 33.4% helped reduce the potential economic impact on the fishing industry by 65.5%, but it resulted in up to 43% decrease in protection of species of conservation priority. Changes in MPA boundary delineation during the design were not subjected to formal scientific reviews, raising questions on the potential effectiveness of this MPA. Better integration of science in MPA design is required to help assess the impacts that trade-offs made during stakeholder consultations can have on the MPA ecological effectiveness.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Sanjayan Satchithanantham,
- Henry F. Wilson,
- Patsy Michiels,
- Melanie Dubois,
- Sheng Li, and
- Alexander J. Koiter
Removal of trees for pasture or crop production is common along the stream reaches in the Canadian Prairies, resulting in a patchwork of forested and nonforest riparian vegetation along most streams. The effect of vegetation type on channel geomorphology and potential to influence sediment dynamics was studied using eight paired reaches (forested and nonforest) within agricultural watersheds in southern Manitoba, Canada. High potential for bank erosion was observed at all sites (bank erosion hazard index scores), but Pfankuch channel stability scores were significantly higher for forested reaches compared with nonforested reaches. Furthermore, forested reaches had higher width to depth ratios, but flood-prone widths did not differ significantly, resulting in lower entrenchment ratios. Reduced channel width and cross-sectional area in nonforested reaches created an overall reduction of in-stream habitat, increased velocity, and increased potential for exceedance of channel capacity and floodplain access during high-flow events. Channel widening in response to riparian afforestation efforts has been observed in a variety of other locations globally and the results of this study suggest that widening with afforestation can still be anticipated in this region where stream gradients are low, hydrology is dominated by snowmelt, and forest cover is minimal. - OPEN ACCESSCoastal biogenic habitats are vulnerable to human impacts from both terrestrial and marine realms. Yet the broad spatial scale used in current approaches of quantifying anthropogenic stressors is not relevant to the finer scales affecting most coastal habitats. We developed a standardized human impact metric that includes five bay-scale and four local-scale (0–1 km) terrestrial and marine-based impacts to quantify the magnitude of anthropogenic impacts to coastal bays and nearshore biogenic habitats. We applied this metric to 180 seagrass beds (Zostera marina), an important biogenic habitat prioritized for marine protection, in 52 bays across Atlantic Canada. The results show that seagrass beds and coastal bays exist across a wide human impact gradient and provide insight into which are the most and least affected by human threats. Generally, land alteration, nutrient loading, and shellfish aquaculture were higher in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, whereas invasive species and fishing activities were higher along the Atlantic coast. Sixty-four percent of bays were at risk of seagrass decline from nitrogen loading. We also found high within-bay variation in impact intensity, emphasizing the necessity of quantifying impacts at multiple spatial scales. We discuss implications for management and conservation planning, and application to other coastal habitats in Canada and beyond.
- OPEN ACCESSThe gap between research and its implementation is an impediment to conservation of the environment. Translating science into actionable management and policy requires effective communication and collaboration among scientists, practitioners, and policy-makers. Ecologists routinely rely on spatial data to describe wildlife distributions; however, habitat definitions vary by species, and data sources often differ from those used by land managers. Finding commonalities in the language and data used to plan for industrial activities and wildlife conservation may help address the research-implementation gap for threatened species like woodland caribou. We built resource selection functions for caribou using Alberta Vegetation Index (AVI) habitat data, which is employed by the Alberta forest industry for landbase planning. Our goal was to bridge the research-implementation gap by providing the forest industry with tools to facilitate planning for caribou conservation within their jurisdiction. In contrast to previous studies that highlighted shortcomings in AVI data for predicting wildlife habitat use, we found that resource selection function models that combined AVI data with complementary covariates validated well to predict caribou habitat use. We suggest that by using a data source familiar to land managers, ecologists can facilitate the bridging of the research-implementation gap without compromising the quality of ecological modeling.
- OPEN ACCESSThe objective is to support development of a nutritional intervention for Chinese immigrants with diabetes by defining current deficiencies and identifying modifiable factors and mechanisms of change. Semi-structured interviews conducted with 13 ethnic Chinese with type 2 diabetes identified modifiable problems related to culturally relevant diabetes resources and low cultural acceptability of recommended diets. These factors could be addressed through creation of resources developed in partnership with Chinese-speaking health care professionals and persons with diabetes.
- OPEN ACCESSThe 31 March 2018 closure of the National Research Universal reactor marked the end of over 70 years of materials research using neutron beams from major neutron sources at the Chalk River Laboratories in Chalk River, Ontario, Canada. This closure will have a major impact on the Canadian materials research community, including researchers in the physics, chemistry, and engineering of materials. After a brief review of the history of neutron beams at the Chalk River Laboratories, we present the results of a bibliometric study of the scientific output of the research with neutron beams. In this study, we compiled a complete bibliographic record of the research papers beginning with the first neutron scattering experiments at the National Research Experimental reactor in 1947, analyzed the citations from 1980 onward, and benchmarked the results against major neutron beam facilities in other countries and against other major research facilities in Canada. We also conducted a broader bibliometric analysis of the use of neutron scattering data among all Canadians, regardless of where the data were taken. The results provide a useful metric of the size of the Canadian neutron scattering community and places into context the importance of access to this research tool.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Kim-Ly Thompson,
- Nikkita Reece,
- Nicole Robinson,
- Havana-Jae Fisher,
- Natalie C. Ban, and
- Chris R. Picard
Researchers and government agencies are increasingly embracing Indigenous knowledge to inform ecological monitoring. However, there are few detailed accounts of designing monitoring methods based in Indigenous knowledge to meet Indigenous objectives. This research details the design of a program initiated by the Gitga’at First Nation to document the knowledge and observations of their harvesters as a contemporary monitoring initiative. We, Gitga’at and academic researchers, first conducted informal interviews with knowledge holders to gauge interest and to establish community objectives. We then convened community meetings and workshops to design methods to document harvesters’ knowledge and observations. We tested and revised these methods (a post-harvest season interview guide, and a logbook to be completed by harvesters) over the course of two harvest seasons. Semi-structured interviews were more successful than the logbooks in meeting multiple community monitoring objectives. However, we were encouraged by younger participants’ suggestions to develop a digital app based on the logbook to encourage future participation. Our work can serve as a guide to other Indigenous peoples and collaborators who wish to leverage the knowledge of their land and (or) sea users, and the methods we develop are available to adapt to other cultural, social-ecological, and political contexts. - OPEN ACCESSAquaculture is one of the world’s fastest growing food production sectors and presents an opportunity for rural community development that can support coastal livelihoods. An ecosystem approach to aquaculture (EAA) has been recommended to facilitate socially and environmentally sustainable development, yet there remains a need to better involve people in planning and operational aspects. Community-based management may help to implement principles of the EAA; however, context-specific research is needed to understand its potential application and suitability. This research explores opportunities for community-based marine aquaculture (CBMA) for nonfinfish in the context of Nova Scotia, Canada, through a series of stakeholder interviews. Results suggest that all stakeholder groups interviewed were positive about the potential for CBMA to support sustainable aquaculture growth in the province; however, key questions around operationalizing CBMA remain. The aquaculture industry is on a continual path for growth worldwide and, therefore, it becomes increasingly important to proactively examine strategies such as CBMA that can help to facilitate EAA in a way that genuinely puts people at the centre of aquaculture development and governance.
- OPEN ACCESSFully 37% of species listed under Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA) are plants or lichens. The law does not automatically protect species on private land, and it is unknown how many at-risk plants grow mainly on private land. We analyzed official status reports and related documents for 234 plant species at risk to determine land tenure and evaluated differences in threats and changes in status. We also assessed how well plants were represented in two federal programs: the Natural Areas Conservation Program (NACP) and the Habitat Stewardship Program (HSP). Of SARA-listed plant species, 35% have the majority of their known populations on private land while <10% occur mostly on federal land. Species growing mainly on private land were no more or less likely to decline in status over time compared with others. Plant species at risk were less likely than other taxonomic groups to be found on land protected under the NACP. The proportion of HSP projects targeting plants is well below the expected proportion based on the number of listed species. We recommend that policy-makers promote and prioritize actions to increase the representation of plant species in federally funded programs, especially on private lands.
- OPEN ACCESSThe concept of health permeates priorities and policies for managing wild Pacific salmon (Oncorynchus spp.). Regulatory agencies rely largely on salmon abundance and (or) the absence of pathogens to declare if a population is healthy. Our goal was to determine if there was a receptive policy environment within Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to adopt a cumulative effects perspective of health. We used a previously developed health model along with a multiple streams framework and a narrative review of DFO policy to see how fish health was situated in DFO’s salmon management problems, policy, and politics. We discovered that a cumulative effects perspective was consistent with policy goals and priorities. DFO’s guiding principles and responsibilities for aquatic animal health were spread across multiple policies and regulations. There were no processes or people responsible for integrating information and activities. The use of the word health in policies and planning without a consistent definition meant that DFO could not explicitly assess if it has reached its management target of healthy salmon. An option for transitioning to cumulative effects perspective is to adopt a healthy public policy perspective and processes to integrate the diverse information linked to social and environmental determinants of health.
