Faculty Publications (Social Sciences)

Permanent URI for this collection

https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/4607

Includes articles from BioMed Central Click on this link to see Work published with BioMed Central, Chemistry Central and SpringerOpen by researchers at University of Victoria.

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 677

A qualitative study exploring access barriers to abortion services among Indigenous Peoples in Canada
(Contraception, 2023) Monchalin, Renée; Pérez Piñán, Astrid V.; Wells, Madison; Paul, Willow; Jubinville, Danette; Law, Kimberly; Chaffey, Meagan; Pruder, Harlie; Ross, Arie
Objective: This paper reports on findings from our exploratory qualitative study that aims to advance knowledge around access to and experiences with abortion services among Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Study design: We applied an Indigenous methodology to engage with 15 Indigenous Peoples across Canada utilizing a conversational interview method. Our study was informed by an Indigenous Advisory Committee consisting of front-line service providers working in the area of abortion service access and/ or support across Canada. Results: We conducted conversations from September and November 2021. Participants identified with Métis, Cree, Dene, Inuit, Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and Mi'kmaq nations, across nine provinces and territories. Participants spoke to six themes encompassing challenges and potential solutions around abortion access experiences among Indigenous Peoples in Canada. These included (1) logistical barriers, (2) poor treatment, (3) stigma, (4) impacts of colonialism on attitudes towards abortion, (5) traditional knowledge, and (6) follow-up care and support. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that Indigenous Peoples experience abortion access barriers that are different than non-Indigenous Canadians, and that these barriers are closely linked to colonialism. Implications: Indigenous knowledges and practices that honor reproductive choice that pre-dates settler colonialism, must be brought forward into today to enhance the quality of abortion care.
Harnessing community science to support implementation and success of nature-based solutions
(Sustainability, 2024) Cabling, Ludwig Paul B.; Dubrawski, Kristian L.; Acker, Maleea; Brill, Gregg C.
Community science (CS), a type of community-based participatory research, plays a crucial role in advancing wide-reaching environmental education and awareness by leveraging the collective power of volunteer participants who contribute to research efforts. The low barriers of entry and well-established methods of participatory monitoring have potential to enable community participant involvement in applications of nature-based solutions (NbS). However, a better understanding of the current state of community-based approaches within NbS could improve feasibility for researchers and practitioners to implement community-based approaches in NbS. Based on the current literature, we discern five community science approaches that support NbS: (1) Environmental monitoring to determine baseline conditions; (2) Involvement of participants in NbS development and planning through discussions and workshops (i.e., co-design of NbS); (3) Using existing CS databases to support NbS design and implementation; (4) Determining the impacts and measuring effectiveness of NbS; and (5) Participation in multifunctional activities. While there are various avenues of participation, we find that CS-driven environmental monitoring (i.e., actions that involve observing, measuring, and assessing environmental parameters and conditions over time) emerges as a cornerstone of planning, implementing, and maintaining the success of NbS. As the proliferation of NbS implementation continues, future work to integrate community-based monitoring studies in NbS applications has potential, albeit far from guaranteed, to improve place-based and local societal and ecological outcomes.
“Stretch and transform” for energy justice: Indigenous advocacy for institutional transformative change of electricity in British Columbia, Canada
(Energy Policy, 2025) Hoicka, Christina E.; Regier, Adam; Berka, Anna; Chitsaz, Sara; Klym, Kayla
Transformative energy justice addresses root causes and legacies of inequality, centers voices and world views of historically excluded communities in the problem definition, decision making and transition processes. This study offers insights from a unique case of meso-level collective action by First Nations in British Columbia (BC), Canada, aimed at transformative electricity institutional change. We collate regulatory and advocacy text to characterise the range of proposed First Nation Power Authority models and their placement along a continuum of conformative to transformative energy justice. Interviews with knowledge holders from 14 First Nations offer insight into motivations behind transformative change and how it is shaped by historical injustice alongside practical community objectives around energy security, resilience, and community development. First Nations narratives of electricity transformation are aligned with the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) and with goals of self-determination and incorporate relational and regional approaches. These findings validate theoretical frameworks of transformational energy justice (Avelino et al., 2024; Elmallah et al., 2022). Much of the groundwork has been laid by the collective and the regulator, while new legislation has opened a window of opportunity to increase Indigenous participation and control in the electricity sector.
