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  • OPEN ACCESS
    A life-table model estimation of the parr capacity of a late 19th century Puget Sound steelhead population
    FACETS • Vol. 1 • pp. 83 - 104
    An 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
    Open access articles receive more citations in hybrid marine ecology journals
    FACETS • Vol. 2 • pp. 1 - 14
    The 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
    Physiological responses to a short-term, environmentally realistic, acute heat stress in Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar
    FACETS • Vol. 2 • pp. 330 - 341
    Atlantic salmon populations are declining, and warming river temperatures in the summer months are thought to be a significant contributing factor. We describe the time course of cellular and metabolic responses to an ecologically relevant short-term thermal cycle in juvenile Atlantic salmon. We then examined whether this heat event would affect tolerance to a subsequent heat shock in terms of critical thermal maximum (CTmax). Fish induced heat shock protein 70 in red blood cells, heart, liver, and red and white muscle; whole blood glucose and lactate transiently increased during the heat cycle. In contrast, we observed no significant effect of a prior heat shock on CTmax. The CTmax was positively correlated with Fulton’s condition factor suggesting that fish with greater energy reserves are more thermally tolerant. Atlantic salmon activate cellular protection pathways in response to a single thermal cycle and appear to cope with this short-term, ∼1 d heat shock, but this challenge may compromise the ability to cope with subsequent heat events.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Social institutions mediating seed access in West African seed systems
    FACETS • Vol. 2 • pp. 998 - 1014
    Contemporary 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
    “An Be Jigi”: Collective cooking, whole grains, and technology transfer in Mali
    FACETS • Vol. 2 • pp. 955 - 968
    This 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
    A suggestion for evolution of Canada’s health regulatory system
    FACETS • Vol. 3 • No. 1 • pp. 45 - 60
    Aspects of Canada’s health regulatory system are currently being reviewed. This is timely, as the regulation and definition of drugs, foods, and natural health products (NHPs) is in need of revision to facilitate greater transparency and less ambiguity. A number of studies have illustrated the importance of a nutritious diet to prevent and manage chronic disease. Therefore, legislation surrounding food health claims needs to be adjusted so that it is more informative for disease prevention and, in some cases, treatment. Canada is modernizing the regulation of self-care products, under which NHPs, including probiotic products, are listed. With the growing appreciation for the role that microbes play in human health and the recognition that many foods, including those containing probiotic organisms, can prevent or mitigate disease, this provides an opportunity to reassess regulatory categories.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Antimicrobial resistance gene surveillance in the receiving waters of an upgraded wastewater treatment plant
    FACETS • Vol. 3 • No. 1 • pp. 128 - 138
    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 ACCESS
    A human impact metric for coastal ecosystems with application to seagrass beds in Atlantic Canada
    FACETS • Vol. 4 • No. 1 • pp. 210 - 237
    Coastal 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 ACCESS
    An analysis of threats and factors that predict trends in Canadian vertebrates designated as at-risk
    FACETS • Vol. 5 • No. 1 • pp. 49 - 66
    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
    Tracking insect outbreaks: a case study of community-assisted moth monitoring using sex pheromone traps
    FACETS • Vol. 5 • No. 1 • pp. 91 - 104
    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
    Ecological research should consider Indigenous peoples and stewardship
    FACETS • Vol. 5 • No. 1 • pp. 534 - 537
    The relationship between Indigenous peoples and the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems has received increased attention in recent years. As a result, it is becoming more critical for researchers focusing on terrestrial ecosystems to work with Indigenous groups to gain a better understanding of how past and current stewardship of these lands may influence results. As a case study to explore these ideas, we systematically reviewed articles from 2008 to 2018 where research was conducted in North America, South America, and Oceania. Of the 159 articles included, 11 included acknowledgement of Indigenous stewardship, acknowledged the Indigenous Territories or lands, or named the Indigenous group on whose Territory the research was conducted. Within the scope of this case study, our results demonstrate an overall lack of Indigenous acknowledgement or consideration within the scope of our review. Given the recent advancements in our understanding of how Indigenous groups have shaped their lands, we implore researchers to consider collaboration among local Indigenous groups as to better cultivate relationships and foster a greater understanding of their ecosystems.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    A turtle population study in an isolated urban wetland complex in Ontario reveals a few surprises
    FACETS • Vol. 4 • No. 1 • pp. 584 - 597
    We 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 ACCESS
    How to rescue Ontario’s Endangered Species Act: a biologist’s perspective
    FACETS • Vol. 5 • No. 1 • pp. 423 - 431
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Peer-reviewed scientific contributions from Canadian zoos and aquariums
    FACETS • Vol. 5 • No. 1 • pp. 381 - 392
    With 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 ACCESS
    Bat bites and rabies: the Canadian scene
    FACETS • Vol. 5 • No. 1 • pp. 367 - 380
    Bats are susceptible to rabies. Although bats may appear to be asymptomatic carriers of rabies for a few days, eventually they fall ill to the viral infection and die. Two of at least four bat-specific variants of rabies virus in Canada have killed humans. Rabies is usually transmitted by biting, but bats are small mammals so their bites may go unnoticed. People exposed to rabid animals should receive postexposure prophylaxis (PEP). With 60 known human deaths from 1950 to 2009, rabies is rare in Canada and the United States of America compared with India where it kills over 100 people annually. In Asia and Africa, most human rabies is acquired from dog bites. In Brazil, dog and bat bites together account for >80% of human rabies. In Canada, rabies is a disease primarily confined to wildlife (foxes, racoons, skunks, and bats). The public image of bats is negatively affected by their association with diseases. Too often bats are victimized by allegations of their role in deadly diseases such as rabies, Ebola, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). In general, bats are not dangerous, but humans should seek treatment if they are bitten by one. (Graphical abstract shows a 4-g elegant myotis biting MBF’s finger—photo by Sherri and Brock Fenton.)