- OPEN ACCESS
An analysis of threats and factors that predict trends in Canadian vertebrates designated as at-risk
The identification of factors that predict trends in population abundance is critical to formulate successful conservation strategies. Here, we explore population trends of Canadian vertebrates assessed as “at-risk” by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada and the threats affecting these trends using data from the Canadian Living Planet Index. We investigate how threat profiles—the combination of threats for a given species—vary among species and taxonomic groups. We then investigate threat profile as a predictor of temporal trends—both exclusively and in combination with additional biotic and abiotic factors. Species had 5.06 (±2.77) threats listed on average, and biological resource use (BRU) was the most frequently cited. Our analysis also revealed an association between taxonomic group and population trends, as measured by the proportion of annual increases (years with a positive interannual change). By contrast, the predictive power of threat profile was poor. This analysis yielded some useful insight for conservation action, particularly the prioritization of abating BRU. However, the predictive models were not as meaningful as originally anticipated. We provide recommendations on methodological improvements to advance the understanding of factors that predict trends in population abundance for prioritizing conservation action. - OPEN ACCESS
- Jenny L. McCune,
- Sheila R. Colla,
- Laura E. Coristine,
- Christina M. Davy,
- D.T. Tyler Flockhart,
- Richard Schuster, and
- Diane M. Orihel
Pollution is a pervasive, albeit often invisible, threat to biodiversity in Canada. Currently, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) relies on expert opinion to assess the scope (i.e., the proportion of a species’ population that may be affected) of pollution to species at risk. Here, we describe a spatially explicit, quantitative method for assessing the scope of pollution as a threat to species at risk in Canada. Using this method, we quantified the geographic co-occurrence of 488 terrestrial and freshwater species and pollution sources and determined that, on average, 57% of the mapped occurrences of each species at risk co-occurred with at least one pollution source. Furthermore, we found a weak correlation between the scope of the threat of pollution as assessed by COSEWIC expert panels and the geographic overlap of species occurrences and pollution sources that we determined with our quantitative method. Experts frequently identified scope of pollution as absent or negligible even for species with extensive co-occurrence with pollution sources, especially vascular plants. Clearly, a quantitative approach is needed to make accurate estimates of the scope of pollution as a threat to species at risk in Canada. - OPEN ACCESS
- R. Drew Carleton,
- Emily Owens,
- Holly Blaquière,
- Stéphane Bourassa,
- Joseph J. Bowden,
- Jean-Noël Candau,
- Ian DeMerchant,
- Sara Edwards,
- Allyson Heustis,
- Patrick M.A. James,
- Alison M. Kanoti,
- Chris J.K. MacQuarrie,
- Véronique Martel,
- Eric R.D. Moise,
- Deepa S. Pureswaran,
- Evan Shanks, and
- Rob C. Johns
Insect outbreaks can cover vast geographic areas making it onerous to cost-effectively monitor populations to address management or ecological questions. Community science (or citizen science), which entails engaging the public to assist with data collection, provides a possible solution to this challenge for the spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana Clemens), a major defoliating pest in North America. Here, we lay out the Budworm Tracker Program, a contributory community science program developed to help monitor spruce budworm moths throughout eastern Canada. The program outsources free pheromone trap kits to volunteers who periodically check and collect moths from their traps throughout the budworm flight period, then return them in a prepaid envelope to the organizers. Over three years, the program engaged an average of 216–375 volunteers and yielded a data return rate of 68%–89%, for a total of 16 311–54 525 moths per year. Volunteer retention among years was 71%–89%. Data from this program offer compelling evidence for the range of long-distance moth dispersal. Although our program was designed for spruce budworm, this template could easily be adapted for forestry, urban forestry, and agricultural systems to monitor any of the numerous organisms for which there is an established trapping method. - OPEN ACCESS
- Andrea Bryndum-Buchholz,
- Faelan Prentice,
- Derek P. Tittensor,
- Julia L. Blanchard,
- William W.L. Cheung,
- Villy Christensen,
- Eric D. Galbraith,
- Olivier Maury, and
- Heike K. Lotze
Under climate change, species composition and abundances in high-latitude waters are expected to substantially reconfigure with consequences for trophic relationships and ecosystem services. Outcomes are challenging to project at national scales, despite their importance for management decisions. Using an ensemble of six global marine ecosystem models we analyzed marine ecosystem responses to climate change from 1971 to 2099 in Canada’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) under four standardized emissions scenarios. By 2099, under business-as-usual emissions (RCP8.5) projected marine animal biomass declined by an average of −7.7% (±29.5%) within the Canadian EEZ, dominated by declines in the Pacific (−24% ± 24.5%) and Atlantic (−25.5% ± 9.5%) areas; these were partially compensated by increases in the Canadian Arctic (+26.2% ± 38.4%). Lower emissions scenarios projected successively smaller biomass changes, highlighting the benefits of stronger mitigation targets. Individual model projections were most consistent in the Atlantic and Pacific, but highly variable in the Arctic due to model uncertainties in polar regions. Different trajectories of future marine biomass changes will require regional-specific responses in conservation and management strategies, such as adaptive planning of marine protected areas and species-specific management plans, to enhance resilience and rebuilding of Canada’s marine ecosystems and commercial fish stocks. - OPEN ACCESS
- Lauren E. Eckert,
- Nick XEMŦOLTW_ Claxton,
- Cameron Owens,
- Anna Johnston,
- Natalie C. Ban,
- Faisal Moola, and
- Chris T. Darimont
Policy-makers ideally pursue well-informed, socially just means to make environmental decisions. Indigenous peoples have used Indigenous knowledge (IK) to inform decisions about environmental management for millennia. In the last 50 years, many western societies have used environmental assessment (EA) processes to deliberate on industrial proposals, informed by scientific information. Recently EA processes have attempted to incorporate IK in some countries and regions, but practitioners and scholars have criticized the ability of EA to meaningfully engage IK. Here we consider these tensions in Canada, a country with economic focus on resource extraction and unresolved government-to-government relationships with Indigenous Nations. In 2019, the Canadian government passed the Impact Assessment Act, reinvigorating dialogue on the relationship between IK and EA. Addressing this opportunity, we examined obstacles between IK and EA via a systematic literature review, and qualitative analyses of publications and the Act itself. Our results and synthesis identify obstacles preventing the Act from meaningfully engaging IK, some of which are surmountable (e.g., failures to engage best practices, financial limitations), whereas others are substantial (e.g., knowledge incompatibilities, effects of colonization). Finally, we offer recommendations for practitioners and scholars towards ameliorating relationships between IK and EA towards improved decision-making and recognition of Indigenous rights. - OPEN ACCESS
- Aimee Huntington,
- Patricia L. Corcoran,
- Liisa Jantunen,
- Clara Thaysen,
- Sarah Bernstein,
- Gary A. Stern, and
- Chelsea M. Rochman
Microplastics are a globally ubiquitous contaminant, invading the most remote regions, including the Arctic. To date, our understanding of the distribution and sources of microplastics in the Arctic is limited but growing. This study aims to advance our understanding of microplastics in the Arctic. Surface water, zooplankton, sediment, and snow samples were collected from Hudson Bay to north Baffin Bay onboard the CCGS Amundsen from July to August 2017. Samples were examined for microplastics, which were chemically identified via Raman spectroscopy for surface water and zooplankton and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for sediment. We found that 90% of surface water and zooplankton samples, and 85% of sediment samples, contained microplastics or other anthropogenic particles. Mean anthropogenic particle concentrations, which includes microplastics, were 0.22 ± 0.23 (per litre) for surface water, 3.51 ± 4.00 (per gram) for zooplankton, and 1.94 ± 4.12 (per gram) for sediment. These concentrations were not related to the human populations upstream, suggesting that microplastic contamination in the Arctic is from long-range transport. Overall, this study highlights the presence of microplastics across the eastern Canadian Arctic, in multiple media, and offers evidence of long-range transport via ocean and atmospheric currents. Further research is needed to better understand sources, distribution, and effects to Arctic ecosystems. - OPEN ACCESSWe report on the results of the first mark–recapture survey of freshwater turtles in an isolated urban wetland complex in one of Canada’s fastest growing municipalities. Although we found turtles in every surveyed wetland, the density and assemblage of turtles in smaller wetlands were significantly different than in larger wetland bodies. We also documented two species of turtles that were thought to be absent from this wetland complex, the Northern Map turtle and Eastern Musk turtle. We noted that a wetland that was bisected by a high-traffic road showed a male-skewed sex ratio in the population of Midland Painted turtles but not in the population of Eastern Snapping turtles. As a whole, the sex ratios inside the wetland complex were not skewed. These results reinforce the conclusions of a previous study of a single wetland within this same complex that had found a correlation between road mortality and a male-skewed sex ratio in Midland painted turtles. We discuss population sources and sinks within the complex and the importance of protecting the overland corridors that support the safe turtle movements within this provincially significant wetland complex.
- OPEN ACCESSWith the widespread loss of biodiversity, zoos and aquariums are striving to become leaders in biodiversity conservation and research. Canada’s Accredited Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA) is a nonprofit organization created to represent its members, including as agencies of conservation and science. However, the contribution of CAZA members to conservation and science has not been quantified. We used research productivity in the form of peer-reviewed publications to systematically quantify biodiversity conservation engagement by CAZA institutions. We extracted publications from the ISI Web of Science database and found that the annual number of publications increased over time. CAZA members published most in the area of veterinary science, with few publications in biodiversity conservation. Organization age, research-orientated mission statements, and financial assets were significant predictors of research productivity. CAZA institutions also published significantly less (X¯ = 12.5 ± 5.52 SE) than members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (X¯ = 24.27 ± 5.08 SE), based in the United States. Zoos and aquariums are important resources in mitigating biodiversity loss, and are increasing their research output in this area. Nonetheless, only a small proportion of publications were in biodiversity conservation, and the majority of all publications occurred in zoo-centric journals.
- OPEN ACCESSIn 2018, The International Maritime Organization, officially proposed consideration of a ban on heavy fuel oil (HFO) use by ships in the Arctic, because of the widely accepted understanding that HFO presents a threat to the marine environment. There is currently a lack of understanding of the scale and scope of HFO use by ships operating in Canadian Arctic waters, thus it is difficult to comprehensively evaluate the effect that such a ban may have in mitigating risk from HFO use. In this study, we conducted a spatial analysis of HFO use among ships operating in Canadian Arctic waters between 2010 and 2018. Our findings show that approximately 37% of the total number of ships that have travelled through the Canadian Arctic between 2010 and 2018 use HFO, and nearly all of these ships fall within three vessel categories: general cargo, bulk carriers, and tanker ships. In addition, HFO-fueled ships made up approximately 45% of the total distance (kilometres) travelled by all vessels between 2010 and 2018. The data also show that the majority of HFO use occurs in certain geographic areas, such as Baffin Bay near Pond Inlet and the Hudson Strait.
