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Wolf Lake


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Bonnyville No. 87 AB
Canada

Wolf Lake


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Location

Yellowhead County AB
Canada

A review and assessment of the baseline data relevant to the impacts of oil sands developments on large mammals in the AOSERP study area


Year: 1979

Abstract:
The available baseline data which are relevant to the documentation and evaluation of the impacts on large mammals (moose, woodland caribou, wolf) which would result from oil sands development are reviewed. An approach to the analysis of impacts was developed to provide a logical framework for the determination of what types of baseline data were relevant to the objectives of study. Baseline data for each species were discussed under three categories: seasonal population dispersion, the potential impacts of large development projects, and population dynamics. The review forms the basis of the evaluation of the state of baseline knowledge of large mammals in the AOSERP study area and a statement of the research which should be completed in order to provide the data. A critique of the state of the baseline knowledge of large mammals (moose, woodland caribou, wolf) was conducted with the objectives being to determine whether or not baseline knowledge of these species is adequate to assess the impacts of large developments on large mammal populations in the AOSERP study area, and to identify specific knowledge gaps. Major gaps in the baseline knowledge of moose were: seasonal habitat use, the effects of sensory disturbances and population density; a minor gap was identified in the knowledge of the effects of development on direct mortality of moose. Major gaps in the baseline knowledge of woodland caribou were: distribution on the AOSERP study area, seasonal habitat use, the effects of sensory disturbance, and population density; minor gaps were identified in the knowledge of the effects of development on direct mortality of woodland caribou. Major gaps in the baseline knowledge of wolf were: seasonal habitat use and population density; minor gaps were identified in the knowledge of the seasonal movement patterns, the effects of sensory disturbances, and the effects of development projects on direct mortality of wolves.

Cooperative transboundary water governance in Canada’s Mackenzie River Basin: Status and prospects


Author(s): de Loë, R., & Morris M.

Year: 2014

Abstract:
Canada is a party to one of the world’s better-known institutions for transboundary water management, the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 and the organisation it created, the International Joint Commission (e.g. Fischhendler and Feitelson 2005). Less well known internationally are institutions for transboundary water management within Canada. Internal transboundary experiences are pertinent in the context of this book because, we argue, the challenges of governing water across jurisdictional boundaries within countries organised as federations can be as profound as those facing sovereign countries. For instance, conflicts such as the ‘Tri-State Water Wars’ among Georgia, Florida and Alabama (Jordan and Wolf 2006) point to the need for effective transboundary water management in the United States. Australian experiences with transboundary water governance in the Murray–Darling Basin also offer numerous insights relevant for federal states (e.g. Bhat 2009; see also Ross and Connell, Chapter 13, this volume). Like Australia and the United States, Canada is a federation where responsibility for water is divided among jurisdictions at multiple levels. Under Canada’s constitution, the federal government and the ten provincial governments share responsibility for water. The division of responsibility in Canada is complex because water is not mentioned specifically in the Canadian constitution

Citation:
de Loë, R., & Morris M. (2014).  Cooperative transboundary water governance in Canada’s Mackenzie River Basin: Status and prospects. The Politics of River Basin Organisations: Coalitions, Institutional Design Choices and Consequences. 8 pages . Abstract

Depositional facies and carbonate diagenesis of the downslope reefs in the Nisku Formation (U. Devonian), central Alberta, Canada


Author(s): Anderson, J. H.

