Industrial landscape changes alter fine-scale mammal diversity and mammalian predator–prey dynamics in the northwest Nearctic

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dc.contributor.authorAubertin-Young, Macgregor
dc.contributor.supervisorHiggs, Eric
dc.contributor.supervisorFisher, Jason Thomas
dc.date.accessioned2022-04-28T20:58:38Z
dc.date.available2022-04-28T20:58:38Z
dc.date.copyright2022en_US
dc.date.issued2022-04-28
dc.degree.departmentSchool of Environmental Studiesen_US
dc.degree.levelMaster of Science M.Sc.en_US
dc.description.abstractBiodiversity has been heavily impacted by anthropogenic landscape changes associated with natural resource extraction. Terrestrial mammals, which disproportionately maintain ecosystem functions, are among the species most affected by anthropogenic landscape changes. In turn, it is important that we incorporate mammal conservation into natural resource extraction to mitigate biodiversity change, for which we must better understand the dynamics of mammal communities. I used data from motion-activated camera traps deployed in the northwest Nearctic to investigate two aspects of mammal communities: how the environment shapes fine-scale mammal diversity and how mammalian predator species coexist. In my first study, I compared how well natural and anthropogenic landscape features explain fine-scale mammal diversity within and between six variably industrialized landscapes. I found that anthropogenic landscape features explain fine-scale mammal diversity better than natural features in heavily industrialized landscapes, where they may increase or decrease diversity. In my second study, I examined whether prey partitioning facilitates the coexistence of mammalian predator species in an industrialized boreal landscape. My findings suggest that sympatric predator species only partially partition prey, as some predator species had identical prey associations. Strikingly, though, I also found that all predators were positively associated with white-tailed deer, an invasive prey species made abundant by industrial landscape changes. Together, these findings reveal that industrial landscape changes significantly alter both the spatial distributions and predator–prey dynamics of mammal communities. This work can inform conservation and restoration strategies for slowing biodiversity change.en_US
dc.description.scholarlevelGraduateen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/13898
dc.languageEnglisheng
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.subjectBiodiversityen_US
dc.subjectGlobal changeen_US
dc.subjectWildlifeen_US
dc.subjectEnvironmental changeen_US
dc.subjectSpecies diversityen_US
dc.subjectIndustrializationen_US
dc.subjectBiogeographyen_US
dc.subjectAlbertaen_US
dc.subjectBoreal foresten_US
dc.titleIndustrial landscape changes alter fine-scale mammal diversity and mammalian predator–prey dynamics in the northwest Nearcticen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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