- OPEN ACCESSFreshwater ecosystems show more biodiversity loss than terrestrial or marine systems. We present a systematic conservation planning analysis in the Arctic Ocean drainage basin in Ontario, Canada, to identify key watersheds for the conservation of 30 native freshwater fish, including four focal species: lake sturgeon, lake whitefish, brook trout, and walleye. We created species distribution models for 30 native fish species and accounted for anthropogenic impacts. We used the “prioritizr” package in R to select watersheds that maximize species targets, minimize impacts, and meet area-based targets based on the Convention on Biological Diversity commitment to protect 17% of terrestrial and freshwater areas by 2020 and the proposed target to protect 30% by 2030. We found that, on average, 17.4% and 29.8% of predicted species distributions were represented for each of the 30 species in the 17% and 30% area-based solutions, respectively. The outcomes were more efficient when we prioritized for individual species, particularly brook trout, where 24% and 36% of its predicted distribution was represented in the 17% and 30% solutions, respectively. Future conservation planning should consider climate change, culturally significant species and areas, and the importance of First Nations as guardians and stewards of the land in northern Ontario.
- OPEN ACCESSIn 2017, mifepristone and misoprostol became available for early pregnancy termination as the combination pack Mifegymiso® in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. We conducted 40 semi-structured telephone interviews with Ottawa residents who had abortions before mifepristone’s introduction (n = 20) and after mifepristone–misoprostol became available (n = 20) to explore their experiences obtaining care. We audio-recorded and transcribed all interviews and analyzed these data for content and themes using deductive and inductive techniques. Prior to the introduction of mifepristone, our participants reported obtaining abortion care at two facilities and many faced long wait times. Those who had an abortion after mifepristone became available reported obtaining care from a wider array of providers and few waited more than two weeks. However, several mifepristone–misoprostol users reported having to go through a process that involved as many as 10 health service encounters. Both groups reflected positively on their abortion experiences, but some patients who obtained mifepristone–misoprostol outside of an abortion clinic did not feel as well informed as they would have liked. The introduction of mifepristone appears to have expanded the number of service delivery points and reduced wait times for those seeking abortion care in Ottawa. Identifying ways to expand access to medication abortion information and streamline services appears warranted.
- OPEN ACCESSSocio-economic barriers to participation in science are harmful to the enterprise. One barrier is the phenomenon of scientists paying for expenses related to the conduct of research that are not reimbursed (which we termed “Scispends” for social media discourse). We conducted an online survey that asked self-selecting respondents to report the amount of money they spent on nonreimbursed expenses, including both costs incurred in the past 12 months and one-time startup costs associated with their current position. We received 857 responses that met criteria for inclusion and reported descriptive statistics summarizing nonreimbursed expenses across career stages. We found the median total of nonreimbursed expenses for the past 12 months was $1680 and the median one-time expenses were $2700, and that as a proportion of income these expenses were highest for those earliest in their careers. We found 13% of respondents spent more on unreimbursed expenses than they earned in a year. All cost categories were skewed, with most respondents reporting little or no expense, whereas a minority experienced high expenses. These results should be interpreted with caution due to survey’s exploratory design, but they suggest that formal surveys should be conducted by scientific societies, funding agencies, and academic institutions to properly assess the causes of nonreimbursed expenses and determine how this barrier can be minimized.
- OPEN ACCESS
Thermal sensitivity and flow-mediated migratory delays drive climate risk for coastal sockeye salmon
- William I. Atlas,
- Karl M. Seitz,
- Jeremy W.N. Jorgenson,
- Ben Millard-Martin,
- William G. Housty,
- Daniel Ramos-Espinoza,
- Nicholas J. Burnett,
- Mike Reid, and
- Jonathan W. Moore
Climate change is subjecting aquatic species to increasing temperatures and shifting hydrologic conditions. Understanding how these changes affect individual survival can help guide conservation and management actions. Anadromous Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) in some large river systems are acutely impacted by the river temperatures and flows encountered during their spawning migrations. However, comparatively little is known about drivers of en route mortality for salmon in smaller coastal watersheds, and climate impacts may differ across watersheds and locally adapted salmon populations. To understand the effects of climate on the survival of coastal sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka; hísn in Haíɫzaqv), we tagged 1785 individual fish with passive integrated transponders across four migration seasons in the Koeye River—a low-elevation watershed in coastal British Columbia—and tracked them during their relatively short migration (∼13 km) from river entry to spawning grounds. Overall, 64.7% of sockeye survived to enter the spawning grounds, and survival decreased rapidly when water temperatures exceeded 15 °C. The best-fitting model included an interaction between river flow and temperature, such that temperature effects were worse when flows were low, and river entry ceased at the lowest flows. Results revealed temperature-mediated mortality and migration delays from low water that may synergistically reduce survival among sockeye salmon returning to coastal watersheds. - OPEN ACCESSAgricultural drainage is a complicated and often conflict-ridden natural resource management issue, impacting contested ecosystem services related to the retention of wetlands as well as the productivity of farmland. This research identifies opportunities to transform the conflict over agricultural drainage in Saskatchewan, Canada, towards collaboration. We report on ethnographic research informed by a conservation conflict-transformation framework to evaluate the nature of the conflict and whether drivers of the conflict operate principally at the level of disputes over discrete ecosystem services or if they reach deeper into local social circumstances and build on larger unresolved conflict(s) among groups in the region. In addition to the conflict-transformation framework, we apply the Social–Ecological Systems Framework to elicit details regarding the substantive, relational, and material dimensions of this conflict. Our research suggests that processes for governing natural resources, such as those in place for governing drainage in Saskatchewan, need to have mechanisms to facilitate relationship building and shared understandings, need to be adaptable to people’s changing needs and concerns, and should focus on inclusivity and empowerment of actors to address conflict.
- OPEN ACCESSPacific sand lance (Ammodytes personatus) and surf smelt (Hypomesus pretiosus) are ecologically important forage fish in the marine food webs within the Salish Sea, including British Columbia (BC). Although important, little information exists around the spatiotemporal distribution of these fishes’ beach spawning habitat in the BC Salish Sea. In 2017, the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute initiated spawning beach surveys within the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region (MABR). Surveys have geographically expanded along the eastern Vancouver Island coastline between Bowser and Cowichan Bay, BC, including Gabriola Island and Thetis Island. Pacific sand lance embryos have been detected at 17 beaches, with six beaches located within the MABR. Pacific sand lance spawning events have been detected between November and mid-February, with the bulk of embryos detected in November and December. To date, surf smelt embryos have not been detected at the 56 different beaches. These data begin to fill existing data gaps surrounding Pacific sand lance and surf smelt in BC. Furthermore, longer-term data submissions to the Strait of Georgia Data Centre, an open-access database, will provide the necessary data needed to advocate for improved regulatory protections for these ecologically important fish and their spawning habitat.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Tanya C. Tran,
- Douglas Neasloss,
- Kitasoo/Xai’xais Stewardship Authority,
- Jonaki Bhattacharyya, and
- Natalie C. Ban
Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) have gained global attention because of renewed interest in protecting biodiversity during a time of Indigenous resurgence. However, few examples in academic literature illustrate Indigenous Peoples’ rationale and processes for developing IPCAs. This paper fills that gap, describing a participatory action research collaboration with the Kitasoo/Xai’xais Nation. We used document analysis, interviews, and community engagement to summarize the Nation’s perspectives while assisting Kitasoo/Xai’xais efforts to develop a land-and-sea IPCA. IPCAs are a tool for the Nation to address ongoing limitations of state protected area governance and management, to better reflect the Nation’s Indigenous rights and responsibilities, and to preserve cultural heritage and biological diversity while fostering sustainable economic opportunities. The Kitasoo/Xai’xais process benefits from research on other IPCAs, includes intergenerational community engagement, and is rooted in long-term territory planning and stewardship capacity building. The Kitasoo/Xai’xais IPCA faces challenges similar to other protected areas but is influenced by ongoing impacts of settler-colonialism. The Kitasoo/Xai’xais Nation applies Indigenous and western approaches along with responsibility-based partnerships to address many anticipated challenges. Our case study demonstrates that more efforts are needed by state and other actors to reduce burdening Indigenous Nations’ protected area governance and management and to create meaningful external support for Indigenous-led conservation. - OPEN ACCESSBackground: The objective of this study was to determine the presence of a set of prespecified criteria used to assess scientists for promotion and tenure within faculties of medicine among the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities.Methods: Each faculty guideline for assessing promotion and tenure was reviewed and the presence of five traditional (peer-reviewed publications, authorship order, journal impact factor, grant funding, and national/international reputation) and seven nontraditional (citations, data sharing, publishing in open access mediums, accommodating leaves, alternative ways for sharing research, registering research, using reporting guidelines) criteria were collected by two reviewers.Results: Among the U15 institutions, four of five traditional criteria (80.0%) were present in at least one promotion guideline, whereas only three of seven nontraditional incentives (42.9%) were present in any promotion guidelines. When assessing full professors, there were a median of three traditional criteria listed, versus one nontraditional criterion.Conclusion: This study demonstrates that faculties of medicine among the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities base assessments for promotion and tenure on traditional criteria. Some of these metrics may reinforce problematic practices in medical research. These faculties should consider incentivizing criteria that can enhance the quality of medical research.