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Ten simple rules to facilitate evidence implementation in the environmental sciences
    FACETS • Vol. 5 • No. 1 • pp. 642 - 650
    There is a gap between fundamental science and managers. There are many general solutions including the need to better leverage the primary scientific literature for decision-making. Herein, we provide a list of 10 simple rules to support environmental management through better scientific writing and suggest practices for more transparent publications. These rules can also be used as a checklist for reusing the primary literature when searching for relevant evidence in the environmental sciences. We need to better structure knowledge in papers for connections within sustainable societies.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Weighing the importance of animal body size in traditional food systems
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 286 - 318
    Traditional food systems based on harvest from the local environment are fundamental to the well-being of many communities, but their security is challenged by rapid socio-ecological change. We synthesized literature and data describing how a fundamental form of biodiversity, animal body size, contributes to the security of traditional food systems through relationships with species availability, accessibility, adequacy, and use. We found larger vertebrate species were more available, accessible, and used on a per kilogram basis, particularly for mammals. Conversely, larger species were no more or less adequate from a combined nutritional, health, and cultural perspective. Larger species represented more biomass, and this biomass required less time to harvest, with greater but more variable mean caloric returns over time. Smaller species provided more consistent caloric returns and were harvested during documented shortages of prey. This reliance on species with a range of body sizes is consistent with optimal foraging theory and the evolutionary value of flexibility, and highlights the importance of a biodiverse pool of species for traditional food security in times of change. Our synthesis of published literature and data highlights the many socio-ecological correlates of species size and how these relate to the security of traditional food systems.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    COVID-19 and threats to bats
    FACETS • Vol. 5 • No. 1 • pp. 349 - 352
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Are we paying-to-play? A quantitative assessment of Canadian open access research in ecology and evolution
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 537 - 544
    Open access (OA) allows for peer-reviewed research to be freely accessed and there has been a collective shift from both researchers and publishers towards more OA publishing. OA typically occurs either through article-processing charges (the gold road) or via self-archiving (the green road); the former can be expensive, while the latter has seen minimal uptake. The gold road of OA has led to predatory publishers and, to some, questionable publications. Here, I used publicly available grant information in Canada and combined this with individual publishing statistics to test a variety of factors and their influence on OA publishing. I showed that an individual’s award amount, H-index, and gender did not influence the proportion of OA articles they published, but an individual’s H-index scaled with the number of OA publications. Institute size influenced OA publishing patterns, with researchers at large universities (i.e., >20 000 full-time students) publishing proportionately more OA articles than medium and small institutes. I discuss the potential for this pattern to build on pre-existing systemic biases when it comes to funding and publishing.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Correction: Tracking insect outbreaks: a case study of community-assisted moth monitoring using sex pheromone traps
    FACETS • Vol. 5 • No. 1 • pp. 557 - 558
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Upholding science-based risk assessment under a weakened Endangered Species Act
    FACETS • Vol. 5 • No. 1 • pp. 980 - 988
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Review of plastic pollution policies of Arctic countries in relation to seabirds
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 1 - 25
    Marine plastic is a ubiquitous environmental problem that can have an impact on a variety of marine biota, such as seabirds, making it an important concern for scientists and policy makers. Although research on plastic ingestion by seabirds is increasing, few studies have examined policies and long-term monitoring programs to reduce marine plastic in the Arctic. This paper provides a review of international, national, and regional policies and long-term monitoring programs that address marine plastic in relation to seabirds in the Arctic countries: Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark (Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States of America. Results show that a broad range of international, national, regional and local policies address marine debris, specifically through waste management and the prevention of pollution from ships. However, few policies directly address seabirds and other marine biota. Further, policies are implemented inconsistently across regions, making it difficult to enforce and monitor the efficacy of these policies given the long-range transport of plastic pollution globally. To reduce marine plastic pollution in the Arctic environment, pan-Arctic and international collaboration is needed to implement standardized policies and long-term monitoring programs for marine plastic in the Arctic and worldwide.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Correction: Ecological research should consider Indigenous peoples and stewardship
    FACETS • Vol. 5 • No. 1 • pp. 617 - 618
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Hydroponic fodder and greenhouse gas emissions: a potential avenue for climate mitigation strategy and policy development
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 334 - 357
    This 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 ACCESS
    A systematic conservation planning approach to maintaining ecosystem service provision in working landscapes
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 1570 - 1600
