The Lovstrom site (DjLx-1) is a Late Precontact multicomponent site located in the Tiger Hills of southwestern Manitoba. Two occupation levels identified in Block E are separated by an approximate 400 year time span, the oldest identified as Blackduck at 800 BP and a later Vickers Focus group occupying the site around 400 BP. Excavations took place between 1986 and 1991 as part of the Brandon University archaeological field school. In addition to the information gained from the recovery of amounts of cultural material, later excavations were also opened in an effort to gain knowledge about the amount of site disturbance. The amount of material artifacts uncovered during test pitting necessitated a number of excavation blocks be opened. This thesis focuses on the faunal material recovered from Block E. Although a number of species were identified, bison represents the vast majority of faunal material. The faunal analysis was undertaken to determine the composition of the bison herd and seasonality. Due to the nature of the site and the fragmented faunal assemblage an in-depth analysis took place to identify any taphonomic forces that may have disturbed the archaeological record. This includes both cultural and natural forces that acted on the Block E assemblage. The occupant’s butchering practices are compared and contrasted with additional comparisons made to similar nearby archaeological sites, including the Blackduck Stott site and the Vickers Focus Jackson site.

Archaeological education and outreach have become priorities in a discipline that struggles to make its research accessible and relevant to the diverse public. In recent years, researchers have begun to address this issue through the design and implementation of grade school lesson modules on various archaeological topics. Although these lesson modules are readily available, little has been done to assess the efficacy of such public education and outreach agendas. With stimulus and funding from the Blackfeet Tribe and the Montana Department of Transportation, respectively, this thesis addresses this gap by (1) designing archaeological lesson modules for middle school students, and (2) assessing the general efficacy of the lessons. Specifically, the study systematically analyzes four science units for their overall efficacy, general impact, and utility through pre-and-post assessments that measure student understanding and interest. The quantified analyses are then combined to attain an overall percentage of curriculum efficacy. As a public outreach strategy for archaeology, these modules emphasize a pluralistic, multivocal, inclusive, and pragmatic perspective of the past that both connects with a multifaceted, diverse public and avoids educational marginalization of a shared, collective past. Thus, Native perspectives are interwoven with scientific archaeological knowledge to, in essence, pluralize the past. The topical focus of the lessons is bison - a uniquely North American past and present species with which humans have interacted intimately at a multitude of levels but, also, a species that is not always accepted among contemporary ranchers and land users. The curriculum is aimed at middle school students, recognizing that these students, as the future decision-makers, are a key demographic to target. It is hypothesized that (1) the respectful incorporation of archaeological education in a pluralized, inclusive fashion allows the interdisciplinary potential of archaeology to be more fully realized, and (2) such a strategy allows the significance of bison to be better understood and more widely appreciated.

Tuberculosis transmission in free-ranging bison of northern Canada is of significant concern to wildlife managers because of its effects on condition and mortality in bison herds and the potential for transmission to local hunters and neighbouring cattle populations. The chronic nature of tuberculosis combined with the gregarious behaviours of bison permit its persistence in free-ranging herds even at low densities, which makes disease eradication difficult without whole herd depopulation. The protection of remaining non-infected free-ranging bison populations is thus of paramount importance to the conservation of specific disease-free wild bison in northern Canada and to the economic stability of cattle farms. Detection of movements and removal of dispersing animals between spatially separated free-ranging populations reduces the potential for contact between bison populations and minimizes the probability of tuberculosis transmission. In this thesis, a conceptual model was developed to assess the potential for tuberculosis transmission between two infected bison herds (Nyarling River and Garden River) in Wood Buffalo National Park and the spatially separated, Mackenzie Bison herd in the Northwest Territories. This conceptual model identifies gaps in knowledge and highlights areas where research is required to ensure accurate evaluation of tuberculosis transmission risk in freeranging bison. The main finding was that the bison cohort representing the highest risk for tuberculosis transmission between spatially separated free-ranging herds is mature males. The propensity of mature males to make long-distance movements is also not fully understood and research to predict these movements would make a significant contribution to risk assessment and management planning to reduce the probability of contact between infected and non-infected bison populations.

No description available.