- OPEN ACCESSModels that capture relationships between a variety of social, economic, and environmental factors are useful tools for community planning; however, they are often complex and difficult for diverse audiences to understand. This creates challenges for participatory planning and community engagement. Conducted in the community of Squamish (British Columbia, Canada), this study develops and examines tools for communicating outcomes of a community scenario modelling exercise to diverse stakeholders. These tools are (i) a “model explorer” and (ii) realistic, immersive visualizations. The model explorer is an online, HTML5-based tool that can be used to learn about the model, view community scenario maps, and explore potential outcomes of the scenarios. The visualizations are virtual environments that are navigated from the first-person perspective, and they were developed using a combination of ArcGIS, Trimble SketchUp, Adobe Photoshop, and the Unity3D game engine. A local government and community stakeholder focus group and public open house event were held to solicit feedback on the scenarios and tools. Findings of the research suggest that the two types of tools can be used in a complementary fashion, and tool integration can better harness their respective strengths in a manner that comprehensively communicates the implications of different development pathways to diverse community members.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Bryant C. DeRoy,
- Vernon Brown,
- Christina N. Service,
- Martin Leclerc,
- Christopher Bone,
- Iain McKechnie, and
- Chris T. Darimont
Environmental management and monitoring must reconcile social and cultural objectives with biodiversity stewardship to overcome political barriers to conservation. Suitability modelling offers a powerful tool for such “biocultural” approaches, but examples remain rare. Led by the Stewardship Authority of the Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nation in coastal British Columbia, Canada, we developed a locally informed suitability model for a key biocultural indicator, culturally modified trees (CMTs). CMTs are trees bearing evidence of past cultural use that are valued as tangible markers of Indigenous heritage and protected under provincial law. Using a spatial multi-criteria evaluation framework to predict CMT suitability, we developed two cultural predictor variables informed by Kitasoo/Xai’xais cultural expertise and ethnographic data in addition to six biophysical variables derived from LiDAR and photo interpretation data. Both cultural predictor variables were highly influential in our model, revealing that proximity to known habitation sites and accessibility to harvesters (by canoe and foot) more strongly influenced suitability for CMTs compared with site-level conditions. Applying our model to commercial forestry governance, we found that high CMT suitability areas are 51% greater inside the timber harvesting land base than outside. This work highlights how locally led suitability modelling can improve the social and evidentiary dimensions of environmental management. - OPEN ACCESSMicroplastics are globally ubiquitous contaminants, but quantitative data on their presence in freshwater environments are sparse. This study investigates the occurrence, composition, and spatial trends of microplastic contamination in the North Saskatchewan River flowing through Edmonton, Alberta, the fifth largest city in Canada. Surface water samples were collected from seven sites throughout the city, upstream and downstream of the city, and near potential point sources (i.e., a wastewater treatment plant). Samples were spiked with fluorescent microbeads as internal standards and extracted by wet peroxide oxidation and density floatation. Microplastics were found in all samples, ranging in concentration from 4.6 to 88.3 particles·m−3 (mean = 26.2 ± 18.4 particles·m−3). Fibers were the dominant morphology recovered, and most were of anthropogenic origin and chemically identified as dyed cotton or polyester by Raman microspectroscopy. The majority of fragments were identified as polyethylene or polypropylene. No upstream to downstream differences were found in concentration, size distribution, or morphological composition suggesting nonpoint sources of microplastics to the river. This study represents one of the first investigations into the occurrence of microplastics in the freshwater environment in western Canada and will provide a baseline for future studies.
- OPEN ACCESSMeaningful engagement is increasingly used as a management tool for understanding the multitude of complex values and potential conflicts around marine conservation and the production of conservation strategies deemed acceptable by local communities. Barachois ponds, akin to coastal lagoons, are recognized coastal wetlands in Nova Scotia, Canada, given their distinct ecosystem services, including provisioning, regulating, and cultural services. This study examines the current discourses around the management of barachois ponds and how an increased understanding of these perceptions held by stakeholders and managers might be used to better inform integrated management of these wetland ecosystems. A mixed-methods research design using Q methodology was employed to acquire data on social perceptions surrounding the management of barachois ponds fringing the Bras d’Or Lake in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. Four dominant perspectives were identified: the leave-them-be conservationists, the sustainable developers, the management reformists, and the science-based conservationists. Six key issue themes emerged based on an in-depth examination of these different perspectives and Q sort data. This study found that an increased awareness of the ecological, social, and cultural values attributed to barachois ponds by key stakeholders could play a critical role in better informing wetland management decision-making in Nova Scotia and elsewhere.
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- Forough Noohi,
- Miranda Li, and
- Yann Joly
Mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) in Canada is considered a criminal offense according to article 5(1)(f) of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act (AHRA) (2004). The Act prohibits any practice that modifies the genome of “a human being or in vitro embryo such that the alteration is capable of being transmitted to descendants.” We carried out 32 semi-structured interviews with clinicians, researchers, patient groups, egg donors, and members of the public to explore their attitudes toward the clinical implementation of MRT in Canada. Our interview guide was informed by the socio-ethical, legal, and scientific literature of MRT. We used a thematic analysis to identify and analyze emerging themes and sub-themes. Our findings were divided into five broad themes: (i) an outdated criminal ban, (ii) motives for using MRT, (iii) terminology, (iv) practical and theoretical risks and benefits, and (v) the feasibility of clinical translation in Canada. Although the public and stakeholders’ views on the feasibility of foreseeable translation of MRT in Canadian clinics varied, there was consensus on conducting an overdue review of the current AHRA ban on MRT. - OPEN ACCESSThis research explores the potential hydroponic systems have for contributing to climate mitigation in fodder agriculture. Using British Columbia (BC) and Alberta as case studies, the study compares greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and carbon sequestration potential of hydroponically grown sprouted barley fodder to conventional barley grain fodder. GHG emissions were examined through scenarios that assumed Alberta to be the main barley producer, while exploring different situations of BC and Alberta as consumers, distributed/centralized hydroponic systems, and renewable/nonrenewable energy. Carbon sequestration opportunities were examined through scenarios that explored the land sparing potential of transitioning from conventional to hydroponic barley and shifts from tillage to no-tillage practices. Sensitivity analyses were done to examine how changes in hydroponic seed-to-fodder output and energy consumption affect the systems’ climate mitigation potential. The results indicated that incorporating hydroponic systems into barley production has the potential to reduce GHG emissions, given seed-to-fodder output and energy consumption are maintained at certain levels and the systems are powered by renewable energy. Results also showed that hydroponic farming can provide greater carbon sequestration opportunities than simply shifting to no-tillage farming. The research indicates that hydroponic fodder farming could contribute to climate mitigation objectives if complemented with effective energy and land use policies.
- OPEN ACCESSEnvironmental issues and related policy instruments are becoming increasingly politicized in the Canadian context, but it is unclear whether biodiversity conservation and protected areas are similarly politicized. Here, we suggest that the political characteristics of protected areas do not lend themselves easily to politicization, but data from the Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database indicate that at the federal level, and provincially in Alberta, the rate of protected areas establishment is becoming increasingly tied to electoral politics, suggesting some politicization. We situate these trends within federal electoral politics between 2006 and the present, outlining the differing approaches of the Harper Conservatives and the Trudeau Liberals and showing how both administrations instrumentalized the environment and protected areas for their own electoral benefits. We find similar trends in Alberta with the Progressive Conservative, New Democratic Party, and United Conservative Party governments. However, while there is increasing polarization in practice, there has been less polarization of the electoral rhetoric surrounding protected areas. This politicization represents a barrier to conservation in Canada as it can lead to greenwashing, poor accountability, or the creation of an anti-conservation constituency. At the same time, politicization can raise the profile of conservation in public discourse, leading to greater public interest and engagement.
- OPEN ACCESSThe biodiversity crisis is a pressing global issue. In Ontario, Canada, species at risk are protected under the Endangered Species Act (2007). The current government amended that legislation through the More Homes, More Choice Act (2019), leaving species at risk with an uncertain future. This paper uses the Niagara Region as a case study and relies on interviews and data collection about listed species to illuminate the possible implications for the new amendments. The results indicate a total of 71 species at risk that exist in the Region, with as many as 37 species that could be delisted and stripped of protection under the recent changes. There is also concern around the prioritization of the economics over science in the amendments. While uncertainty surrounding the implementation of the amendments to the Ontario Endangered Species Act exists, there is agreement that species at risk should be protected.
- OPEN ACCESSGovernment imposed lockdown measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in widespread laboratory closures. This study aimed to examine the impact of this disruption on graduate students and postdoctoral fellows completing laboratory-based research in Canada. We used an anonymous online survey and semi-structured interviews to document the experiences of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows during laboratory closures and following the transition to working from home. We employed a mixed-method approach using survey and interview data to identify shared experiences, concerns, and supports. The emotions reported by respondents at different points during laboratory closures align with the Kübler-Ross model of grief following change. Respondents describe closure processes as chaotic and confusing, primarily resulting from inconsistent communication. Respondents reported increased indications of distress while working from home. Concerns about how COVID-19 might impact trainees were identified, including decreasing competitiveness of applicants while limiting future employment opportunities. Finally, we outline five types of supports that can be implemented by supervisors and administrators to support graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to return to the laboratory. Overall, we document shared experiences of respondents during the COVID-19 laboratory shutdown and identify areas of improvement in the event widespread laboratory closures occur in the future.