Year: 1985

Abstract:
The Nisku Formation (Frasnian) in Alberta was deposited during four stages of basin infill, corresponding to deposition of the Lobstick, Bigoray, Cynthia, and Wolf Lake members. Stages are regionally correlatable, and are bounded by shaly carbonates. Lobstick and Bigoray carbonates were deposited on a ramp in moderate water depths. Rises in sea level resulted in the backstepping of Bigoray carbonate deposition higher onto the ramp and the formation of a shelf margin. Coral mounds formed downslope in water depths of around 50 m. Argillaceous carbonates of the Cynthia and Wolf Lake members infilled the basin between the reefs. Reefs average 2 km in diameter and 100 m in thickness, and exhibit an overall shoaling-upward sequence. The tops of some reefs were subaerially exposed, resulting in the formation of shallow meteoric lenses and minor calcite dissolution and cementation. Reef growth was terminated by drowning. Marine diagenesis included micritization and extensive cementation by Mg-calcite with inclined extinction. Calcic dolomite formed penecontemporaneously with deposition at the tops of the reefs. Following deposition and through the Mississippian, the reefs were buried to depths of 0.5 to 1 km. Stabilization of marine precipitates and precipitation of minor amounts of calcite cement occurred in seawater modified during burial at elevated temperatures. An active hydrologic system developed during the Pennsylvanian and through the Early Cretaceous in response to the westward tilting of the craton. Replacement of limestone by fabric-selective and nonfabric-selective dolomite and calcite dissolution occurred at depths of 0.5 to 1 km and temperatures around 5(DEGREES)C. Magnesium was derived from updip migrating, burially modified seawater. Mass balance calculations indicate that insufficient connate fluid existed in the basin, and in order to dolomitize the reefs and platforms, regional recharge of seawater must have occurred. Thermal convection is proposed as the driving mechanism for this recharge. Baroque dolomite, calcite, and anhydrite formed during deep burial from saline brines during the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary. Carbon isotopic data indicate a rock-buffered carbon system. Progressively later calcites and dolomites are depleted in ('18)O and enriched in ('87)Sr because of increasing burial temperatures and increasing reaction of detrital silicates. The susceptibility of these carbonates to burial modification is attributed to deposition in a downslope setting with little early meteoric alteration.

Potential impacts of beaver on oil sands reclamation success - an analysis of available literature