Meat characteristics and physiological stress measurements in bison exposed to different ante-mortem treatment groups and reasons behind the rapid discolouration of fresh bison meat (compared to beef) were examined. It was hypothesized that bison slaughtered on farm (dispatched in pen, MLAPEN, or confined then dispatched MLACON) through a mobile location abattoir (MLA), would have favourable meat characteristics and lower stress levels than those transported to a stationary abattoir (LAND). It was also hypothesized that differences in fatty acid profile, vitamin E levels, and oxidative properties of bison meat compared to beef, are related to the observed difference in retail shelf life. A higher incidence of carcasses graded as “dark” were observed in the LAND group. Improved tenderness measured through shear force (MLACON 7.28 kg and MLAPEN 7.40 kg vs. LAND 9.43kg) and initial tenderness sensory scores (MLACON 4.95, MLAPEN 4.55, vs. LAND 3.93; where 8= extremely tender and 1= extremely tough) was seen in the MLA groups. The lowest blood cortisol level was found in MLAPEN group compared to the MLACON or LAND groups (71.16 nmol/L, 124.17 nmol/L and 139.50 nmol/L respectively; P<0.01). Bruising was found in all treatment groups, however less was found on the MLA groups compared to the LAND group. Fatty acid composition was significantly different between bison and beef for all the fatty acids measured. The inherent tissue traits of bison were linked to poorer performance in the retail environment when compared to beef. Bison meat had higher polyunsaturated fatty acid levels, and a lower omega 6:omega 3 ratio than beef. Bison also had a lower total fat and higher pigment and vitamin E levels. Stepwise regression models included some of these traits and accounted for a significant proportion of the variation in metmyoglobin (R2 = .689), % discolouration (R2 = .737) and appearance (R2 = 0.676) between d 0 and d 3 in retail. An improved understanding of the effects of ante mortem handling and the inherent characteristics of bison meat will improve animal welfare and help create an improved eating experience for the consumer. / Animal Science

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alberta, 2001. / A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Dept. of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Alberta. Includes bibliographical references.

Tallgrass prairie is one of the most threatened grasslands in North America. Conservation of tallgrass prairie focuses on both effective management of remaining native prairie, and restoration of formerly cultivated fields to tallgrass prairie. This research focused on processes and properties relevant to restoration and conservation of tallgrass prairie. Community assembly theory attempts to explain the formation of communities, which can be governed by deterministic or stochastic processes, or some combination of both. Fire and grazing are widely used to manage grasslands for conservation purposes, but few studies have evaluated the effects of these drivers on the conservation value of plant communities measured by the floristic quality index (FQI). Pollination services play a vital role in the reproductive stability of the plant community in prairies, though this has not been well studied in restored prairie. The first chapter of this dissertation reports on a sequential restoration approach used to gain insights into the extent to which community assembly is deterministic and stochastic events change the trajectory of community development. The sequential restorations consisted of former agriculture fields restored to prairie, varying only in time since abandonment. Species composition and aboveground net primary production were quantified over time in sequentially restored communities to reveal the predictability of ecological restoration in producing desired communities and ecosystem functions. The sequential restoration plots were established in a block design. The same suite of species was seeded using the same seeding rates in each restoration sequence. Species composition was recorded each September in the year of seeding and each June and September in the two subsequent years for each block. Annual aboveground net primary productivity was collected from 2 randomly placed 0.1 m2 plots per subplot during peak biomass. There was a significant sequence by age interaction for sown, volunteer, and total species composition. Sown, volunteer, and total cover, diversity, and richness also were affected by a sequence by age interaction. Annual net primary production (ANPP) also was affected by a sequence by age interaction for sown and volunteer species. However, total ANPP was only affected by the variable age. Results show that interannual climate variability (specifically growing season precipitation) inhibits a priori determinations of community assembly, which suggests that stochastic processes play a significant role in the community assembly process in tallgrass prairie restoration. Variations in annual precipitation during the installation years likely drove the initial differences in species composition and ANPP. In general this study revealed that drought conditions at the time of restoration may be more deleterious than drought conditions occurring at other times post-establishment. The influence of fire and grazing on soil properties and functions is difficult for land managers and restoration practitioners to assess. Therefore, the objectives for the second study were to (i) to quantify the independent and interactive effects of grazing and fire frequency on floristic quality in native tallgrass prairie, and provide potential benchmarks for community assessment, and (ii) to explore whether floristic quality can serve as an indicator of soil structure and function for more holistic ecosystem assessments. A factorial combination of fire frequencies (1-2, 4, and 20 y return intervals) and grazing (by bison or ungrazed) treatments was sampled for plant species composition and several indicators of soil quality in lowland tallgrass prairie. Floristic quality, diversity, and richness were higher in grazed than ungrazed prairie over all fire frequencies. Available inorganic N, microbial biomass N, total soil N, and soil bulk density were also higher in grazed prairie soil over all fire frequencies. Microbial biomass C, total soil organic C, and total soil N were positively correlated with FQI. This study demonstrated that floristic quality and soil N pools are more strongly influenced by grazing than fire and that floristic quality can be an indicator of total soil C and N stocks in never cultivated lowland prairie. In tallgrass prairie, 85 – 90 % of angiosperms require an insect or other animal for pollen transfer. Restorations can play a vital role in the reestablishment of pollination services and simultaneously help maintain high levels of diversity in the tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Missed pollination, via temporal asynchronies, could have a number of biological disadvantages for a plant population. In the third study we addressed the effects of missed pollination on floral period, photosynthetic activity, leaf N content, and seed set in a common native tallgrass prairie forb, Penstemon digitalis. In each of 12 plots, 6 individual plants were either bagged to prevent pollination, or left unbagged, to allow for pollination. There was no difference in mean flower duration between netted and open plots. There was a treatment by time interaction for relative chlorophyll concentrations (P = 0.0005). Mean relative chlorophyll concentrations values at sampling times (prior to flowering; Pre, 10 days after FFD; Plus, 10 days after cessation of flowering; Post, and at the time of leaf collection; Coll) all differed from one another in bagged plots. Comparisons of relative chlorophyll concentrations values only showed a difference between bagged and open-pollinated plots at sampling time ‘Coll’. There was no difference in percent leaf N between bagged and open-pollinated plots and the amount of seed set in bagged plots was significantly lower than the amount of seed set in the open-pollinated plats. Any disruption to plant-pollinator interactions can create temporal asynchronies, however, the impact of those asynchronies is equivocal.