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- Jade R. Steel,
- William I. Atlas,
- Natalie C. Ban,
- Kyle Wilson,
- Jayda Wilson,
- William G. Housty, and
- Jonathan W. Moore
Wild salmon are central to food security, cultural identity, and livelihoods of coastal Indigenous communities. Yet ongoing inequities in governance, declining fish populations, and mixed-stock ocean fisheries may pose challenges for equitable access between Indigenous fishers and other non-Indigenous fishers. We sought to understand current perceptions among Haíłzaqv (Heiltsuk) fishers towards salmon fisheries and their management. We conducted dockside surveys with both Haíłzaqv fishers and sport fishers, and in-depth interviews with Haíłzaqv fishers, community members, and natural resource managers. From these surveys and interviews we quantified satisfaction among both food, social, and ceremonial fishers and visiting recreational fishers with the current salmon fishery and associated social-ecological drivers, and characterized perceptions among Haíłzaqv people of salmon fisheries and management. Second, we synthesized community perceptions of the revitalization of terminal, communally run salmon fisheries within Haíłzaqv territory as a tool for their future salmon management. Finally, we elicited information from Haíłzaqv fishers about the barriers people in their community currently face in accessing salmon fisheries. Our findings suggest that low salmon abundance, increased fishing competition, and high costs associated with participation in marine mixed-stock fisheries currently hinder access and equity for Haíłzaqv fishers. This community-based research can help strengthen local, Indigenous-led management of salmon into the future. - OPEN ACCESS
- Christopher J. Lemieux,
- Elizabeth A. Halpenny,
- Trevor Swerdfager,
- Mu He,
- A. Joyce Gould,
- Don Carruthers Den Hoed,
- Jill Bueddefeld,
- Glen T. Hvenegaard,
- Brian Joubert, and
- Rick Rollins
The conservation of biodiversity requires various forms of evidence to ensure effective outcomes. In this study, we provide an updated assessment of the state of evidence-based decision-making in Canada’s protected areas organizations by examining practitioner perceptions of: (i) the value and use of various forms of evidence, (ii) the availability of evidence to support decisions, and (iii) the extent to which various institutional and behavioural barriers influence the use of evidence. Our results compare national surveys conducted in 2019 and 2013, revealing a significant and concerning decline in the use of all forms of evidence. We found significant declines in the use of peer-reviewed literature, local knowledge, and Indigenous knowledge. Our results correspondingly demonstrate a host of systemic barriers to the effective use of evidence, including a lack of trust, how to deal with uncertainty, and limited training. These challenges persist at a time when the quantity of information is greater than ever, and recognition of the value of Indigenous knowledge is relatively high (and increasing). Leadership is required to cultivate more relevant evidence, to embed scientists and Indigenous Knowledge-Holders in conservation organizations, to (re)establishing knowledge sharing forums, and to establish accountability and reporting measures to support efforts aimed at effectively achieving Canada’s biodiversity conservation goals. - OPEN ACCESS
- Jason T Fisher,
- Fabian Grey,
- Nelson Anderson,
- Josiah Sawan,
- Nicholas Anderson,
- Shauna-Lee Chai,
- Luke Nolan,
- Andrew Underwood,
- Julia Amerongen Maddison,
- Hugh W. Fuller, and
- Sandra Frey
The resource extraction that powers global economies is often manifested in Indigenous Peoples’ territories. Indigenous Peoples living on the land are careful observers of resulting biodiversity changes, and Indigenous-led research can provide evidence to inform conservation decisions. In the Nearctic western boreal forest, landscape change from forest harvesting and petroleum extraction is intensive and extensive. A First Nations community in the Canadian oil sands co-created camera-trap research to explore observations of presumptive species declines, seeking to identify the relative contributions of different industrial sectors to changes in mammal distributions. Camera data were analyzed via generalized linear models in a model-selection approach. Multiple forestry and petroleum extraction features positively and negatively affected boreal mammal species. Pipelines had the greatest negative effect size (for wolves), whereas well sites had a large positive effect size for multiple species, suggesting the energy sector as a target for co-management. Co-created research reveals spatial relationships of disturbance, prey, and predators on Indigenous traditional territories. It provides hypotheses, tests, and interpretations unique to outside perspectives; Indigenous participation in conservation management of their territories scales up to benefit global biodiversity conservation. - OPEN ACCESS
- Douglas Clark,
- Kyle Artelle,
- Chris Darimont,
- William Housty,
- Clyde Tallio,
- Douglas Neasloss,
- Aimee Schmidt,
- Andrew Wiget, and
- Nancy Turner
Grizzly bears and polar bears often serve as ecological “flagship species” in conservation efforts, but although consumptively used in some areas and cultures they can also be important cultural keystone species even where not hunted. We extend the application of established criteria for defining cultural keystone species to also encompass species with which cultures have a primarily nonconsumptive relationship but that are nonetheless disproportionately important to well-being and identity. Grizzly bears in coastal British Columbia are closely linked to many Indigenous Peoples (including the Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk), Kitasoo/Xai’xais, and Nuxalk First Nations), where they are central to the identity, culture, and livelihoods of individuals, families, Chiefs, and Nations. Polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba, provide another example as a cultural keystone species for a mixed Indigenous and non-Indigenous community in which many of the livelihood benefits from the species are mediated by economic transactions in a globalized tourism market. We discuss context specificity and questions of equity in sharing of benefits from cultural keystone species. Our expanded definition of cultural keystone species gives broader recognition of the beyond-ecological importance of these species to Indigenous Peoples, which highlights the societal and ecological importance of Indigenous sovereignty and could facilitate the increased cross-cultural understanding critical to reconciliation. - OPEN ACCESSThis paper explores the degree to which the ecosystem services (ES) concept and related tools have been integrated and implemented within the Canadian government context at both the provincial/territorial and federal levels. The research goals of the study were to qualitatively assess the extent to which ES assessment is being integrated at different levels of government, consider the barriers to implementation, and draw lessons from the development and use of Canada’s Ecosystem Services Toolkit: Completing and Using Ecosystem Service Assessment for Decision-Making—An Interdisciplinary Toolkit for Managers and Analysts (2017), jointly developed by a federal, provincial, and territorial government task force. Primary data were collected through targeted semi-structured interviews with key informants combined with a content analysis of ES-related documentation from government websites. Results indicate that while the term ES is found in documentation across different levels of government, there appears to be an ES implementation gap. Issues of conceptual understanding, path dependency, a lack of regulatory mandate, lost staff expertise, and competition with overlapping conceptual approaches were identified as barriers to ES uptake. Areas requiring further policy and research attention are identified.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Fielding A. Montgomery,
- Noelle Stratton,
- Paul A. Bzonek,
- Sara E. Campbell,
- Rowshyra A. Castañeda,
- Emily S. Chenery,
- Kavishka Gallage,
- Tej Heer,
- Meagan M. Kindree, and
- Nicholas E. Mandrak
Fishes assessed as Threatened or Endangered by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada are disproportionately less likely to be listed under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) compared to other taxa. We examined the extent to which the amount and type of science advice in a Recovery Potential Assessment (RPA) contributes to SARA-listing decisions for 34 wildlife species of freshwater fishes in Canada. We used a generalized linear mixed model to describe SARA listing status as a function of RPA completeness. Principal coordinates analyses were conducted to assess similarity in answers to RPA questions among listed and nonlisted species. The amount and type of science advice within an RPA were weakly related to SARA status. RPA completeness accounted for only 7.4% of model variation when family was included as a random effect, likely because nine species not listed under SARA (64%) belong to the sturgeon family. Our results suggest that, while potentially useful for informing recovery strategies, RPAs do not appear to be driving listing status for freshwater fishes in Canada. Factors beyond scientific advice likely contribute to nonlisted species and delays in listing decisions. - OPEN ACCESS
- Joanne L. Parrott,
- Grazina Pacepavicius,
- Kallie Shires,
- Stacey Clarence,
- Hufsa Khan,
- Madelaine Gardiner,
- Cheryl Sullivan, and
- Mehran Alaee
Metformin is a glucose-lowering drug taken for diabetes. It is excreted by humans in urine and detected in municipal wastewater effluents and rivers. Fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) were exposed over a life cycle to measured concentrations of metformin: 3.0, 31, and 322 μg/L. No significant changes were observed in survival, maturation, growth, condition factor, or liver size. Relative ovary size of females exposed to 322 μg/L metformin was significantly larger than controls. There was no induction of vitellogenin in plasma of minnows, and gonad maturation was not statistically different from controls. The start of breeding was delayed by 9–10 d in the mid- and high metformin treatments (statistically significant only in the mid-concentration), but numbers and quality of eggs were not statistically different from controls. There were no effects of metformin on survival or growth of offspring. Exposure to metformin at environmentally relevant concentrations (i.e., 3.0 and 31 μg/L metformin) caused no adverse effects in fathead minnows exposed for a life cycle, with the exception of a delay in time to first breeding (that did not impact overall egg production). The results of the study are important to help understand whether metformin concentrations in rivers and lakes can harm fishes. - OPEN ACCESS
- Leonardo B. Custode,
- Matthew M. Guzzo,
- Natasha Bush,
- Claire Ewing,
- Michael Procko,
- Samantha M. Knight,
- Marie-Michele Rousseau-Clair, and
- D. Ryan Norris
Nongovernmental organizations contribute to the securement and management of protected areas, but it is not well known how their lands compare to government protected areas or the effectiveness of different land acquisition strategies. Using data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature and BirdLife International, we estimated total and at-risk terrestrial native vertebrate species richness in southern Canada among (i) private protected areas secured by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), government protected areas, and randomly sampled land; (ii) conservation agreements and fee simple (directly acquired) NCC properties; and (iii) purchased or donated fee simple properties. Controlling for property size and ecoregion, NCC protected areas were predicted to be in areas with 6% and 13% more total and at-risk species than randomly sampled land and 4% and 6% more total and at-risk species than government protected areas. Within NCC protected areas, conservation agreements were predicted to be in areas with 2% and 4% more total and at-risk species than fee simple properties, but purchased properties had similar numbers of total and at-risk species as donated properties. Although we caution that diversity estimates were based on course-grained range maps, our findings suggest that private protected areas are important in conserving biodiversity. - OPEN ACCESSCanada has expanded its marine protected area (MPA) coverage in line with the Aichi Biodiversity Target of protecting 10% of its marine territory by 2020. In 2018, a consultation process was launched to designate an Area of Interest surrounding the Eastern Shore Islands area off the coast of Nova Scotia, as the potential 15th Oceans Act MPA in Canada (DFO 2021a). This region has a fraught history with external conservation interventions and, consequently, there was a significant level of local mistrust in the process. This study explored the role of information in the consultation process and how it interplayed with the historical context, political pressures, trust, and mistrust among stakeholders and rightsholders. Drawing on interviews, a detailed desktop analysis, and participant observation at consultation meetings, this paper describes what worked well and what could be improved with respect to the sources of information used and the channels through which stakeholders and rightsholders accessed it. This case study demonstrates that while preferences for information sources and channels are context specific and varied, they are inherently personal and influenced by shared histories, trust, and individual beliefs.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Mark Groulx,
- Amanda Winegardner,
- Marie Claire Brisbois,
- Lee Ann Fishback,
- Rachelle Linde,
- Kristin Levy, and
- Annie Booth
Community science involves the co-creation of scientific pursuits, learning, and outcomes and is presented as a transformative practice for community engagement and environmental governance. Emphasizing critical reflection, this study adopts Mezirow’s conception of transformative learning to theorize the transformative capacity of community science. Findings from interviews with participants in a community science program reveal critical reflection, although instances acknowledging attitudes and beliefs without challenging personal assumptions were more common. Program elements most likely to prompt participants to identify beliefs, values, and assumptions include data collection and interaction in team dynamics, whereas data collection in a novel environment was most likely to prompt participants to challenge their beliefs, values, and assumptions. A review of 71 climate change focused programs further demonstrates the extent that program designs support transformative learning. Key features of the community science landscape like the broad inclusion of stated learning objectives offer a constructive starting point for deepening transformative capacity, while the dominance of contributory program designs stands as a likely roadblock. Overall, this study contributes by applying a developed field to theorize transformation in relation to community science and by highlighting where facilitators should focus program design efforts to better promote transformation toward environmental sustainability. - OPEN ACCESSLarge-scale monitoring is used to track population trends for many ecologically and economically important wildlife species. Often, population monitoring involves professional staff travelling to collect data (i.e., conventional monitoring) or in efforts to reduce monitoring costs, by engaging volunteers (i.e., community science). Although many studies have discussed the advantages and disadvantages of conventional vs. community science monitoring, few have made direct, quantitative comparisons between these two approaches. We compared data quality and financial costs between contemporaneous and overlapping conventional and community science programs for monitoring a major forest pest, the spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferanae Clem.). Although community science trapping sites were clumped around urban areas, abundance estimates from the programs were strongly spatially correlated. However, annual program expenditures were nearly four times lower in the community science versus the conventional program. We modelled a hypothetical hybrid model of the two programs, which provided full spatial coverage and potentially the same data, but at half the cost of the conventional program and with the added opportunity for public engagement. Our study provides a unique quantitative analysis of merits and costs of conventional versus community science monitoring. Our study offers insights on how to assess wildlife monitoring programs where multiple approaches exist.