    Balancing human well-being with the maintenance of ecosystem services (ES) for future generations has become one of the central sustainability challenges of the 21st century. In working landscapes, past and ongoing production-centered objectives have resulted in the conversion of ecosystems into simple land-use types, which has also altered the provision of most ES. These inevitable trade-offs between the efficient production of individual provisioning ES and the maintenance of regulating and cultural ES call for the development of a land-use strategy based on the multifunctional use of the landscape. Due to the heterogeneous nature of working landscapes, both protection and restoration actions are needed to improve their multifunctionality. Systematic conservation planning (SCP) offers a decision support framework that can support landscape multifunctionality by indicating where ES management efforts should be implemented. We describe an approach that we developed to include ES provision protection and restoration objectives in SCP with the goal of providing ongoing benefits to society. We explain the general framework of this approach and discuss concepts, challenges, innovations, and prospects for the further development of a comprehensive decision support tool. We illustrate our approach with two case studies implemented in the pan-Canadian project ResNet.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Canadian private protected areas are located in regions of higher vertebrate species richness than government protected areas
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 1323 - 1336
    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 ACCESS
    Having it all: hybridizing conventional and community science monitoring for enhanced data quality and cost savings
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 2028 - 2041
    Large-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 ACCESS
    Language of citation and publishing performance of graduate students in French-speaking countries with different economic and linguistic advantages
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 71 - 81
    The performance of graduate students in research varies greatly across countries due to various factors, mainly socioeconomic and linguistic. The current situation is critical because the wealthiest countries are also the most linguistically equipped to navigate the English-dominant landscape of academia. Here, we assess the language of citations and the publishing performance of graduate students from three French-speaking countries: Algeria, Canada, and France, where Algeria is the least English proficient and the most economically disadvantaged. We found that the bibliography of PhD theses were English dominated in all regions (72.5% in Algeria compared with >93.1% in Western countries), whereas those of Masters theses were French dominated in Algeria (63.3%), relatively bilingual in France (47.6% French), but English dominated in Canada-Québec (94.7%) and Canada-BC (98.7%). Algerian PhD students produced fewer papers, were less likely to publish in journals with calculated impact factors, and received fewer citations than students who graduated from universities in France or in two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Québec. Our results suggest that the economic and linguistic disadvantages faced by graduate students from non-Western backgrounds affect their academic performance, highlighting important issues in facing future global challenges.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Cultivating our urban forest future: a value-chain perspective
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 2084 - 2109
    For cities to grow their urban forest canopy the formula appears rather straightforward: the right trees, plus the right conditions, plus the right care equals success. These simplified “tree chain of custody” steps, however, represent activities within a complex value-chain in Canada. Given that there is heightened demand for urban tree planting as natural climate solutions become the norm, how can we prepare the value-chain to meet these demands? To answer this question, we outline the pathways by which trees presently go from nurseries into urban and peri-urban areas. Delineating the actors, roles, and present barriers to success exposes the complexity of the process and relationships in the value-chain, as there are distinct phases with multiple actor groups involved who influence, and are influenced, by one another. We explore the issues that pose prominent challenges to, as well as opportunities for, the value-chain. Emergent themes include communication, forecasting demand and timing, underpricing and undervaluing tree establishment, lack of awareness on the importance of soils, juvenile tree health, species selection, and gaps in evidence-based decision support tools. The touchstones of science and innovation, collaboration, and knowledge mobilization are pertinent for the value-chain in Canada to draw upon to navigate the future.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Community structure, species–habitat relationships, and conservation of amphibians in forested vernal pools in the Georgian Bay region of Ontario
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 215 - 235
    Forested 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 ACCESS
    Self-promotion and the need to be first in science
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 1881 - 1891
    Scientists, like all humans, are subject to self-deceptive valuations of their importance and profile. Vainglorious practice is annoying but mostly harmless when restricted to an individual’s perception of self-worth. Language that can be associated with self-promotion and aggrandizement is destructive when incorporated into scientific writing. So too is any practice that oversells the novelty of research or fails to provide sufficient scholarship on the uniqueness of results. We evaluated whether such tendencies have been increasing over time by assessing the frequencies of articles claiming to be “the first”, and those that placed the requirement for scholarship on readers by using phrases such as “to the best of our knowledge”. Our survey of titles and abstracts of 176 journals in ecology and environmental biology revealed that the frequencies of both practices increased linearly over the past half century. We thus warn readers, journal editors, and granting agencies to use caution when assessing the claimed novelty of research contributions. A system-wide reform toward more cooperative science that values humility, and abhors hubris, might help to rectify the problem.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Incorporating anthropogenic thresholds to improve understanding of cumulative effects on seagrass beds