No description available.

The bison industry has limited resources for increasing market share. Exploring how consumers react to information about bison and discovering what people know about bison is important to determine the most efficient way to increase market share and ensure the sustainability of the bison industry. <p> This thesis examines the impact of three different information treatments on willingness-to-pay for bison. The three treatments are a nutritional comparison chart of negatively-perceived nutrients, a bison taste testimonial from a chef and a statement concerning the absence of growth hormones and antibiotics in the processed bison product used in the research. The hypothesis tested is that nutritional information about bison would elicit the greatest increase in willingness-to-pay for the processed bison product. <p> A random nth-price auction was conducted in December 2002 in Guelph, Ontario with 57 participants to elicit willingness-to-pay values for the processed bison product. Participants initial bids for the processed bison product were elicited without being given any information and a second round of bidding was conducted once participants had reviewed an information treatment. The mean difference in the bids between round two and round one are $0.221 for the nutritional comparison treatment, $0.210 for the taste testimonial treatment and $0.185 for the natural aspects treatment. ANOVA results indicate no statistically significant difference between the mean difference in bids between the three treatments. Further analysis with a regression model using the difference in bids as the dependent variable, dummy variables representing treatment types and survey data for the other relevant independent variables, shows that the coefficient for the nutritional comparison treatment is not significantly different from zero. Therefore, the hypothesis that nutritional information about bison would elicit the greatest increase in willingness-to-pay for the processed bison product has been rejected. The other independent variables examined in the regression are not significant. <p> This thesis does not clearly indicate which information treatment would be the most effective for the bison industry to utilize in a bison information campaign. However, each information treatment did increase the group mean willingness-to-pay so any information relevant to consumers about bison may be beneficial in increasing market share for bison products. Industry participants may need to work together to simultaneously increase awareness, distribution and consumption of bison products to ensure the sustainability of the bison industry.

The bison industry has limited resources for increasing market share. Exploring how consumers react to information about bison and discovering what people know about bison is important to determine the most efficient way to increase market share and ensure the sustainability of the bison industry. <p> This thesis examines the impact of three different information treatments on willingness-to-pay for bison. The three treatments are a nutritional comparison chart of negatively-perceived nutrients, a bison taste testimonial from a chef and a statement concerning the absence of growth hormones and antibiotics in the processed bison product used in the research. The hypothesis tested is that nutritional information about bison would elicit the greatest increase in willingness-to-pay for the processed bison product. <p> A random nth-price auction was conducted in December 2002 in Guelph, Ontario with 57 participants to elicit willingness-to-pay values for the processed bison product. Participants initial bids for the processed bison product were elicited without being given any information and a second round of bidding was conducted once participants had reviewed an information treatment. The mean difference in the bids between round two and round one are $0.221 for the nutritional comparison treatment, $0.210 for the taste testimonial treatment and $0.185 for the natural aspects treatment. ANOVA results indicate no statistically significant difference between the mean difference in bids between the three treatments. Further analysis with a regression model using the difference in bids as the dependent variable, dummy variables representing treatment types and survey data for the other relevant independent variables, shows that the coefficient for the nutritional comparison treatment is not significantly different from zero. Therefore, the hypothesis that nutritional information about bison would elicit the greatest increase in willingness-to-pay for the processed bison product has been rejected. The other independent variables examined in the regression are not significant. <p> This thesis does not clearly indicate which information treatment would be the most effective for the bison industry to utilize in a bison information campaign. However, each information treatment did increase the group mean willingness-to-pay so any information relevant to consumers about bison may be beneficial in increasing market share for bison products. Industry participants may need to work together to simultaneously increase awareness, distribution and consumption of bison products to ensure the sustainability of the bison industry.