Year: 2013

Abstract:
The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) is a large semi-aquatic rodent that has played a central role in shaping the Canadian boreal landscape, and colonial Canadian history. Exploitation of North American beaver populations to supply the European hat industry spurred the westward expansion of European explorers and traders into the continental interior. With intensive unregulated harvest, beavers virtually disappeared across much of their range; though populations are recovering, the species is only about 10% as abundant as it was before the fur trade took its toll. As a result, much of the recent ecological history of the Canadian boreal forest has occurred in the absence of this keystone ecosystem engineer, and the ecological state that we perceive as natural is in many regions quite different than it was a century ago. Beavers, while playing an important role in structuring streams and wetlands by altering vegetation communities and water flow patterns, may also affect human structures. In the mineable oil sands region of northeastern Alberta, much of the landscape will be impacted by mining. Mine sites will have to be reclaimed, and those reclaimed sites will consist of engineered landforms (including water bodies and waterways); the long-term hydrological and ecological function of those sites may be vulnerable to beaver activity. In an effort to determine if approaches exist that could manage the risk of beavers colonizing and negatively impacting reclaimed sites, we performed an extensive literature search and analysis. Our objective was to examine characteristics of beaver ecology that might potentially impact reclamation plans, and to identify possible methods to mitigate those impacts. We also include information on traditional use, historical abundance, and current abundance in the mineable oil sands region to provide important historical and ecological context. Although beavers inhabit a range of aquatic habitats, the focus of our review is on watercourses that could be dammed by beavers. Of the aquatic habitats which will be constructed during reclamation, these systems are probably the most vulnerable to impacts from beaver activity. Note, however, that inlet and outflow streams from lakes may be vulnerable to beaver activity, which could impact the performance of constructed lakes in a variety of ways. Beavers alter stream form and function, create wetlands, and change vegetation patterns. The most important predictor of beaver occurrence is stream gradient, with low gradients being associated with higher beaver activity. Stream depth and width, soil drainage, and stream substrate are also important. Although beavers may also respond to vegetation factors, such as tree or shrub species and density, hydrological factors are more important predictors of beaver occupancy of a site. The primary forage preferred by beavers includes deciduous tree and shrub species. Aspen (Populous tremuloides) is the species most preferred by beaver, and is a common component of reclamation plantings and natural recolonization of reclamation sites in the oil sands region. Beavers are central-place foragers, meaning foraging is concentrated around a central home base. They typically harvest deciduous trees and shrubs up to 60 m or more from the water, but most harvest occurs less than 30 to 40 m from the water’s edge. Predation (and predation risk) restricts the size of beavers’ foraging areas, and may also regulate their population size. Management of wolf populations to limit predation on caribou in northeastern Alberta may have significant indirect effects on beaver abundance and distribution by releasing them from predation pressure. The boreal forest ecosystem of Canada evolved over millennia with the beaver as a keystone species altering hydrological systems, creating vast areas of wetlands and beaver meadows, changing vegetation communities and modifying geomorphological processes. Reclamation of functional ecosystems in the region must therefore integrate beavers and their engineered structures. The most ecologically- and cost-effective approach is to design reclaimed areas with the objective of including beaver, but directing beaver activity to areas away from vulnerable reclamation structures. Ecological function requires the presence of beaver on the post-reclamation landscape, and the species is important to First Nations peoples and other trappers in the area. Although beaver abundance can be expected to increase in the area after reclamation, their activities will result in the replacement of existing vegetation with species of lower nutritional quality to beaver (conifer trees). This is expected to result in a beaver population decline and then stabilization over time. With beavers an integral component of the functional landscape, it is important to create “beaver exclusion zones” to ensure that the impact of the species is diverted to areas where beaver activity does not damage reclamation structures. There are very few existing studies of beaver impacts to reclaimed areas. Incorporating ecologically-based strategies for keeping beaver density low in sensitive areas at the outset of a reclamation project, and then monitoring the effectiveness of that strategy, is the best advice that can be derived from our analysis of the existing literature. Beavers could be discouraged from settling at a site by creating streams with steep gradients (>10%) that are wide and deep enough to ensure substantial water flows, are armoured with rock or cobble bottoms, and are bordered by coniferous tree species and/or grass and sedge species. Trees should be planted at high density to prevent growth of shrubs and deciduous trees in the understory, as these are preferred by beaver. Deciduous vegetation should not be planted during reclamation near sites where beavers are to be excluded, and it may be necessary to remove existing deciduous trees and shrubs and replace them with