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 966 - 987
    Cumulative 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
    Macrofungal conservation in Canada and target species for assessment: a starting point
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 448 - 463
    Despite the ecological importance of fungi, we still know little about their diversity in Canada. One of the largest hurdles to implementing fungal conservation initiatives is the lack of fungal distribution data. As anthropogenic impacts accelerate the speed of environmental change, it is imperative that we fill this major information gap, critical for fungal protection. To gain insight on the conservation status of Canadian macrofungi, we took advantage of the large and growing body of fungal biodiversity data from government research (Wild Species 2020), citizen science, trained independent mycologists, university, and museum biodiversity research. The majority of macrofungi are data deficient; we do not know their geographic distribution or habitat requirements, occurrence, or abundance in Canada. For mushrooms that fruit only a few days of the year and are often difficult to positively identify, there is a lot of work to overcome the uncertainty of distinguishing under-sampling from rarity. Our work stresses the importance of building a strong network of professional and amateur mycologists to develop resources, disseminate information to make educated decisions, and advance conservation actions. We found that several fungi can be prioritized; we present a short list for consideration for formal conservation assessment.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Mismatches in salmon social–ecological systems: Challenges and opportunities for (re)alignment in the Skeena River watershed
    FACETS • Vol. 8 • pp. 1 - 30
    Mismatches between institutions and social–ecological systems (SESs) are one of the foremost challenges in natural resource management. However, while mismatches are often cited in the literature as a major challenge, empirical evidence of mismatches and their consequences is limited. This is particularly true for complex SESs, such as on the Pacific Coast of North America, where salmon drive interactions across multiple environments, jurisdictions, and scales. Here, I use the theoretical concept of fit to examine institutional alignment in a large-scale Pacific salmon SES, the Skeena River watershed in British Columbia, Canada. Utilizing Canadian federal environmental assessments as a proxy for colonial environmental governance institutions, I describe the common causes and consequences of mismatches between institutions and salmon SESs. This case study suggests that mismatches are threatening salmon sustainability and negatively affecting Indigenous People’s rights, livelihoods, and approaches to resource management and stewardship. I argue that improving social–ecological fit in salmon SESs will require new or revitalized forms of environmental governance that consciously fit the underlying social–ecological dynamics. While these findings are based on the Skeena River watershed, they may be generalizable to other salmon SESs in which mismatches between social and ecological processes and institutions exist.
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    Assessing the representation of species included within the Canadian Living Planet Index
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 1121 - 1141
    To effectively combat the biodiversity crisis, we need ambitious targets and reliable indicators to accurately track trends and measure conservation impact. In Canada, the Living Planet Index (LPI) has been adapted to produce a national indicator by both World Wildlife Fund-Canada (Canadian Living Planet Index; C-LPI) and Environment and Climate Change Canada (Canadian Species Index) to provide insight into the status of Canadian wildlife, by evaluating temporal trends in vertebrate population abundance. The indicator includes data for just over 50% of Canadian vertebrate species. To assess whether the current dataset is representative of the distribution of life history characteristics of Canadian wildlife, we analyzed the representation of species-specific biotic variables (i.e., body size, trophic level, lifespan) for vertebrates within the C-LPI compared to native vertebrates lacking LPI data. Generally, there was considerable overlap in the distribution of biotic variables for species in the C-LPI compared to native Canadian vertebrate species lacking LPI data. Nevertheless, some differences among distributions were found, driven in large part by discrepancy in the representation of fishes—where the C-LPI included larger-bodied and longer-lived species. We provide recommendations for targeted data collection and additional analyses to further strengthen the applicability, accuracy, and representativity of biodiversity indicators.
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    If this title is funny, will you cite me? Citation impacts of humour and other features of article titles in ecology and evolution
    FACETS • Vol. 8 • pp. 1 - 15
    Titles of scientific papers play a key role in their discovery, and “good” titles engage and recruit readers. Humour is a particularly interesting aspect of title construction, but little is known about whether funny titles boost or limit paper impact. We used a panel of scorers to assess title humour for 2439 papers in ecology and evolution, and measured associations between humour and subsequent citation (self-citation and citation by others). Papers with funnier titles were cited less, but this appears to reflect confounding with paper importance: self-citation data suggest that authors give funnier titles to papers they consider less important. After correction for this, papers with funny titles have significantly higher citation rates (P < 2.2 × 10−16; roughly doubling from lowest to highest humour score)—suggesting that humour recruits readers. We also examined associations between citation rates and other features of titles. Inclusion of acronyms and taxonomic names was associated with lower citation rates, while assertive-statement phrasing and presence of colons, question marks, and political regions were associated with somewhat higher citation rates. Title length had no effect on citation. Our results suggest that scientists can use creativity with titles without having their work condemned to obscurity.