- OPEN ACCESSThe degree to which human actions affect marine fisheries has been a fundamental question shaping people’s relationship with the sea. Today, divergences in stakeholder views about the impacts of human activities such as fishing, climate change, pollution, and resource management can hinder effective co-management and adaptation. Here, we used surveys to construct mental models of the Maine lobster fishery, identifying divergent views held by two key stakeholder groups: lobster fishers and marine scientists. The two groups were differentiated by their perceptions of the relative impact of pollution, water temperature, and fishing. Notably, many fishers perceive the process of fishing to have a positive effect on fisheries through the input of bait. Scientists exhibited a statistically significantly stronger concern for climate change and identified CO2 as one of the dominant pollutants in the Gulf of Maine. However, fishers and scientists agreed that management has a positive impact, which appeared to be a change over the past two decades, possibly due to increased collaboration between the two groups. This work contributes to the goal of decreasing the distance between stakeholder perspectives in the context of a co-managed fishery as well as understanding broader perceptions of impacts of human activities on marine ecosystems.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Hilary Sadowsky,
- Nicolas D. Brunet,
- Alex Anaviapik,
- Abraham Kublu,
- Cara Killiktee, and
- Dominique A. Henri
Community leadership in Arctic environmental research is increasingly recognized as one of many pathways to Indigenous self-determination in Nunavut, Canada. While experienced Inuit hunters, trappers, and other recognized environmental knowledge experts are commonly included in research, similar opportunities for Inuit youth to meaningfully engage in environmental research remain limited. Finding ways to increase scientific literacy, particularly among Inuit youth, has been identified as an important step in the continuation of high-quality Arctic environmental research. This paper examines community perspectives on the roles and contributions of Inuit youth in environmental research in Nunavut, barriers that Inuit youth face in becoming meaningfully engaged in field-based environmental research, and strategies for enhancing Inuit youth engagement. Our study was conducted in Pond Inlet, Nunavut, and used interviews, workshops, and observation to gather stories and knowledge from community members about field- and land-based experiential learning pathways. This study found that a complex set of barriers, including a lack of credentials and support systems, among others, may inhibit meaningful Inuit youth engagement in environmental research. Key findings from the study support the view that collaborative land-based research activities can be an effective and meaningful method of enhancing scientific literacy among Inuit youth. - OPEN ACCESSNatural resources in northern regions are often data-limited because they are difficult and expensive to access. Indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) can provide information similar to, different from, or complementary to Western scientific data (WSD). We evaluated the general hypothesis that congruence in outcomes of IEK and WSD for population monitoring parameters is determined by temporal and spatial scale of the knowledge type. Parameters included population structure, degree of philopatry, morphological variation (and conservation status for one species), and genomics was a key Western scientific method. We evaluated this hypothesis in three subsistence and recreational fisheries (walleye, lake trout, and northern pike) in Mistassini Lake, Quebec, Canada. Concordance of outcomes was varied. IEK provided richer information on the biology, distribution, and morphological variation observable with the eyes. However, IEK cannot “see” into the genome, and WSD identified population structure and history more precisely than IEK. Both knowledge types could “see” change in populations, and the nature of what was seen both converged and was complementary. Determining when IEK and WSD are complementary or reach common conclusions may allow Indigenous communities to use both together, or one knowledge type over another when either is more desired, appropriate, or time- or cost-efficient to adopt.
- OPEN ACCESSEfforts are underway in Canada to set aside terrestrial lands for conservation, thereby protecting them from anthropogenic pressures. Here we produce the first Canadian human footprint map by combining 12 different anthropogenic pressures and identifying intact and modified lands and ecosystems across the country. Our results showed strong spatial variation in pressures across the country, with just 18% of Canada experiencing measurable human pressure. However, some ecosystems are experiencing very high pressure, such as the Great Lakes Plains and Prairies national ecological areas that have over 75% and 56% of their areas, respectively, with a high human footprint. In contrast, the Arctic and Northern Mountains have less than 0.02% and 0.2%, respectively, of their extent under high human footprint. A validation of the final map, using random statistical sampling, resulted in a Cohen Kappa statistic of 0.91, signifying an “almost perfect” agreement between the human footprint and the validation data set. By increasing the number and accuracy of mapped pressures, our map demonstrates much more widespread pressures in Canada than were indicated by previous global mapping efforts, demonstrating the value in specific national data applications. Ecological areas with immense anthropogenic pressure highlight challenges that may arise when planning for ecologically representative protected areas.
- OPEN ACCESS
- A.K. Menzies,
- E. Bowles,
- M. Gallant,
- H. Patterson,
- C. Kozmik,
- S. Chiblow,
- D. McGregor,
- A. Ford, and
- J.N. Popp
Climate change disproportionately affects Indigenous Peoples because of strong connections between environmental, cultural, and spiritual well-being. While much of the global discourse surrounding climate change is founded in Western science, the holistic, place-based knowledge of Indigenous Peoples offers a complementary way of understanding and mitigating climate change impacts. The goal of this research was to elevate Anishinaabe concerns, observations, and perspectives about climate change impacts and future research needs. We organized a workshop called “Connecting Guardians in a Changing World” where participants shared concerns about animal and plant life cycles, water cycles and water quality, and impacts to ways of life, including reduced capacity to perform cultural practices and erosion of their knowledge. Participants highlighted the challenge of prioritizing a single impact of climate change, emphasizing that impacts to the environment and ways of life are interconnected. Participants also expressed the need for research and policy that move beyond interdisciplinarity to include intercultural philosophy and research that better reflects Indigenous worldviews and incorporates Indigenous methodologies. Moving forward, meaningful partnerships and opportunities for knowledge sharing should be prioritized in climate change discourse to ensure solutions are generated together, with all of the tools and knowledge available. - OPEN ACCESS
- Sabine Dietz,
- Karen F. Beazley,
- Christopher J. Lemieux,
- Colleen St. Clair,
- Laura Coristine,
- Eric Higgs,
- Risa Smith,
- Marlow Pellatt,
- Carolynn Beaty,
- Edward Cheskey,
- Steven J. Cooke,
- Lindsay Crawford,
- Rob Davis,
- Graham Forbes,
- Fawziah (ZuZu) Gadallah,
- Peter Kendall,
- Nick Mandrak,
- Faisal Moola,
- Scott Parker,
- James Quayle,
- Justina C. Ray,
- Karen Richardson,
- Kevin Smith,
- James Snider,
- John P. Smol,
- William J Sutherland,
- Andre Vallillee,
- Lori White, and
- Alison Woodley
Horizon scanning is increasingly used in conservation to systematically explore emerging policy and management issues. We present the results of a horizon scan of issues likely to impact management of Canadian protected and conserved areas over the next 5–10 years. Eighty-eight individuals participated, representing a broad community of academics, government and nongovernment organizations, and foundations, including policymakers and managers of protected and conserved areas. This community initially identified 187 issues, which were subsequently triaged to 15 horizon issues by a group of 33 experts using a modified Delphi technique. Results were organized under four broad categories: (i) emerging effects of climate change in protected and conserved areas design, planning, and management (i.e., large-scale ecosystem changes, species translocation, fire regimes, ecological integrity, and snow patterns); (ii) Indigenous governance and knowledge systems (i.e., Indigenous governance and Indigenous knowledge and Western science); (iii) integrated conservation approaches across landscapes and seascapes (i.e., connectivity conservation, integrating ecosystem values and services, freshwater planning); and (iv) early responses to emerging cumulative, underestimated, and novel threats (i.e., management of cumulative impacts, declining insect biomass, increasing anthropogenic noise, synthetic biology). Overall, the scan identified several emerging issues that require immediate attention to effectively reduce threats, respond to opportunities, and enhance preparedness and capacity to react. - OPEN ACCESSThis article explores the “wholistic” as a central concept of “the good life” as expressed by the Bnkis, Tayal Indigenous Elders, who participated in the Day Club, Tayal territory of Northern Taiwan. In particular, we analyze the stories of care experienced by the Bnkis from the standpoint of wholistic relationships. The stories were recorded primarily between 2015 and 2018. In this analysis we used a critical qualitative design approach, privileging Tayal epistemology and informed by Tayal hermeneutics. Our results show that the concept of well-being for the Bnkis is closely linked to their relationships with people and with the land and spirituality. Through these relationships, the continuation of Gaga—Tayal law and cosmology—has been adapted organically over time. We argue that Gaga is central to Tayal Elder/Bnkis care and essential to Bnkis’ well-being. We propose that the concept of wholistic relationships embedded in the Tayal law of Gaga is vital in developing an elderly care system that is genuinely culturally relevant in the long run. This research demonstrates how the wholistic concept can improve human health and well-being, and ultimately provides an implication to sustainable development.