conifers, grasses and sedges in these areas. Although planting specific types of vegetation may be used to discourage beavers from settling a certain area in the short term, natural succession could eventually result in other vegetation communities attractive to beavers. Therefore, unless long-term vegetation management is envisioned, reclamation plans should not rely on using vegetation to dissuade beaver activity in sensitive areas alone, though this approach may be used in combination with other methods, especially in the few decades immediately following reclamation. Note that the goal is to plan for a maintenance-free environment in which ongoing beaver control is unnecessary, and the use of multiple strategies in tandem to guide beaver activity is more likely to achieve this goal. More active, maintenance-intensive techniques could be used to limit the damage caused by beaver dams to sensitive areas. These techniques include lethal (e.g., kill trapping or shooting) and nonlethal (e.g., relocation) methods to reduce population density. However, these methods require constant effort, and can be expensive. Another approach is to manipulate water flow through existing beaver dams using pipe drainage systems; this allows the beaver dam to stay in place, while reducing the risk that it will trap enough water to be dangerous if the dam should fail. Again, however, these drainage systems require long-term maintenance. One approach may be more sustainable in the long term and require less maintenance: minimize or maximize water flow through engineered channels, as beavers are less likely to use very low-flow and very high-flow watercourses. Note that beavers may still affect these channels, especially when population densities are high or other habitat is unavailable; however, the probability of beavers affecting very low-flow or high-flow channels is lower than for watercourses with more moderate flows. Creating several dispersed low-flow channels may make an area less desirable to beavers compared to a single moderate flow channel. Similarly, multiple low- to moderate-flow channels could be created, with some having characteristics that attract beavers (“decoys”) and others that do not (“exclusions”), allowing water flow to continue through some channels even in the presence of beavers. “Pre-dam” fences can be installed on decoy streams to create a structure to encourage beavers to occupy a site where damage is not a concern. Discharge could be controlled by regulating water flow through exclusion streams that are not dammed, or by installing flow devices though dams on decoy streams. A similar approach might be used on culverts that allow streams to flow beneath roadways; flow devices could be used proactively at these sites, and/or oversized culverts could be installed to allow maintenance of the natural width of the stream channel and reduce the noise of running water, which attracts beaver activity. Although many different landforms on the reclaimed landscape may be vulnerable to beaver activity, a few are considered critical areas where beaver impacts must be controlled, including the outlets of lakes, side-hill drainage systems, and constructed peatlands. Beaver activity at the outlet of constructed lakes could cause instability in containment structures, negatively affect littoral and riparian zones around the lake, and increase the probability of catastrophic outburst flooding. Damming of side-hill drainage systems could cause stream avulsion and routing of water flow into a new pathway not engineered for a stream, causing increased erosion. Flooding of constructed peatlands could convert them to open-water systems, thereby subverting their intended ecological function. These critical areas should be protected from beaver activities, while other areas should be designed to accommodate this important species. In practice, several different approaches – tailored to specific situations and landforms – will be necessary to develop and implement plans that accommodate beavers as a part of the post-reclamation landscape. As so few data exist to inform effective reclamation in the presence of beavers, all of the methods we suggest carry an unknown degree of risk. This risk can be decreased in the future by adapting methods based on observed effectiveness. We recommend implementing a research and adaptive management program on the influence of beavers on reclamation within the context of oil sands reclamation in northeast Alberta. Lack of existing information, particularly in northeast Alberta, illustrates the need to implement research that documents the positive and negative influence of beavers on reclamation sites and tests alternative methods to prevent negative and support positive influences. Otherwise reclamation strategies will be ad-hoc and tenuous, with a mixed success rate. A research and monitoring program would ideally contribute to a standardized strategic approach to mitigating negative beaver influences on reclamation of watercourses in the oil sands region. Beavers are, to a certain extent, unpredictable. No single approach will guarantee that a site will be unaffected by beaver activity. We suggest that multiple management approaches be simultaneously implemented at sites that are particularly vulnerable or critical for the functioning of the reclaimed landscape (e.g., outlet streams from constructed lakes). It is impossible to predict all eventualities, as the character of the reclaimed landscape will change over time due to successional processes, fire, global climate change, and resource extraction. The information we provide is the best available based on limited current knowledge, and provides the best chance for minimizing risk while accommodating this keystone species. Ultimately, the presence of beavers on reclaimed oil sands leases will increase biodiversity, enhance ecosystem goods and services, and assist in developing ecosystems that are consistent with natural systems in the boreal region.