Insights to accelerate place-based at scale renewable energy landscapes: An analytical framework to typify the emergence of renewable energy clusters along the energy value chain
(Applied Energy, 2025) Hoicka, Christina E.; Graziano, Marcello; Willard-Stepan, Maya; Zhao, Yuxu
Renewable energy transitions depend on activities at both ends of the value-chain or lifecycle, from the development of new innovations and technologies to their widespread diffusion. Place-based at scale approaches to renewable energy landscapes create local value, incorporate multifunctionality and decentralisation, mitigate harm for ecosystems, address justice and local resilience. That the potential, demand, and production of renewable energies are place-based phenomena is not accounted for in dominant energy-economy models, requiring new methods of analysis for an energy transition. The emergence of renewable energy across landscapes is increasingly linked in practice to the concept of “renewable energy clusters” that acknowledge the emergence of renewable energy as spatially distributed, heterogeneous and place-based phenomena. Renewable energy clusters describe a range of place-based energy activities along the energy value chain, from production of technologies and innovations to their use. Despite their promise, there lacks a clear definition and typology of renewable energy clusters, and research has not yet synthesised the place-based factors that influence or inhibit their emergence, that could be used to inform place-based strategies that address local assets, actors, space, labour, knowledge issues, or localised justice issues. This work offers a first step by serving as a preliminary investigation of renewable energy clusters and the factors that may predict their emergence. First, a qualitative approach is used to identify three initial types of renewable energy clusters along the energy value chain. The fields of regional sciences, technology innovation systems, and energy geography are drawn upon to identify factors that may influence or inhibit the emergence and form of renewable energy clusters. The seven synthesised dimensions that can be tested to typify and predict renewable energy cluster emergence: actors, institutions, networks, knowledge and tools, proximity, location characteristics, and path dependency. These initial types can guide the development of a sample of empirical cases of renewable energy clusters that can be analysed through machine learning typification to identify a more nuanced articulation of vertically integrated cluster types along the energy value chain. Typification can reveal characteristics these renewable energy clusters have in common with others, and what outcomes emerge from these characteristics within the specific context of place-based energy transitions.
The political economics of civic energy: A framework for comparative research
(Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2025) Berka, Anna; Hoicka, Christina E.; Sperling, Karl
Deep civic engagement in energy transitions has been limited and unique to specific political economic contexts. This study develops a generic policy mix enabling civic energy, drawing on a systematic overview of barriers and policies for civic energy by country and region from 1980 to 2023. We show that when policy mixes support widespread diffusion of civic energy, they are likely to be “thick”; meaning that they align a wide range of corporate legal, market access, energy subsidy, localised planning and facilitation, access to finance, and capacity building policies - extending well beyond the domain of energy policy. Literature suggests that “thick” policy mixes emerge in contexts where there are narratives and conscious strategies for participation, political opportunities and resources mobilised towards enabling participation, with high degrees of fiscal and legislative decentralisation and policy coordination. In contrast, contexts characterised by low levels of civic energy are posited as having “thin” policy mixes, with limited opportunity for inclusive visioning or experimentation in multi-stakeholder platforms, limited decentralisation and policy coordination, resulting in marginalisation of civic arenas, conflicting framings and lack of high-level strategies for civic participation. We identify countries characterised by thick and thin policy mixes based on literature and identify research needed to confirm the existence of exclusive and inclusive governance and policy settings in relation to key indicators for both inclusivity and speed of transitions, allowing for better articulation of the value of inclusive innovation as a practical and beneficial approach to meeting emission reduction goals.
The nuances of intimacy: Asexual perspectives and experiences with dating and relationships
(Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2024) Higginbottom, Brooke
Asexuality studies are an emerging field in North America and Europe which lack large-scale, qualitative studies. Much existing research focuses on defining and categorizing asexuality, with researchers calling for more focus on the romantic and sexual relationships of asexual people. Drawing from an online survey with 349 participants, this paper describes the perceptions and experiences that asexual people have with dating and relationships. Participants answered 16 open-ended and 9 close-ended questions. After rounds of coding, three themes were selected for examination. These were dating, romantic and/or sexual relationships, and platonic relationships. These results showcase the challenges asexuals face with dating while also demonstrating how asexual people actively dismantle understandings of romantic, sexual, and platonic relationships through their own experiences and perspectives. Overall, this study provides greater legitimacy to the fluidity of asexuality and asexual relationships.