- OPEN ACCESSIn response to colonial research paradigms that have subjugated Indigenous Peoples, knowledges, lands, and waters, Indigenous research methodologies have emerged to center Indigenous visions and voices in research practice. Here, we employ such methodologies to improve collective understanding of the state and future of wild Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) and fish–people–place relationships across British Columbia’s three largest salmon-producing rivers: the Fraser, Skeena, and Nass. Through partnerships with 18 communities of “Salmon People” and semi-structured interviews with 48 knowledge holders (i.e., Elders), we learned that, on average, Elders spent more than half of a century actively engaged in salmon fishing and processing. Modern salmon catches are reported to be approximately one-sixth of what they were estimated to be five to seven decades ago, and the top five threats to salmon identified by Elders included (i) aquaculture, (ii) climate change, (iii) contaminants, (iv) industrial development, and (v) infectious diseases. Threat priorities varied regionally, reflecting distinct lived experiences and regional variation in the prevalence and impact of different threats. Elders perceived threats to salmon equally as threats to aquatic health and human well-being, with evidence that the relationships between people and water, and salmon and people, are being profoundly transformed.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Chief Adam Dick (Kwaxsistalla Wathl’thla),
- Daisy Sewid-Smith (Mayanilth),
- Kim Recalma-Clutesi (Oqwilowgwa),
- Douglas Deur (Moxmowisa), and
- N.J. Turner (Galitsimġa)
Indigenous Peoples’ lives, cultures, and values are defined largely by their long-term relationships with the lands, waters, and lifeforms of their territories. Their stories, names, ceremonies, and connections with the plants and animals on which they have depended over countless generations are cornerstones of their knowledge systems, systems of governance and decision-making, traditions of intergenerational knowledge transmission, and values and responsibilities associated with natural and human domains alike. For First Nations of North America’s Northwest Coast, as for many other Indigenous Peoples, the arrival of European newcomers disrupted both the natural world and associated cultural practices in interconnected ways. The industrial exploitation of lands and resources had wide-ranging effects: traditional land and resource appropriation; impacts on culturally significant habitats by industrial-scale fishing, logging, and mining; and discrimination and marginalization contributing to resource alienation. This paper documents some experiences of Kwakwaka’wakw and other Coastal First Nations in coping with the cultural effects of environmental loss. It highlights their concern for the ecological integrity of lands and waters formerly under their stewardship but reshaped by non-Native extractive economies, and describes how these losses have affected the cultural, social, and physical health of Kwakwaka’wakw peoples up to the present time. - OPEN ACCESSBetween 1962 and 1969, 10 tonnes of mercury were discharged from a chlor-alkali plant in Dryden, Ontario, to the English–Wabigoon River. Present-day fish mercury concentrations are amongst the highest recorded in Canada. In 2017, the Grassy Narrows Science Team found no evidence of ongoing discharges from the plant site to the river water, even though large quantities of mercury remain at the site. Instead, our data suggest that ongoing erosion of high mercury particles by the river, as it meanders through contaminated floodplains, is responsible for present-day transport of mercury to Clay Lake and to Ball Lake, located 154 km downstream. In Clay Lake, surface sediment total mercury concentrations and inflow water concentrations are still about 15 times above background (86 km downstream), and in Ball Lake mercury concentrations in sediments appeared to be still increasing. The remobilization of legacy inorganic mercury from riverbank erosion between Dryden and Clay Lake stimulates methyl mercury production there, in Clay Lake, and in Ball Lake. The large quantities of methyl mercury produced between Dryden and Clay Lake are mostly dissolved in water and are swept downstream, elevating concentrations in water and biota throughout the system. Several options for remediating the ongoing contamination are discussed.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Mylène Ratelle,
- Andrew Spring,
- Brian Douglas Laird,
- Leon Andrew,
- Deborah Simmons,
- Alexa Scully, and
- Kelly Skinner
Resource development and climate change are increasing concerns regarding safe water for Indigenous people in Canada. A research study was completed to characterize the consumption of water and beverages prepared with water and identify the perception of water consumption in Indigenous communities from the Northwest Territories and Yukon, Canada. As part of a larger research program, data for this study were available from a 24-hour recall dietary survey (n = 162), a health messages survey (n = 150), and an exposure factor survey (n = 63). A focus group was conducted with Elders in an on-the-land camp setting. The consumption of water-based beverages in winter was 0.9 L/day on average, mainly consisting of tea and coffee. Of the 81% of respondents who reported consuming water-based beverages in the previous 24 hours of the survey, 33% drank more bottled water than tap water. About 2% of respondents consumed water from the land (during the winter season). Chlorine smell was the main limiting factor reported to the consumption of tap water. Results from the focus group indicated that Indigenous knowledge might impact both the perception and consumption of water. These findings aim to support public health efforts to enable people to make water their drink of choice. - OPEN ACCESSForested vernal pools serve an integral role in the recruitment of amphibians in glaciated northeastern North America. In south-central Ontario, vernal pools exist in relatively unimpacted forest networks, but the amphibian communities face uncertain challenges from anthropogenic-induced climate change. We surveyed amphibian larvae and collected measurements of habitat characteristics from vernal pools to collect baseline information on amphibian community structure and species–habitat relationships. Amphibian communities were influenced by hydroperiod length and canopy openness, and the relative abundances of early breeding amphibians were affected by changes in the structure of vegetation communities within pools. Our study suggests that, even across moderate ranges of breeding habitat characteristics, the structure of amphibian communities is dynamic. With anthropogenic-induced climate change leading to more drought-prone summers, the conservation of intact forests that support diverse wetland assemblages will be a necessary component of future legislation.
- OPEN ACCESSThis paper reviews a century of Kwakwaka’wakw knowledge on ecological, climate, and social change. We trace the era of Indigenous governance (about the precolonial period), especially from about 1910 to the devastation of the flood in Dzawada’enuxw First Nation territory in Kingcome, British Columbia, in 2010. This time period has been chosen as the assessment period as this is the lifetime of the 10 Elders that we collaborated with to understand and position change during this tumultuous era. We call the results of this process “a century of knowledge”. Ecological, social, and climate change are positioned with scientific literature for potential divergence/convergence. Almost all aspects of the Kwakwaka’wakw home area have undergone large-scale changes including clear-cut forestry, salmon farms, climate change affecting species ranges, cultural impositions, and colonial processes working to destroy Indigenous governance. Despite these imposed changes, the communities emerge as survivors on their own terms, including using the traditional feast system known as the Potlatch to come to terms with the devastation of the 2010 flood and beyond.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Ben R. Collison,
- Patrick A. Reid,
- Hannah Dvorski,
- Mauricio J. Lopez,
- Alana R. Westwood, and
- Nikki Skuce
In British Columbia (BC), Canada, there is increased attention on mines and their impacts on water resources. In BC, many proposed mines undergo provincial environmental assessment (EA), which predicts a mine’s risks and involves government oversight and public engagement. After approval, mines can apply for amendments that alter the project’s undertakings, including in ways that may harm water resources. We examined all amendment documents for mines undergoing provincial EA in BC from 2002 to 2020. Of the 23 approved mines, 15 (65%) requested a total of 49 amendments, of which 98% were approved. Most mines applied for their first amendment within 3 years of approval. We deemed 20 of the approved amendments (associated with 10 projects) likely to have negative impacts on water resources, including changes to effluent discharge, increased volume of water extraction, or degradation of fish habitat. Amendment applications and approval documents lacked specific, quantitative information to reinforce claims or decisions. We present the first known summary of EA amendments in any jurisdiction. Given that most mines in BC receive amendments, and many are related to water, we express concern that amendment processes increase risk to water resources without meeting standards of evidence and public scrutiny required by the regular EA process. - OPEN ACCESSImpact assessment (IA) processes rely on the ability of assessment boards and their assessors to gather, synthesize, and interpret knowledge from a variety of sources, making IA a knowledge-based activity. IA boards in northern Canada operate in a context that prioritizes pluralism, where Indigenous knowledge is a key element of decision-making and the ability of practitioners to interact with knowledge—research capacity—affects process effectiveness, credibility, and legitimacy. Drawing on common principles from existing research capacity frameworks, we identify the dimensions of capacity most relevant to more fully realizing inclusive impact assessment processes. We then examine the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Board (YESAB) as a specialized environmental governance organization with assessors whose research capacity directly impacts process outcomes. Results show that while common dimensions across knowledge-based disciplines, such as sufficient resources (e.g., financial support), are often addressed in the YESAB context, others unique to IA, like contextual understanding, require further examination. The interaction between individual and organizational research capacity is a complex balance between investing in individuals and investing in organizational supports. The proposed framework facilitates multi-scalar supports for individual assessors and assessment bodies alike to navigate balancing technical and value-driven knowledge in assessments.
- OPEN ACCESSThis research examines the potential challenges and opportunities for Mi’kmaq, the Indigenous peoples who have inhabited modern-day Nova Scotia and other areas of Eastern Canada for millennia, to play a greater role in marine protected area (MPA) governance in Canada. Given Canada’s marine conservation objectives of 30% by 2030, there is a growing need for decisions affecting the establishment of MPAs to respect Indigenous rights, values, and knowledge. Using the Eastern Shore Islands (ESI) in Nova Scotia, Canada, an area of interest for MPA establishment, as a case study, we conducted 17 semi-structured interviews with both Mi’kmaq and non-Mi’kmaq participants involved in the ESI consultation processes. We used content analysis to identify key themes that respondents perceived to be affecting Mi’kmaq involvement in the federal MPA governance processes. Barriers to overcome included those deemed to be systemic within the current decision-making processes; limited understanding of Mi’kmaq culture, governance, and rights; limited clarity of Mi’kmaq rights, particularly those resulting in fisheries conflicts; and limited capacity. Opportunities highlighted the importance of meaningful consultation and understanding of Indigenous worldviews as well as the need for alternative approaches to state-led/top-down governance to improve Mi’kmaq participation in MPA governance in Atlantic Canada.