Potential impacts of beaver on oil sands reclamation success–an analysis of available literature


Year: 2013

Abstract:
The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) is a large semi-aquatic rodent that has played acentral role in shaping the Canadian boreal landscape, and colonial Canadian history. Exploitation of North American beaver populations to supply the European hat industry spurred the westward expansion of European explorers and traders into the continental interior. With intensive unregulated harvest, beavers virtually disappeared across much of their range; though populations are recovering, the species is only about 10% as abundant as it was before the furtrade took its toll. As a result, much of the recent ecological history of the Canadian boreal forest has occurred in the absence of this keystone ecosystem engineer, and the ecological state that we perceive as natural is in many regions quite different than it was a century ago. Beavers, while playing an important role in structuring streams and wetlands by altering vegetation communities and water flow patterns, may also affect human structures. In the mineable oil sands region of northeastern Alberta, much of the landscape will be impacted by mining. Mine sites will have to be reclaimed, and those reclaimed sites will consist of engineered landforms (including water bodies and waterways); the long-term hydrological and ecological function of those sites may be vulnerable to beaver activity. In an effort to determine if approaches exist that could manage the risk of beavers colonizing and negatively impactingreclaimed sites, we performed an extensive literature search and analysis. Our objective was to examine characteristics of beaver ecology that might potentially impact reclamation plans, and to identify possible methods to mitigate those impacts. We also include information on traditional use, historical abundance, and current abundance in the mineable oil sands region to provide important historical and ecological context. Although beavers inhabit a range of aquatic habitats,the focus of our review is on watercourses that could be dammed by beavers. Of the aquatic habitats which will be constructed during reclamation, these systems are probably the most vulnerable to impacts from beaver activity. Note, however, that inlet and outflow streams fromlakes may be vulnerable to beaver activity, which could impact the performance of constructed lakes in a variety of ways. Beavers alter stream form and function, create wetlands, and change vegetation patterns. The most important predictor of beaver occurrence is stream gradient, with low gradients being associated with higher beaver activity. Stream depth and width, soil drainage, and stream substrate are also important. Although beavers may also respond to vegetation factors, such astree or shrub species and density, hydrological factors are more important predictors of beaver occupancy of a site.The primary forage preferred by beavers includes deciduous tree and shrub species. Aspen(Populous tremuloides) is the species most preferred by beaver, and is a common component of reclamation plantings and natural recolonization of reclamation sites in the oil sands region. Beavers are central-place foragers, meaning foraging is concentrated around a central home base. They typically harvest deciduous trees and shrubs up to 60 m or more from the water, but mostharvest occurs less than 30 to 40 m from the water’s edge. Predation (and predation risk) restricts the size of beavers’ foraging areas, and may also regulate their population size. Management of wolf populations to limit predation on caribou in northeastern Alberta may have significant indirect effects on beaver abundance and distribution by releasing them frompredation pressure.The boreal forest ecosystem of Canada evolved over millennia with the beaver as a keystone species altering hydrological systems, creating vast areas of wetlands and beaver meadows,changing vegetation communities and modifying geomorphological processes. Reclamation offunctional ecosystems in the region must therefore integrate beavers and their engineered structures. The most ecologically- and cost-effective approach is to design reclaimed areas withthe objective of including beaver, but directing beaver activity to areas away from vulnerablereclamation structures. Ecological function requires the presence of beaver on the post-reclamation landscape, and the species is important to First Nations peoples and other trappers in the area. Although beaver abundance can be expected to increase in the area after reclamation, their activities will result in the replacement of existing vegetation with species of lower nutritional quality to beaver (conifer trees). This is expected to result in a beaver population decline and then stabilization over time. With beavers an integral component of the functional landscape, it is important to create “beaver exclusion zones” to ensure that the impact of thespecies is diverted to areas where beaver activity does not damage reclamation structures.There are very few existing studies of beaver impacts to reclaimed areas. Incorporating ecologically-based strategies for keeping beaver density low in sensitive areas at the outset of a reclamation project, and then monitoring the effectiveness of that strategy, is the best advice thatcan be derived from our analysis of the existing literature. Beavers could be discouraged from settling at a site by creating streams with steep gradients (>10%) that are wide and deep enoughto ensure substantial water flows, are armoured with rock or cobble bottoms, and are bordered byconiferous tree species and/or grass and sedge species. Trees should be planted at high density to prevent growth of shrubs and deciduous trees in the understory, as these are preferred by beaver. Deciduous vegetation should not be planted during reclamation near sites where beavers are to be excluded, and it may be necessary to remove