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    Effects of turbine height and cut-in speed on bat and swallow fatalities at wind energy facilities
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 1281 - 1297
    Understanding the relationship between the height of wind turbines and wildlife fatalities is important for informing and mitigating wildlife collisions as ever taller and denser arrays of wind turbines are erected across the landscape. We examined relationships between turbine height and fatalities of bats and swallows at 811 turbines in Ontario, Canada, ranging from 119 to 186 m tall. We accounted for cut-in speeds, operational mitigation, and taller turbines projecting carcasses farther from the turbine base than shorter turbines. Fatalities of hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus Palisot de Beauvois, 1796), silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans Le Conte, 1831), and big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus Palisot de Beauvois, 1796) increased with increased maximum blade height of turbines. In contrast, fatalities of little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus Le Conte, 1831) and eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis Müller, 1776) decreased with increased turbine height. Fatalities of purple martins (Progne subis Linnaeus, 1758) and tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor Vieillot, 1808) were higher at taller turbines than shorter turbines. However, fatalities of cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota Vieillot, 1817) and barn swallow (Hirundo rustica Linnaeus, 1758) were not associated with turbine height. Our results suggest that varying flight height among species may be one factor affecting collision risk.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    From plant biology research to technology transfer and knowledge extension: improving food quality and mitigating environmental impacts
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 1028 - 1050
    Academic scientists face an unpredictable path from plant biology research to real-life application. Fundamental studies of γ-aminobutyrate and carotenoid metabolism, control of Botrytis infection, and the uptake and distribution of mineral nutrients illustrate that most academic research in plant biology could lead to innovative solutions for food, agriculture, and the environment. The time to application depends on various factors such as the fundamental nature of the scientific questions, the development of enabling technologies, the research priorities of funding agencies, the existence of competitive research, the willingness of researchers to become engaged in commercial activities, and ultimately the insight and creativity of the researchers. Applied research is likely to be adopted more rapidly by industry than basic research, so academic scientists engaged in basic research are less likely to participate in science commercialization. It is argued that the merit of Discovery Grant applications to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada should not be evaluated for their potential impact on policy and (or) technology. Matching industry funds in Canada rarely support the search for knowledge. Therefore, NSERC Discovery Grants should fund basic research in its entirety.
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    Forested wetlands in a protected area and the adjacent working landscape provide complementary biodiversity value based on breeding birds: A case study from Nova Scotia, Canada
    FACETS • Vol. 8 • pp. 1 - 31
    Protected areas (PAs) are a key component of most conservation strategies because they are thought to enhance biodiversity value relative to similar habitats in working landscapes. To examine whether PAs in Nova Scotia are functioning to enhance the biodiversity value of the landscapes in which they are embedded, we surveyed breeding bird communities in forested wetlands inside and outside of a large PA during 2018 and 2019. We found significantly higher species richness and diversity at sites in the working landscape relative to those inside the PA. Bird communities from different wetland types inside the PA were distinct from each other and those outside the PA, whereas bird communities at outside sites were homogenized and comprised of more early-successional species. There were numerous species of conservation concern at both inside and outside sites, indicating that both types of sites are playing important conservation roles. Abundances of these key species were driven by a combination of local (e.g., water table depth, herb, and shrub cover) and landscape scale factors (e.g., edge density and human disturbance). The higher abundance of long-distance migrants and insectivores at inside sites suggests PAs are providing critical additional support to key guilds that are in steep decline.
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    A decision framework for the management of established biological invasions
    FACETS • Vol. 8 • pp. 1 - 10
    In some cases, managing an established invasive species may do more harm to an ecosystem than allowing the invader to persist. Given limited resources available to land managers and the realities of conservation triage, we recognized the need for systematic guidance for management decisions made at the “late end” of the invasion curve. We gathered an interdisciplinary group of experts and practitioners to address the question of “under what circumstances is the active management of an established aquatic invasive species warranted?” Our working group identified three key dimensions to this question: (1) the efficacy of available management options; (2) the net benefits of management actions weighed against the null scenario of no control; and (3) the socio-ecological context that defines management goals, a manager’s ability to achieve said goals, and perceptions of management outcomes. These considerations were used to structure a consensus decision tree that supports a multi-criteria approach to decision-making. Our approach promotes interdisciplinarity and systems thinking and emphasizes the need to consider costs and benefits comprehensively, for example by considering the persistence or reversibility of impacts from both the invasive species and from efforts to suppress or eradicate it.
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    What is habitat sensitivity? A quantitative definition relating resistance, resilience, and recoverability to environmental impacts
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 9
    Habitat sensitivity is a consideration for decision-making under environmental laws in many jurisdictions. However, habitat sensitivity has been variously defined and there is no consistent approach to its quantification, which limits our understanding of how habitat sensitivity varies among systems and in response to different pressures. We review various definitions offered in the scientific literature and policy documents before suggesting a universal framework for habitat sensitivity as (i) a habitat trait that defines the ecological impacts from a given pressure, (ii) which is composed of three components (habitat resistance, resilience, and recoverability), and (iii) which is quantified by measuring the change and recovery in the state of key habitat attributes in response to pressures. In addition, we provide guidance toward a consistent approach to assessing habitat sensitivity, which includes the use of pressure benchmarks and standardized metrics of change in key habitat attributes to create a common scale for comparison among habitat attributes and pressures. Our framework and recommendations should help to standardize the way in which habitat sensitivity is defined and assessed, and could be integrated into decision-making processes to improve ecosystem management in different jurisdictions.