Influence of tundra fire severity on vegetation recovery in the Northwest Territories
(Arctic Science, 2024) Chen, Angel; Lantz, Trevor C.
Anthropogenic climate change has driven an increase in the frequency, size, and severity of fires at high latitudes. Recent research shows that increasing fire severity in the subarctic is altering the trajectories of forest succession, but to date, research on the effect of fire severity on tundra succession has been limited. In this study, we investigated short-term recovery of shrub tundra communities following fire in the Tuktoyaktuk Coastal Plain and Anderson River Plain ecoregions of the Northwest Territories. To understand the effects of fire severity, we documented vegetation and permafrost recovery within moderately burned, severely burned, and unburned portions of six tundra fires that burned in 2012. We found that vegetation structure at moderately and severely burnt sites recovered rapidly toward pre-fire levels, but that differences in community composition, characterized by a decrease in shrub and lichen cover as well as an increase in abundance of ruderals and graminoids, persisted at severely burned sites. The persistence of thermal changes and increased thaw depth indicate that while biotic recovery can occur promptly, severe fire may have long-term impacts on belowground conditions.
Impacts of shrub removal on snow and near-surface thermal conditions in permafrost terrain adjacent to the Dempster Highway, NT, Canada
(Arctic Science, 2024) Cameron, Emily A.; Lantz, Trevor C.; Kokelj, Steven V.
The Peel Plateau, NT, Canada, is an area underlain by warm continuous permafrost where changes in soil moisture, snow conditions, and shrub density have increased ground temperatures next to the Dempster Highway. In this study, ground temperatures, snow, and thaw depth were monitored before and after tall shrub removal (2014). A snow survey after tall shrub removal indicated that snow depth decreased by a third and lowered winter ground temperatures when compared with control tall shrub sites. The response of ground temperatures to shrub removal depended on soil type. The site with organic soils had cooler winter temperatures and no apparent change in summer temperatures following shrub removal. At sites with mineral soil, moderate winter ground cooling insufficiently counteracted increases in summer ground heat flux caused by canopy removal. Given the predominance of mineral soil along the Dempster, these observations suggest tall shrub removal is not a viable short-term permafrost management strategy. Additionally, the perpendicular orientation of the Highway to prevailing winter winds stimulates snow drift formation and predisposes the site to warmer permafrost temperatures, altered hydrology, and tall shrub proliferation. Subsequent research should explore the effectiveness of tall shrub removal at sites with colder winter conditions or different snow accumulation patterns.
The Northwest Territories thermokarst mapping collective: A northern-driven mapping collaborative toward understanding the effects of permafrost thaw
(Arctic Science, 2023) Kokelj, Steven V.; Gingras-Hill, Tristan; Daly, Seamus V.; Morse, Peter D.; Wolfe, Stephen A.; Rudy, Ashley C.A.; van der Sluijs, Jurjen; Weiss, Niels; Brendan O'Neill, H.; Baltzer, Jennifer L.; Lantz, Trevor C.; Gibson, Carolyn; Cazon, Dieter; Fraser, Robert H.; Froese, Duane G.; Giff, Garfield; Klengenberg, Charles; Lamoureux, Scott F.; Quinton, William L.; Turetsky, Merritt R.; Chiasson, Alexandre; Ferguson, Celtie; Newton, Mike; Pope, Mike; Paul, Jason A.; Wilson, M. Alice; Young, Joseph M.
This paper documents the first comprehensive inventory of thermokarst and thaw-sensitive terrain indicators for a 2 million km2 region of northwestern Canada. This is accomplished through the Thermokarst Mapping Collective (TMC), a research collaborative to systematically inventory indicators of permafrost thaw sensitivity by mapping and aerial assessments across the Northwest Territories (NT), Canada. The increase in NT-based permafrost capacity has fostered science leadership and collaboration with government, academic, and community researchers to enable project implementation. Ongoing communications and outreach have informed study design and strengthened Indigenous and stakeholder relationships. Documentation of theme-based methods supported mapper training, and flexible data infrastructure facilitated progress by Canada-wide researchers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The TMC inventory of thermokarst and thaw-sensitive landforms agree well with fine-scale empirical mapping (69%–84% accuracy) and aerial inventory (74%–96% accuracy) datasets. National- and circumpolar-scale modelling of sensitive permafrost terrain contrasts significantly with TMC outputs, highlighting their limitations and the value of empirically based mapping approaches. We demonstrate that the multiparameter TMC outputs support a holistic understanding and refined depictions of permafrost terrain sensitivity, provide novel opportunities for regional syntheses, and inform future modelling approaches, which are urgently required to comprehend better what permafrost thaw means for Canada's North.