existing deciduous trees and shrubs and replace them with conifers, grasses and sedges in these areas. Although planting specific typesof vegetation may be used to discourage beavers from settling a certain area in the short term,natural succession could eventually result in other vegetation communities attractive to beavers. Therefore, unless long-term vegetation management is envisioned, reclamation plans should notrely on using vegetation to dissuade beaver activity in sensitive areas alone, though this approachmay be used in combination with other methods, especially in the few decades immediately following reclamation. Note that the goal is to plan for a maintenance-free environment in whichongoing beaver control is unnecessary, and the use of multiple strategies in tandem to guidebeaver activity is more likely to achieve this goal. More active, maintenance-intensive techniques could be used to limit the damage caused bybeaver dams to sensitive areas. These techniques include lethal (e.g., kill trapping or shooting)and nonlethal (e.g., relocation) methods to reduce population density. However, these methodsrequire constant effort, and can be expensive. Another approach is to manipulate water flowthrough existing beaver dams using pipe drainage systems; this allows the beaver dam to stay in place, while reducing the risk that it will trap enough water to be dangerous if the dam shouldfail. Again, however, these drainage systems require long-term maintenance.One approach may be more sustainable in the long term and require less maintenance: minimize or maximize water flow through engineered channels, as beavers are less likely to use very low-flow and very high-flow watercourses. Note that beavers may still affect these channels,especially when population densities are high or other habitat is unavailable; however, the probability of beavers affecting very low-flow or high-flow channels is lower than forwatercourses with more moderate flows. Creating several dispersed low-flow channels maymake an area less desirable to beavers compared to a single moderate flow channel. Similarly, multiple low- to moderate-flow channels could be created, with some having characteristics thatattract beavers (“decoys”) and others that do not (“exclusions”), allowing water flow to continuethrough some channels even in the presence of beavers. “Pre-dam” fences can be installed ondecoy streams to create a structure to encourage beavers to occupy a site where damage is not aconcern. Discharge could be controlled by regulating water flow through exclusion streams that are not dammed, or by installing flow devices though dams on decoy streams. A similar approach might be used on culverts that allow streams to flow beneath roadways; flow devices could be used proactively at these sites, and/or oversized culverts could be installed to allowmaintenance of the natural width of the stream channel and reduce the noise of running water,which attracts beaver activity.Although many different landforms on the reclaimed landscape may be vulnerable to beaver activity, a few are considered critical areas where beaver impacts must be controlled, includingthe outlets of lakes, side-hill drainage systems, and constructed peatlands. Beaver activity at the outlet of constructed lakes could cause instability in containment structures, negatively affectlittoral and riparian zones around the lake, and increase the probability of catastrophic outburstflooding. Damming of side-hill drainage systems could cause stream avulsion and routing ofwater flow into a new pathway not engineered for a stream, causing increased erosion. Floodingof constructed peatlands could convert them to open-water systems, thereby subverting theirintended ecological function. These critical areas should be protected from beaver activities,while other areas should be designed to accommodate this important species.In practice, several different approaches – tailored to specific situations and landforms – will benecessary to develop and implement plans that accommodate beavers as a part of the post-reclamation landscape. As so few data exist to inform effective reclamation in the presence ofbeavers, all of the methods we suggest carry an unknown degree of risk. This risk can bedecreased in the future by adapting methods based on observed effectiveness. We recommend implementing a research and adaptive management program on the influence of beavers onreclamation within the context of oil sands reclamation in northeast Alberta. Lack of existing information, particularly in northeast Alberta, illustrates the need to implement research thatdocuments the positive and negative influence of beavers on reclamation sites and testsalternative methods to prevent negative and support positive influences. Otherwise reclamationstrategies will be ad-hoc and tenuous, with a mixed success rate. A research and monitoring program would ideally contribute to a standardized strategic approach to mitigating negativebeaver influences on reclamation of watercourses in the oil sands region. Beavers are, to a certain extent, unpredictable. No single approach will guarantee that a site willbe unaffected by beaver activity. We suggest that multiple management approaches besimultaneously implemented at sites that are particularly vulnerable or critical for the functioning of the reclaimed landscape (e.g., outlet streams from constructed lakes). It is impossible topredict all eventualities, as the character of the reclaimed landscape will change over time due tosuccessional processes, fire, global climate change, and resource extraction. The information weprovide is the best available based on limited current knowledge, and provides the best chancefor minimizing risk while accommodating this keystone species. Ultimately, the presence of beavers on reclaimed oil sands leases will increase biodiversity, enhance ecosystem goods andservices, and assist in developing ecosystems that are consistent with natural systems in the boreal region.