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    Community-led non-invasive polar bear monitoring in the Eeyou Marine Region of James Bay, Canada: insights on distribution and body condition during the ice-free season
    FACETS • Vol. 8 • pp. 1 - 12
    Wildlife conservation is informed by detailed understanding of species demographics, habitat use, and interactions with environmental drivers. Challenges to collecting this information, particularly in remote places and on widely ranging species, can contribute to data deficiencies that detract from conservation status assessment and the effectiveness of management actions. Polar bears in James Bay face rapidly changing environmental conditions at the southern edge of their global range, but studying their ecology has been limited by community concerns about the methods typically used in polar bear research. Using a community-led and non-invasive approach, we deployed hair snare and camera trap sampling stations across 400 km of the Eeyou Marine Region in eastern James Bay. Stations collected >100 hair samples and thousands of photographs in one eight-week period that allowed for a novel investigation of this population’s distribution and body condition during the ice-free season. Polar bears were in average to above average body condition, and model selection of detections at stations revealed distance to mainland as a significant predictor of polar bear presence. Given its high potential, we suggest community-based monitoring using this method become a standard protocol to expand the scope and local leadership of polar bear research across the North.
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    Multiple impacts of invasive species on species at risk: a case study in British Columbia, Canada
    FACETS • Vol. 8 • pp. 1 - 13
    Invasive species are a leading cause of biodiversity loss and species extinctions across ecosystems on a global scale. The historical and ongoing focus on single-species management of invasive species and species at risk contributes to inefficiencies in management strategies that present an obstacle to achieving desired outcomes. A holistic approach that consolidates and maps linkages between the broader collective of invasive species and species at risk in an area provides a more appropriate entry point for issue-based, rather than species-based, management planning. We present a case study of this approach from British Columbia, Canada, which synthesized the identity, mechanisms of impact, mechanisms of spread, and magnitude of impacts across 782 unique pairs of invasive species and federally listed species at risk, based on a literature review of species at risk documentation. The resulting dataset was used to summarize the nature of interactions across species pairs and taxonomic groups to help guide the development of invasive species response strategies that make the best use of limited management resources. As species invasions and extinctions become increasingly interconnected, holistic approaches rooted in cumulative effects assessment and ecosystem-based management can provide a stronger foundation for reducing or mitigating this growing threat.
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    Conducting community-led research using trail cameras to develop baseline wandering domestic cat local abundance estimates
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 14
    Assessing cat local abundance provides information on where wandering cat numbers are highest and what habitats or factors are associated with wandering cats. A variety of stakeholders can lead this research and then use the findings to make scientifically informed decisions to guide the physical locations of cat management actions. Here, we document a framework that engages community members, uses minimal equipment (six trail cameras), and provides scientifically derived information for interested parties to inform, direct, or test the effectiveness of cat management practices. Using these methods in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, we demonstrate how we estimated cat population size and cat local abundances across a variety of co-variates while accounting for non-perfect detection by using 55 trail camera sites and N-mixture models. Urban areas had three-fold higher local wandering cat abundances than parkland areas, and neighbourhoods below the median income had the highest local abundances of wandering cats. We estimated there are between 8905 and 48,419 (mean 21,298) wandering cats in Gatineau, with 18%–73% of those cats being unowned. These findings can be used to identify locations for future cat management. If estimates of cat abundance are repeated, they can assess the effectiveness of management actions.
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    Graduate student experiences and perspectives related to conducting thesis research within long-term ecological projects
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 12
    Long-term ecological research (LTER) projects are considered valuable training grounds for graduate student researchers, yet student voices are largely absent from discussions of LTER merits in the literature. We aimed to identify benefits and challenges encountered by current and former graduate students in conducting graduate research within LTER projects. To explore graduate student experiences and perspectives, we conducted a survey comprising both closed-ended questions (i.e., multiple choice and Likert scale) and open-ended questions. From the responses, we identified emergent categories related to positive and negative experiences using sentiment analysis. We found agreement with purported benefits in areas including networking and access to established field sites and protocols. However, participants also identified data accessibility, authorship decisions, communication, and interpersonal conflicts as significant sources of challenges. We synthesized survey results with existing literature to provide actionable recommendations for principal investigators in four main areas (data, authorship, communication, and management) through an LTER lens. In addition to providing longitudinal data, LTER projects offer graduate students both physical and methodological infrastructure that can serve as the scaffold for new research questions to be developed. However, the likelihood of success of student research, as well as the success of the students themselves, can be improved when the needs of graduate students are prioritized.
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    Social media-based community science for turtle nest monitoring and conservation
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 7
    In late 2020, a private volunteer group operating through a Facebook group approached Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) with an interest in participating in the Citizen Science Nest Protection and Monitoring Volunteer Program. During the 2021 season, TRCA staff virtually trained volunteers in turtle nest detection, protection, and monitoring due to COVID-19 social constraints, and provided necessary supplies and equipment. In 2021 volunteers and staff detected 181 turtle nests and were able to protect 75 nests with simple predator-exclusion devices, while in 2022, 165 nests were detected, and 155 were protected. The volunteers also collected data, including nesting location, date, and species in addition to the number of successful hatchlings (2021 only). In 2021, the 75 protected nests yielded 81 Midland Painted Turtle and 665 Snapping Turtle hatchlings. Five Midland Painted Turtle’s eggs were also recovered from an injured turtle, and 44 Snapping Turtle eggs were recovered from a partially predated nest, transported to the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre, incubated, hatched, and overwintered, and then released back into the local wetlands. The partnership with a local community group proved effective, and we would recommend this practice to other conservation organizations interested in turtle nest protection.