A collaborative and scalable geospatial data set for Arctic retrogressive thaw slumps with data standards
(Scientific Data, 2025) Yang, Yili; Rodenhizer, Heidi; Rogers, Brendan M.; Dean, Jacqueline; Singh, Ridhima; Windholz, Tiffany; Poston, Amanda; Potter, Stefano; Zolkos, Scott; Fiske, Greg; Watts, Jennifer; Huang, Lingcao; Witharana, Chandi; Nitze, Ingmar; Nesterova, Nina; Barth, Sophia; Grosse, Guido; Lantz, Trevor C.; Runge, Alexandra; Lombardo, Luigi; Nicu, Ionut Cristi; Rubensdotter, Lena; Makopoulou, Eirini; Natali, Susan
Arctic permafrost is undergoing rapid changes due to climate warming in high latitudes. Retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS) are one of the most abrupt and impactful thermal-denudation events that change Arctic landscapes and accelerate carbon feedbacks. Their spatial distribution remains poorly characterised due to time-intensive conventional mapping methods. While numerous RTS studies have published standalone digitisation datasets, the lack of a centralised, unified database has limited their utilisation, affecting the scale of RTS studies and the generalisation ability of deep learning models. To address this, we established the Arctic Retrogressive Thaw Slumps (ARTS) dataset containing 23,529 RTS-present and 20,434 RTS-absent digitisations from 20 standalone datasets. We also proposed a Data Curation Framework as a working standard for RTS digitisations. This dataset is designed to be comprehensive, accessible, contributable, and adaptable for various RTS-related studies. This dataset and its accompanying curation framework establish a foundation for enhanced collaboration in RTS research, facilitating standardised data sharing and comprehensive analyses across the Arctic permafrost research community.
Assessing the accuracy of georeferenced landcover data derived from oblique imagery using machine learning
(Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, 2024) Tricker, James; Wright, Claire; Rose, Spencer; Rhemtulla, Jeanine M.; Lantz, Trevor C.; Higgs, Eric
Repeat photography offers distinctive insights into ecological change, with ground-based oblique photographs often predating early aerial images by decades. However, the oblique angle of the photographs presents challenges for extracting and analyzing ecological information using traditional remote sensing approaches. Several innovative methods have been developed for analyzing repeat photographs, but none offer a comprehensive end-to-end workflow incorporating image classification and georeferencing to produce quantifiable landcover data. In this paper, we provide an overview of two new tools, an automated deep learning classifier and intuitive georeferencing tool, and describe how they are used to derive landcover data from 19 images associated with the Mountain Legacy Project, a research team that works with the world's largest collection of systematic high-resolution historic mountain photographs. We then combined these data to produce a contemporary landcover map for a study area in Jasper National Park, Canada. We assessed georeferencing accuracy by calculating the root-mean-square error and mean displacement for a subset of the images, which was 4.6 and 3.7 m, respectively. Overall classification accuracy of the landcover map produced from oblique images was 68%, which was comparable to landcover data produced from aerial imagery using a conventional classification method. The new workflow advances the use of repeat photographs for yielding quantitative landcover data. It has several advantages over existing methods including the ability to produce quick and consistent image classifications with little human input, and accurately georeference and combine these data to generate landcover maps for large areas.