Reconnaissance soil survey of the Brazeau Dam area


Author(s): Peters, T. W.

Year: 1981

Citation:
Peters, T. W. (1981).  Reconnaissance soil survey of the Brazeau Dam area. Alberta Soil Survey Report No. 40; Alberta Institute of Pedology S-81-40,

Spider communities in boreal mixed-wood forests of Alberta: Succession, species interactions and habitat utilization


Author(s): Buddle, C. M.

Year: 2001

Abstract:
Spiders (Araneae) are important and ubiquitous predators in terrestrial ecosystems, and they are an ideal taxon for assessing the impact of forest harvesting on the biota of boreal forests. I investigated how spider succession differs following wildfire and clear-cutting in a chronosequence study of aspen-dominated stands in north-central Alberta, Canada. Such comparisons support insights into how harvesting may alter natural succession in fire-driven ecosystems. Results showed that spiders recovered rapidly from both disturbances, and by 30 years after disturbance, there was a faunal recovery and general convergence toward pre-disturbance community structure. There were, however, some important differences between the two disturbances in that wildfire stands harboured a more diverse spider fauna and certain species appeared dependent on some of the conditions associated with wildfire. Wolf spiders (Lycosidae) were dominant in most of the study sites in the chronosequence study. Experiments in a mixed-wood forest in central Alberta revealed that two species, Pardosa moesta Banks and P. mackenziana (Keyserling), had nearly identical biennial life-cycles, and young stages of these species have the potential to interact in the leaf-litter. A competition experiment, however, showed that exploitative competition did not govern populations of P. moesta and P. mackenziana , and suggested that mortality factors such as intraguild predation and cannibalism play important roles in their survival. Knowledge from the competition and life-history experiments served to explain patterns in the occurrence of Pardosa species throughout north-central Alberta. The chronosequence study also suggested that fallen logs, or downed woody material (DWM), was an important habitat for spiders. This was tested by trapping spiders directly on the surface of fallen logs and by manipulating the volume of DWM on the forest floor and tracking changes in spider assemblages. Results showed that a diverse spider fauna uses the surface of DWM, and that some species are dependent on the habitat complexity of fallen logs. Manipulating the volume of DWM on the forest floor, however, had few short-term effects on spider assemblages, except that diversity tended to increase when DWM was augmented on the forest floor.

Wildlife movement traditional environmental knowledge workshops: Wildlife movement in the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo


Year: 2005

Abstract:
The intention of this report is to summarize the traditional environmental knowledge information gathered during workshops with Aboriginal communities in the fall of 2005. The overall project objective was "to collect information from selected traditional environmental knowledge holders on wildlife "corridors' for seven animal species" (black bear, moose, woodland caribou, wolf, lynx, fisher, and marten). The report would then be used by the Wildlife Movement Task Group of the Cumulative Environmental Management Association's Sustainable Ecosystems Working Group to develop management strategies to help "ensure maintenance of effective habitat connectivity in order to sustain wildlife populations." One-day workshops were held with Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Métis Local #125, Fort McKay First Nation, Fort McKay Métis Local #63, Fort McMurray First Nation, Anzac Willow Lake Métis Local #780, Fort McMurray Métis Local #2020, Chard Métis Local #214, and Métis Local #193. The number of Elder participants for each workshop varied between one and six; workshops lasted on average three hours. Discussions began with the seven selected indicator species and distinguished between past movement patterns (pre-1960) and current ones (post-1960). The results of the workshops are presented by five community areas: Fort Chipewyan, Fort McKay, Anzac, Chard, and Conklin. The TEK information is then further organized by indicator species, with traditional environmental knowledge on other species presented in the appendix. In addition to movement patterns, information is also provided on habitat, behaviour, seasonality, sex, population levels, and changes to these components over time. Following this, there is a brief section on "areas that are "still good'" for animals and/or hunting, where there is little or no industrial or recreational development, clean water and air, no pollution, and abundant, healthy wildlife and vegetation. Finally, there is also a substantial section of the report on "survival areas," that is, areas that are essential for the survival of both the animal species and Aboriginal traditional lifeways. It is recommended that these areas be preserved.

Wolf Lake moose survey


Author(s): Bibaud, J. A.

Year: 1973

Citation:
Bibaud, J. A. (1973).  Wolf Lake moose survey. Unpublished report AFW-73-156,

Wolverine myths and visions : Dene traditions from northern Alberta


Year: 1990

Abstract:
This history and discussion of the wolf and wolverine legends of the Dene Thaa or Slavey peoples of northwestern Alberta (in the settlements of Assumption, Meander River and Bistcho Lake) includes the texts of stories traditionally told orally by storytellers, and accounts of the prophet Nogha and the Tea Dance religion. Texts are also printed in Dene Dha`h and include an explanation of the alphabet and map of dialect use.

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