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    Management practices benefit endangered Poweshiek skipperling (Oarisma poweshiek) in Manitoba tall grass prairie
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 12
    Poweshiek skipperling (Oarisma poweshiek Parker, 1870) populations have declined precipitously in the past few decades, and their global range is now restricted to two isolated regions, one of which is the managed Manitoba tall grass prairie in Canada. In this paper, we used a decade of survey data from 2010 to 2019 to understand how habitat features, management practices, and extreme weather impact Poweshiek skipperling abundance in Manitoba. The strongest predictor of abundance was the density of black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta L.), a primary nectar plant for adults. Poweshiek skipperling abundance also had a negative relationship with both the number of years since a burn occurred and the number of years since grazing occurred. Cumulative precipitation during their active period (May–June) had a negative relationship with skipperling abundance, whereas warm early springs and cool temperatures during the active period had positive relationships. These results suggest that management actions that maintain tall grass prairie habitat in an early successional stage (burning and grazing) and maintain important nectar sources benefit this population. In contrast, extreme weather events had varying effects on Poweshiek skipperling abundance. Results from this study inform ongoing management practices in the Manitoba tall grass prairie to support this endangered population.
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    A toolkit for greater equity, diversity, and inclusion in early-career ecology funding
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 9
    Funding is critical in ecology and related fields, as it enables research and sustains livelihoods. However, early-career researchers (ECRs) from diverse backgrounds are disproportionately underrepresented as funding recipients. To help funding programs self-evaluate progress towards increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in their funding opportunities, we introduce the Stage-based Assessments of Grants for EDI (SAGE) Toolkit. Developed using existing literature, semi-structured interviews, and coauthors’ experiences, the toolkit considers how each funding stage (Advertisement, Application, Review, Awarding) interacts with applicants from racialized and other underrepresented backgrounds. The toolkit offers specific criteria and recommendations, with explanations and examples from funding agencies, to support applicants who have been historically marginalized in ecology and are often left out of equitable funding consideration. Changes in funding mechanisms alone will not reverse the marginalization of communities and peoples in the field of ecology, but advancing EDI must include action throughout the grant process. Efforts to increase EDI must be sustained, and the toolkit allows for additional considerations and evolving best practices. With the SAGE Toolkit, efforts to increase EDI can help to transition away from a transactional dynamic between funder and applicant to instead supportive community and collaboration. The SAGE Toolkit is available online at bit.ly/ediSAGEtoolkit.
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    Now is the time for academics to think and act beyond academia
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 3
    Despite the challenges posed by climate change and the biodiversity crisis, most academic research continues to stay within academia and the gaps between conservation science, policy, and practice remain intact. We need to improve the exchange of evidence between researchers and conservation practitioners and focus on solutions-oriented, interdisciplinary science and co-developed research. As we continue to break climate records and lose record numbers of species every year, now is the time for academics to think and act beyond their institutions.
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    Integrative adaptive management to address interactions between biological invasions and protected area connectivity: a Canadian perspective
    FACETS • Vol. 8 • pp. 1 - 12
    Expanding and creating protected area networks has become a central pillar of global conservation planning. In the management and design of protected area networks, we must consider not only the positive aspects of landscape connectivity but also how that connectivity may facilitate the spread of invasive species, a challenge that has become known as the connectivity conundrum. Here, we review key considerations for landscape connectivity planning for protected area networks, focusing on interactions between network connectivity and the management of invasive species. We propose an integrative adaptive management framework for protected area network planning with five main elements, including monitoring, budgeting considerations, risk assessment, inter-organizational coordination, and local engagement. Protected area planners can address the dynamic aspects of the connectivity conundrum through collaborative and integrative adaptive management planning.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Seasonal movement and habitat use of Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus) near the northern geographic range extent
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 15
    The movement ecology of Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in watersheds at the northern geographic range extent is not well understood. We implanted 54 Bull Trout with acoustic transmitters in the Prairie Creek watershed, Northwest Territories, Canada and tracked fish from July 2011 to October 2012 using 19 stationary hydrophones. Bull Trout movement patterns generally corresponded to two groups, as a result of individual variation within and across seasons. The first group exhibited seasonal variations in movement and habitat use, moving most (range 11.7–115.9 km) and occupying the largest home ranges in summer and autumn, while exhibiting little movement during winter and spring. The second group made negligible movements within seasons and resided in localized areas. Restricted movement in winter resulted in a severe range contraction. The average distance moved within a season was 11.5 km (range 0.3–64.9 km per fish). The unusually high prevalence of stationarity in this watershed suggest fish can complete all life processes (spawning, feeding, and rearing) in short reaches (<10 km) of Prairie Creek and tributaries. We encourage researchers to replicate our work in other northern watersheds to determine if the life history we describe represents a regional divergence from more southerly populations.