- OPEN ACCESSCumulative human impact analysis is a promising management tool to estimate the impacts of stressors on ecosystems caused by multiple human activities. However, connecting cumulative impact scores to actual ecosystem change at appropriate spatial scales remains challenging. Here, we calculated cumulative effects (CE) scores for 187 seagrass beds in Atlantic Canada that accounts for both bay-scale and local-scale anthropogenic activities. We then developed a CE threshold to evaluate where degradation of seagrass beds from multiple human activities is more likely. Overall, the CE score was the best predictor of human impacts for seagrass beds. Locations with high watershed land alteration and nitrogen loading had the highest CE scores; however, we also identified seagrass beds with high CE scores in regions characterized by generally low levels of human activities. Forty-nine seagrass beds exceeded the CE threshold and, of these, 86% had CE scores that were influenced by three or more stressors that cumulatively amounted to a large score. This CE threshold approach can provide a simplified metric to identify areas where management of cumulative effects should be prioritized and further highlights the need to consider multiple human activities when assessing anthropogenic impacts to coastal habitats.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Linda C. Li,
- Alison M. Hoens,
- Linda Wilhelm,
- Vikram Bubber,
- Elliot PausJenssen,
- Annette McKinnon,
- Jenny Leese,
- Thalia Otamendi,
- Clayon B. Hamilton,
- Wasifa Zarin,
- Andrea C. Tricco, and
- for the SPOR Evidence Alliance
The Evidence Alliance (EA) is a Canada-wide multi-stakeholder organization providing national-level support in knowledge synthesis, clinical practice guidelines development, and knowledge translation. With a mandate to deliver the best available evidence to inform health policy and improve patient care, the EA involves patients and their caregivers in its governance, research priority setting and conduct, and capacity building. To reflect on the experiences of patient involvement in its first three years, the organization conducted a self-study with 17 actively involved patient partners. They answered the Patient Engagement in Research Scale 22-item short form (PEIRS-22) and open-ended questions. Of the 15 respondents, 12 were women with a mean age of 62.6 years (SD 10.1). The mean PEIRS-22 score was 82.1 (SD 15.9), indicating perceived meaningful engagement. Analysis of the free-text answers identified three themes: (i) communication: successes, changes, and improvements; (ii) a respectful and welcoming environment; and (iii) opportunities to learn and contribute. Patient partners noted the EA made genuine efforts to welcome them and value their contributions. They also identified a need for the organization to increase patient partner diversity. This self-study was perceived as rewarding as it provided a foundation for further growth in patient involvement within the organization. - OPEN ACCESSEthnobiological studies on folk, common, or popular names that fishers use to identify fish can help improve fisheries monitoring and collaborations between fishers and researchers. This study investigates fishers’ knowledge (recognition, naming, and habitat use) on 115 and 119 fish species, respectively, in the Negro and Tapajos Rivers, two megadiverse rivers in the Brazilian Amazon, and investigates the relationship between such knowledge and fish importance to fisheries, fish abundance, and fish size. We also compared fishers’ perceptions on fisheries and fish abundance with literature data on fish harvests and fish sampling. We interviewed 16 fishers in 16 communities (one fisher per community, 8 communities along each river). These fishers recognized an average of 91 ± 10.4 species in the Negro River and 115 ± 7.2 species in the Tapajos River, but all fishers recognized 114 species in Negro and all species in Tapajos. The fishers’ knowledge of fish species was positively related to fishers’ perceptions on fish abundance, size, and importance to fisheries in the Negro, but only positively related to fish size in the Tapajos. Our results highlight the usefulness of fishers’ knowledge to providing data on use and cultural relevance of fish species in high diversity aquatic ecosystems.
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- Shelby Fenton,
- Emma K Quinn,
- Ela Rydz,
- Emily Heer,
- Hugh W Davies,
- Robert A Macpherson,
- Christopher B McLeod,
- Mieke W Koehoorn, and
- Cheryl E Peters
A media surveillance analysis was conducted to identify COVID-19 workplace outbreaks and associated transmission risk for new and emerging occupations. We identified 1,111 unique COVID-19 workplace outbreaks using the Factiva database. Occupations identified in the media articles were coded to the 2016 National Occupational Classification (V1.3) and were compared and contrasted with the same occupation in the Vancouver School of Economics (VSE) COVID Risk/Reward Assessment Tool by risk rating. After nurse aides, orderlies, and patient service associates (n = 109, very high risk), industrial butchers and meat cutters, and poultry preparers and related workers had the most workplace outbreaks reported in the media (n = 79) but were rated as medium risk for COVID-19 transmission in the VSE COVID Risk Tool. Outbreaks were also reported among material handlers (n = 61) and general farm workers (n = 28), but these occupations were rated medium–low risk and low risk, respectively. Food and beverage services (n = 72) and cashiers (n = 60) were identified as high-risk occupations in the VSE COVID Risk Tool. Differences between the media results and the risk tool point to key determinants of health that compound the risk of COVID-19 exposure in the workplace for some occupations and highlight the importance of collecting occupation data during a pandemic. - OPEN ACCESSWith the influence of climate change on marine systems expanding, climate adaptation will be fundamental for the future of fisheries management. An exponential increase in Atlantic halibut Hippoglossus hippoglossus landings over the past decade has coincided with warming ocean temperatures. Here, we explore how historical changes in abundance have been linked to changing thermal habitat conditions and project trends with a warming climate under different emissions scenarios. From 1990 to 2018, available thermal habitat increased by 11.6 ± 7.35% and growing degree days have increased by 13.5 ± 7.86 °C·days across the region. With warming, the probability of occurrence is projected to increase up to 20.5% in Canada by 2085 under RCP 8.5 for Atlantic halibut. Our results suggest that shifting patterns of halibut distribution and abundance are linked to thermal conditions and that continued warming will likely continue to enhance habitat conditions, leading to increased abundance in the Canadian range. Collectively, these results illustrate the influence of shifting environmental conditions on population dynamics and emphasize the importance of adaptive management practices in a dynamic future climate.
- OPEN ACCESSTrash capture devices (TCDs) are a rapidly evolving tool for municipal governments, non-governmental organizations, and industries to divert litter from our waterways. Here, we introduce protocols to initiate trash trapping projects to quantify and characterize captured anthropogenic litter based on a case study using Seabins. In addition, we have introduced a network for global data collection via TCDs. Our first protocol is a visual audit of the potential site to inform the type and location for TCD deployment. Our next two protocols quantify and characterize the litter captured by TCDs: (1) a simple protocol intended for daily monitoring and (2) a detailed protocol to characterize and quantify all large debris (>3 cm) and a subset of the small debris (2 mm–3 cm) caught in the devices. Using Seabins in the Toronto Harbour to test our methodology, we found that our subsampling methodology has a 6.9% error rate. Over a 19-week period, the Seabins captured ∼85 000 pieces of small debris. Our study highlights the utility of TCDs and proposes methods to realize this utility globally. TCDs should become more widespread and utilized as a triple threat: a cleanup tool, a data collection tool, and a platform for outreach and education.
- OPEN ACCESSClimate change is affecting the ocean, altering the biogeography of marine species. Yet marine protected area (MPA) planning still rarely incorporates projected species range shifts. We used the outputs of species distribution models fitted with biological and climate data as inputs to identify trends in occurrence for marine species in British Columbia (BC), Canada. We assessed and compared two ways of incorporating climate change projections into MPA planning. First, we overlaid 98 species with modelled distributions now and by the mid-21st century under two contrasting (“no mitigation” and “strong mitigation”) climate change scenarios with existing Provincial marine parks in BC, to ask which species could overlap with protected areas in the future. Second, we completed a spatial prioritization analysis using Marxan with the projected future species ranges as inputs, to ask where priority regions exist for the 98 marine species. We found that many BC marine parks will lose species in both climate scenarios that we analyzed, and that protecting 30% of important marine species will be challenging under the “no mitigation” climate change scenario. Challenges included the coarse resolution of the data and uncertainty in projecting species range shifts.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Eric Kai-Chung Wong,
- Jennifer Watt,
- Hanyan Zou,
- Arthana Chandraraj,
- Alissa Wenyue Zhang,
- Jahnel Brookes,
- Ashley Verduyn,
- Anna Berall,
- Richard Norman,
- Katrina Lynn Piggott,
- Terumi Izukawa,
- Sharon E. Straus, and
- Barbara Arlena Liu
Atypical disease presentations are common in older adults with COVID-19. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of atypical and typical symptoms in older adults with COVID-19 through progressive pandemic waves and the association of these symptoms with in-hospital mortality. This retrospective cohort study included consecutive adults aged over 65 years with confirmed COVID-19 infection who were admitted to seven hospitals in Toronto, Canada, from 1 March 2020 to 30 June 2021. The median age for the 1786 patients was 78.0 years and 847 (47.5%) were female. Atypical symptoms (as defined by geriatric syndromes) occurred in 1187 patients (66.5%), but rarely occurred in the absence of other symptoms (n = 106; 6.2%). The most common atypical symptoms were anorexia (n = 598; 33.5%), weakness (n = 519; 23.9%), and delirium (n = 449; 25.1%). Dyspnea (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.05; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.62–2.62), tachycardia (aOR 1.87; 95% CI 1.14–3.04), and delirium (aOR 1.52; 95% CI 1.18–1.96) were independently associated with in-hospital mortality. In a cohort of older adults hospitalized with COVID-19 infection, atypical presentations frequently overlapped with typical symptoms. Further research should be directed at understanding the cause and clinical significance of atypical presentations in older adults.