Retrogressive thaw slump susceptibility in the northern hemisphere permafrost region
(Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 2024) Makopoulou, Eirini; Karjalainen, Olli; Elia, Letizia; Blais-Stevens, Andrée; Lantz, Trevor C.; Lipovsky, Panya; Lombardo, Luigi; Nicu, Ionut C.; Rubensdotter, Lena; Rudy, Ashley C. A.; Hjort, Jan
Mean annual temperatures in the Arctic and subarctic have increased in recent decades, increasing the number of permafrost hazards. Retrogressive thaw slumps (RTSs), triggered by the thawing of ground ice in permafrost soil, have become more common in the Arctic. Many studies report an increase in RTS activity on a local or regional scale. In this study, the primary goals are to: (i) examine the spatial patterns of the RTS occurrences across the circumpolar permafrost region, (ii) assess the environmental factors associated with their occurrence and (iii) create the first susceptibility map for RTS occurrence across the Northern Hemisphere. Based on our results, we predicted high RTS susceptibility in the continuous permafrost regions above the 60th latitude, especially in northern Alaska, north-western Canada, the Yamal Peninsula, eastern Russia and the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The model indicated that air temperature and soil properties are the most critical environmental factors for the occurrence of RTSs on a circumpolar scale. Especially, the climatic conditions of thaw season were highlighted. This study provided new insights into the circumpolar susceptibility of ice-rich permafrost soils to rapid permafrost-related hazards like RTSs and the associated impacts on landscape evolution, infrastructure, hydrology and carbon fluxes that contribute to global warming.
Mapping vegetation height and identifying the northern forest limit across Canada using ICESat-2, Landsat time series and topographic data
(Remote Sensing of Environment, 2024) Travers-Smith, H.; Coops, N. C.; Mulverhill, C.; Wulder, M. A.; Ignace, D.; Lantz, Trevor C.
The northern forest-tundra ecotone is one of the fastest warming regions of the globe. Models of vegetation change generally predict a northward advance of boreal forests and corresponding retreat of the tundra. Previous satellite remote sensing analyses in this region have focused on mapping vegetation greenness and tree cover derived from optical multi-spectral sensors. Changes in vegetation structure relating to height and biomass are less frequently investigated due to limited availability of lidar data over space and time in comparison with optical platforms. As such, there is an opportunity to combine lidar and optical remote sensing products for continuous mapping of vegetation structure at high-latitudes, with an emphasis on the forest-tundra transition. In this study, we used lidar data from the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat-2) to classify canopy presence/absence, and predict canopy height across 120 million hectares of the Canadian forest-tundra ecotone at 30 m spatial resolution. Spatially continuous predictors derived from the Landsat satellite archive (2012−2021) and the ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) Digital Elevation Model were used to extrapolate 98th percentile canopy height from the ICESat-2 Land and Vegetation Height (ATL08) product using Random Forests models developed in R (version 4.2.2). Model accuracy was assessed using data from the Land, Vegetation and Ice Sensor (LVIS), a large-footprint airborne lidar system. The overall accuracy of the canopy presence classification was 89%, and canopy presence was detected with 88% accuracy. Models of vegetation height showed an overall R2 of 0.54 and RMSE of 2.09 m. Finally, we used these methods to map the limit of continuous 3 m forest across Canada and compared our model outputs with forest cover from the MODIS and Landsat Vegetation Continuous Fields datasets. This work demonstrates the challenges and potential for mapping horizontal and vertical vegetation structure within sparse, high latitude forests using both lidar and optical remote sensing data.
Assessing ecological effects of storm surges on Arctic bird populations in the outer Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories
(Arctic Science, 2024) Shipman, Frances Nicola Angus; Lantz, Trevor C.; Blight, L. K.
Coastal areas in the Western Canadian Arctic are predicted to experience increases in the frequency and intensity of storm surges as rapid climate change continues. Although storm surges have the potential to cause widespread and persistent vegetation loss, little information is available about the influence of decreasing disturbance intervals (between storms), expected timelines of recovery for vegetation, and how vegetation change alters habitat availability and (or) quality for local wildlife populations. We investigated how Arctic bird diversity is affected by heterogeneous vegetation recovery post-storm. Specifically, we employed field survey protocols from the Program for Regional and International Shorebird Monitoring to investigate how avian community assemblages were affected by heterogeneous re-vegetation 20 years following a record 1999 storm surge. Comparisons of these bird survey data with vegetation and habitat factors showed that the drier, post-storm vegetation barrens were preferred by ground-nesters and species that use open habitats such as Lapland longspur (Calcarius lapponicus) and semipalmated plover (Charadrius semipalmatus), whereas the wetter (usually with surface water) revegetated habitats were frequented by species of ducks (Anas spp.), red-necked phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), and savannah sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis). Overall, this research shows that areas that have revegetated after the 1999 storm can be considered as functionally recovered in comparison to our Reference (i.e., unaffected) sites in terms of vegetation and bird communities, but that areas still exist ∼20 years post-storm that do not show evidence of recovery.