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    Weaving ways of knowing in practice: a collaborative approach to prioritizing community knowledge and values in wildlife camera monitoring with Magnetawan First Nation
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 17
    There is not one singular way to weave together Indigenous and Western knowledges; creating meaningful cross-cultural collaborations requires a foundation of relationships rooted in the context of specific people and place. As interest in working across knowledge systems increases, our goal is to provide an example of respectful and appropriate cross-cultural collaboration within environmental practice. We demonstrate our collaborative, mixed-methods approach to developing a community-based wildlife monitoring program with Magnetawan First Nation that prioritizes community knowledge and values. Through community interviews and a youth sharing circle, participants highlighted values (respect, interconnection, reciprocity, collaboration, and relationship) as well as research priorities, providing examples of what each may look like in practice, to inform our monitoring approach. These examples, paired with reflections from the research team, are shared to explore the process of weaving together knowledge and values to co-create a community-based wildlife monitoring program, applying wildlife cameras as much more than simply a tool for data collection. This research provides tangible examples of weaving together knowledges and values in the context of environmental monitoring, helping guide future cross-cultural collaboration to ensure this work is being done in a good way.
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    No evidence of migration in a 4-year study of an at-risk migratory fish—the centenarian bigmouth buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus) of Saskatchewan
    FACETS • Vol. 10 • pp. 1 - 10
    The bigmouth buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus, Valenciennes 1844) is a long-lived freshwater fish native to North America that is listed as a species of special concern in its Saskatchewan-Nelson range. Little is known about their ecology and behavior, especially in the Saskatchewan Qu'Appelle River system where it faces multiple threats such as habitat fragmentation and competition with invasive species. In this study, we used acoustic telemetry to track the movements of 44 bigmouth buffalo throughout the Qu'Appelle River system in 2017–2019, and 2021, to monitor migration patterns from spring to fall and investigate if any of the five dams were impeding their ability to access either breeding or overwintering grounds. We found that bigmouth buffalo demonstrated minimal use of the river during this 4-year study, instead staying within the confines of a single lake year-round. Our results suggest that bigmouth buffalo in the Qu'Appelle River do not exhibit migratory behavior during nonflooding years. Considering their extended lifespan (>125 years), this could be attributed to their potential bet-hedging strategy for spawning primarily during flood years. The results indicate that bigmouth buffalo voluntarily remained within Buffalo Pound Lake throughout the study period. Whether this behavior was natural or was influenced by modifications to the system’s hydrology requires further investigation.
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    Bat handlers, bat bites, and rabies: vaccination and serological testing of humans at risk
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 11
    Globally, bats provide critical ecosystem services. Rabies, caused by rabies virus and related lyssaviruses, is one of the most significant zoonoses associated with bats. Bat biologists study bats in the laboratory and the field. To minimize the risk of disease, all bat handlers should be vaccinated against rabies and undergo routine serological testing to measure their rabies virus neutralizing antibody levels. They should use best practices to avoid exposures, such as personal protective equipment, especially gloves appropriate to the size of the bat(s) being handled. Attention to such details will prevent unnecessary exposures and avoid some of the accompanying negative perceptions that endanger bats on a global level. The small body sizes of many bats (<50 g, many <20 g) and small teeth makes their defensive bites easy to overlook. Breaks in the skin, however small, may result in exposure to lyssaviruses in the animals’ saliva. Exposure to blood-feeding bats is less common because these species are geographically restricted to the Neotropics and are the only species whose natural feeding behavior could involve transmission of rabies virus. Understanding viral transmission, preventing exposures, and responding appropriately to bites will minimize the consequences of this deadly zoonosis.
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    Anthropogenic impacts on seagrass habitat connectivity: a model to explore potential links between human activity and marine invertebrate metapopulation persistence
    FACETS • Vol. 10 • pp. 1 - 15
    Coastal ecosystems face numerous stressors from anthropogenic activities. Furthermore, local stressors that directly impact ecological processes in one location can scale up to have indirect regional consequences. In the case of dispersing marine invertebrates, human activity may impact dispersal and survival rates, which can then alter connectivity patterns and metapopulation dynamics across the seascape. Here, we developed a framework to model metapopulation persistence of seagrass-associated invertebrates in the Salish Sea, focusing primarily on British Columbia, Canada. We combined a biophysical model of dispersal with metrics of habitat naturalness to model how local human activities that may impact dispersal can alter habitat connectivity patterns and potentially impact regional metapopulation persistence. We found that human activities that potentially impact dispersal can reduce population persistence across a region, although the effect varied based on location, population dynamics, and severity of the impacts modeled. The majority of populations, however, remained persistent, suggesting that there are robust and redundant pathways of dispersal that can maintain population connectivity in the face of local disturbances. This study highlights the importance of understanding human impacts and connectivity together in a regional context which could have implications for future marine spatial planning and the effective management of biodiversity.