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Cougars (Puma concolor) have recently begun to reclaim former range and also are expanding into new territory. The Cypress Hills of southeast Alberta and southwest Saskatchewan now hosts the most eastern confirmed breeding population of cougars in Canada. However, with the return of cougars come new issues about human safety and risk of livestock depredation. Using GPS radiocollars, scat analysis, snowtracking and wildlife cameras, I found that the Cypress Hills boasts one of the highest densities of cougars ever reported, yet the large cats avoid human-use areas and have not been documented to prey on livestock. Using aerial ungulate survey data, I also show that the increase in cougar abundance is associated with a shift in distribution of nave ungulate prey to areas outside the park. Provided that cougars continue to avoid humans and cattle, this island habitat could prove to be an important stepping stone to further expansion eastward. / Ecology

<p> Prairie mounds from the general area of Foremost-Cypress Hills, Alberta, have been described. Various morphometric parameters, including relative and absolute altitude of the mounds, depth of their central depressions, orientation of breaches in their rims, angle of the bounding slopes, and distribution of surficial stones were measured. Several characteristics of the mounds were found to be widespread. Firstly, the mounds occur in elongate fields that correspond roughly to the 3,000 ft. contour interval. Secondly, surficial stones invariably have their greatest concentration on the rims of the mounds. Also the mounds are frequently separated by interrupted drainage channels. The bounding slopes of the mounds are asymmetrical, with west and north-west slopes being least steep. Interpretation of these morphological observations and a consideration of the various hypotheses of formation proposed in the literature leads to the conclusion that prairie mounds most likely originated by the differential melting of a stagnant ice mass in a manner proposed by Gravenor in 1955, and have subsequently been modified by mass-wasting processes. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

Species identifications have been historically difficult in the economically important spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana) pest complex. Morphological, ecological, behavioural, and genetic characters have been studied to try to understand the taxonomy of this group, but diagnostic character states differ in frequency rather than being complete replacements between each species. I developed a morphology-based character system that focuses on forewing colour components (Chapter 2), as well as eight simple sequence repeats (SSRs, also referred to as microsatellite markers) (Chapter 3). I tested these along with a 470 bp region of COI mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) (Chapter 2, 4) to determine their congruence with putative species that were identified by adaptive traits (larval host plant, length of larval diapause, larval and adult morphology, pheromone attraction, distribution). The morphometrics system was effective for identification of the five species tested, with only slight overlap between C. fumiferana and C. biennis. MtDNA distinguished C. fumiferana and C. pinus pinus, but the remaining species shared haplotypes. SSRs distinguished four species (C. fumiferana, C. pinus pinus, C. retiniana, C. lambertiana) but the remaining four species that were included in this survey (Chapter 4) remained mixed within two populations. There was evidence for hybridization between several species pairs. I also conducted a detailed study (Chapter 5) in Cypress Hills, an isolated remnant coniferous forest in western Canada, where identifying individuals from the Choristoneura fumiferana complex has been impossible due to the unusual ecogeographic characteristics of the area. I integrated data on behaviour, ecology, morphology, mtDNA, and SSRs, comparing Cypress Hills populations to those from other regions of North America to determine which species they resembled most. I delimited at least three populations, resembling C. fumiferana, C. occidentalis and C. lambertiana. Adult flight phenology, along with pheromone attraction, were identified as major isolating mechanisms between these populations. My studies highlighted the importance of integrative taxonomy for understanding species boundaries. Their patterns of differentiation suggest that spruce budworm species have recently diverged via natural selection in spite of some gene flow. Overall, this work is intended to contribute to more accurate identification of specimens and a better understanding of the evolutionary processes that drive speciation. / Systematics and Evolution

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