Vegetation structure and soil organic carbon storage across northern forest-tundra ecotones in continuous permafrost
(Arctic Science, 2025) Travers-Smith, H.; Coops, N.C.; Lantz, Trevor C.; Hamp, M.; Ignace, D.; Wulder, M.A.; van der Sluijs, J.
Climate change is altering northern vegetation structure and below-ground carbon storage. Expanding forest and shrub cover has decreased soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in some parts of the forest-tundra ecotone. In this study, we linked measurements of SOC with terrain and vegetation structure derived from drone imagery across treelines underlain by continuous permafrost in the Northwest Territories, Canada. We classified sites into three treeline types representing differences in vegetation productivity and topography. Between treeline types, we observed differences in C:N ratios and organic matter depth related to the rate of soil carbon turnover and SOC storage. Overall, SOC showed small positive relationships with tree stem density and average canopy height. We did not find evidence that expanding tree- and shrublines would result in losses of SOC storage in our study area. Instead, topography and landscape drainage patterns, rather than vegetation structure may be more important predictors of SOC storage. We used medium resolution satellite data to extend predictions of treeline type across our study area. The majority of predicted treelines (82%) showed positive relationships between vegetation height and SOC storage. Our findings highlight the value of integrating vegetation structure and landscape features in understanding carbon dynamics in the forest-tundra ecotone.
Fishing in turbulent waters: Resilience, risk, and trust in British Columbia’s declining commercial salmon fishery
(FACETS, 2024) del Valle, Elias; Neal, Benjamin; Martínez-Candelas, Ilse; Dann, Patrick; Webb, Dawn; McClenachan, Loren
The impacts fishing communities face as a result of declining fisheries productivity and access may largely hinge on measurable attributes of their social resilience. Wild-origin Pacific salmon populations have been in a marked decline since the 1960s, resulting in progressively declining access for many commercial fisheries. More recent acute stressors have caused appreciable tribulation to commercial fishers in British Columbia, raising concern over their capacity to remain viable in the industry, and underscoring the need to examine the fishery under a social resilience framework. Here, we coupled an online survey instrument with in-depth interviews to assess commercial salmon fishers’ social resilience, socioeconomic characteristics, risk perceptions, trust in fishery management, and the relationships between these variables. Our results show that social resilience is low overall, with older, more experienced, and less diversified fishers being particularly vulnerable to declining salmon access. While 73% of fishers reported having plans to adapt to future declines in salmon access, 92% reported feeling that there are barriers impeding their adaptation, and 75% reported having no trust in fisheries management helping them adapt. Fishers’ social resilience was positively correlated with their trust in, and perceived trust from fisheries management.
The European Central Bank: From a price stability paradigm to a multidimensional stability paradigm
(Politics and Governance, 2025) Quaglia, Lucia; Verdun, Amy
This article maps and explains the shift in economic thinking at the European Central Bank (ECB), i.e., its “ideational” evolution over the past two decades. When the ECB was set up in 1999 its institutional design and epistemic outlook were very much inspired by the legacy of the German central bank, the Bundesbank. Thus, the ECB embraced a “price stability” paradigm that prioritized inflation control. However, over time, policy learning in response to economic shocks (first and foremost, a series of consecutive financial and economic crises from 2008 onwards) and the internal organic evolution of the ECB have led to a shift of economic thinking at the Bank, which has also been reflected by its policy actions. The new paradigm can be characterized as a “multidimensional stability” paradigm. By relying on inter alia secondary literature, speeches, semi‐structured elite interviews, and data we collected concerning the previous experience at national central banks of senior ECB staff, we identify a novel causal mechanism for ideational change at the Bank: the change in the composition of senior managerial staff from 1999 onward.
On the need for rigorous welfare and methodological reporting for the live capture of large carnivores: A response to de Araujo et al.
(Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 2021) Caravaggi, Anthony; Amado, Talita F.; Brook, Ryan K.; Ciuti, Simone; Darimont, Chris T.; Drouilly, Marine; English, Holly M.; Field, Kate A.; Iossa, Graziella; Martin, Jessica E.; McElligott, Alan G.; Mohammadi, Alireza; Nayeri, Danial; O’Neill, Helen M. K.; Paquet, Paul C.; Périquet, Stéphanie; Proulx, Gilbert; Rabaiotti, Daniella; Recio, Mariano R.; Soulsbury, Carl D.; Tadich, Tamara; Wynn-Grant, Rae
1. De Araujo et al. (Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13516) described the development and application of a wire foot snare trap for the capture of jaguars Panthera onca and cougars Puma concolor. Snares are a commonly used and effective means of studying large carnivores. However, the article presented insufficient information to replicate the work and inadequate consideration and description of animal welfare considerations, thereby risking the perpetuation of poor standards of reporting. 2. Appropriate animal welfare assessments are essential in studies that collect data from animals, especially those that use invasive techniques, and are key in assisting researchers to choose the most appropriate capture method. It is critical that authors detail all possible associated harms and benefits to support thorough review, including equipment composition, intervention processes, general body assessments, injuries (i.e. cause, type, severity) and post-release behaviour. We offer a detailed discussion of these shortcomings. 3. We also discuss broader but highly relevant issues, including the capture of non-target animals and the omission of key methodological details. The level of detail provided by authors should allow the method to be properly assessed and replicated, including those that improve trap selectivity and minimize or eliminate the capture of non-target animals. 4. Finally, we discuss the central role that journals must play in ensuring that published research conforms to ethical, animal welfare and reporting standards. Scientific studies are subject to ever-increasing scrutiny by peers and the public, making it more important than ever that standards are upheld and reviewed. 5. We conclude that the proposal of a new or refined method must be supported by substantial contextual discussion, a robust rationale and analyses and comprehensive documentation.
Publication reform to safeguard wildlife from researcher harm
(PLoS Biology, 2019) Field, Kate A.; Paquet, Paul C.; Artelle, Kyle; Proulx, Gilbert; Brook, Ryan k.; Darimont, Chris T.
Despite abundant focus on responsible care of laboratory animals, we argue that inattention to the maltreatment of wildlife constitutes an ethical blind spot in contemporary animal research. We begin by reviewing significant shortcomings in legal and institutional oversight, arguing for the relatively rapid and transformational potential of editorial oversight at journals in preventing harm to vertebrates studied in the field and outside the direct supervision of institutions. Straightforward changes to animal care policies in journals, which our analysis of 206 journals suggests are either absent (34%), weak, incoherent, or neglected by researchers, could provide a practical, effective, and rapidly imposed safeguard against unnecessary suffering. The Animals in Research: Reporting On Wildlife (ARROW) guidelines we propose here, coupled with strong enforcement, could result in significant changes to how animals involved in wildlife research are treated. The research process would also benefit. Sound science requires animal subjects to be physically, physiologically, and behaviorally unharmed. Accordingly, publication of methods that contravenes animal welfare principles risks perpetuating inhumane approaches and bad science.
Ecology of conflict: Marine food supply affects humanwildlife interactions on land
(Scientific Reports, 2016) Artelle, Kyle A.; Anderson, Sean C.; Reynolds, John D.; Cooper, Andrew B.; Paquet, Paul C.; Darimont, Chris T.
Human-wildlife conflicts impose considerable costs to people and wildlife worldwide. Most research focuses on proximate causes, offering limited generalizable understanding of ultimate drivers. We tested three competing hypotheses (problem individuals, regional population saturation, limited food supply) that relate to underlying processes of human-grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) conflict, using data from British Columbia, Canada, between 1960–2014. We found most support for the limited food supply hypothesis: in bear populations that feed on spawning salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), the annual number of bears/km2 killed due to conflicts with humans increased by an average of 20% (6–32% [95% CI]) for each 50% decrease in annual salmon biomass. Furthermore, we found that across all bear populations (with or without access to salmon), 81% of attacks on humans and 82% of conflict kills occurred after the approximate onset of hyperphagia (July 1st), a period of intense caloric demand. Contrary to practices by many management agencies, conflict frequency was not reduced by hunting or removal of problem individuals. Our finding that a marine resource affects terrestrial conflict suggests that evidence-based policy for reducing harm to wildlife and humans requires not only insight into ultimate drivers of conflict, but also management that spans ecosystem and jurisdictional boundaries.

Browse

Recent Submissions