Prairie of Mine(s) explores the incorporation of cultural and historical elements within the reclamation of a post-industrial mining landscape in the South Saskatchewan prairie. Reclamation solely by ecological methods often fails to recognize the industrial processes and people that altered the landscape. This project utilizes experiential, cultural, and historical elements within the reclamation of mining lands to shed light on a part of our history that is frequently overlooked and draw attention to actions made on the earth everyday in order for us to live comfortably. / October 2008

Burning and grazing are key processes in the natural disturbance regime of the Fescue Prairie. Burning, grazing and their interacting effects on plant species diversity (H¡¯), species richness, and heterogeneity in species composition were studied at two spatial scales for two years in a remnant Fescue Prairie near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Cattle distribution in relation to plant communities was also studied. At the plot scale (100 m2), burning increased H¡¯ (P<0.01) (x=1.75) compared to unburned treatments (x=1.54) (S.E.¡À0.058). Burning, grazing, and burning + grazing had no significant effect (P>0.10) on species richness; richness varied between years (P=0.04), averaging 14.2 species m-2 in year one versus 15.8 species m-2 in year two (S.E.¡À 0.65). Spatial heterogeneity (P>0.25; x=46%; S.E.¡À3.0) and temporal heterogeneity in species composition (P>0.21; x=42%; S.E.¡À3.8) were not affected by burning, grazing, or their interaction. Burning + grazing increased tiller densities in <i>Elymus lanceolatus</i> (68%) and those of <i>Festuca hallii</i> (11%) (P<0.001) compared to the control. Burning decreased total aboveground net primary production (ANPP) (P<0.001) (x=305 g m-2) compared to unburned treatments (x=500 g m-2; S.E.¡À30.8). Grazing and burning + grazing had no effect on total ANPP or graminoid ANPP (P¡Ý0.36). At the scale of Kernen Prairie (130 ha), H¡¯ increased between 1996 (P<0.05) (x=1.10) and 2005 (x=1.40; S.E.¡À0.094). Species richness increased from 5.2 species 0.25 m-2 in 1996, to 6.8 species 0.25 m-2 in 2005 (S.E.¡À0.505). Heterogeneity in plant species composition tended to increase after prescribed burning was started in 1986 and after grazing began in 2006. Cattle preferred <i>Bromus inermis-</i> and <i>Poa pratensis-</i>dominated plant communities, areas with intermediate amounts of total aboveground standing crop of plants, and areas in which shrub densities exceeded 16 stems 0.25 m-2. In the short term, burning and environmental conditions had greater effects on species diversity, richness, and heterogeneity in species composition than grazing or the interaction of burning and grazing. Different responses may be expected with different combinations of timing, frequency, and intensity of burning and grazing at different sites under ever changing environmental conditions.

Like life-history theory, wildlife management decisions are typically predicated on trade-offs between benefits associated with investing resources to achieve higher reproductive or survival rates versus costs or risks of achieving those goals. On the Canadian prairies, most waterfowl conservation resources are directed to policies and programs that seek to increase duck nesting success. Limited attention has focused on post-hatching life-cycle stages, yet, despite considerable recent work on duckling survival rates, many uncertainties remain concerning how abiotic and biotic factors affect duckling survival rates. The role of upland habitat characteristics may be important but has received limited attention. I evaluated hypothesized sources of variation in duckling survival for 617 mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) broods on 27 Canadian prairie-parkland sites, with emphasis on assessing effects of managed and remnant natural upland habitats. I contrasted suites of a priori and post hoc exploratory models that incorporated effects of landscape, weather, female and brood-related variables to explain variation in duckling survival rates. Survival was lower for ducklings that used areas with high proportions of semi-permanent wetlands, as well as for broods that travelled farther overland. Exploratory analyses revealed further that survival of ducklings was negatively related to the amount of managed hayland. In contrast, duckling survival was positively associated with the amount managed grassland. There was no evidence of trade-offs between benefits of managing habitat to enhance duck nesting success versus costs in terms of lower subsequent duckling survival.<p> I also addressed unresolved questions about how birds balance costs and benefits of selecting habitats by determining the survival consequences of habitat choices made during brood-rearing. In theory, fitness should be higher in preferred habitats, but this assumption is rarely tested. Fitness consequences (i.e., duckling survival) of habitat selection patterns were determined at landscape and local scales using logistic regression and information-theoretic model selection techniques. Best-approximating landscape-level models indicated that mallard females selected brood-rearing areas with a high proportion of wetland and perennial upland habitats, but duckling survival was not related to habitat selection patterns at this scale. At finer spatial scales, females selected brood-rearing areas with high proportions of wetland habitats, but, contrary to expectation, duckling survival was lower when females raised their broods in these areas. Females avoided areas with abundant perennial cover and wetlands with little vegetative cover and, consistent with prediction, duckling survival was higher when females selected areas with low perennial cover. Thus, females did not consistently select brood-rearing habitats that conferred the highest fitness benefits. Rather, the relationship between habitat selection and duckling survival depended on spatial scale and habitats considered.

Low relief, heavily human-impacted landscapes like those of the Prairies in south-central Canada have received little attention in previous hydrological research. Here, the rainfall-runoff relationship in the context of both a field-based investigation and an empirical model is examined in an effort to provide insight into Prairie hydrology. Rainfall and water level data were collected for nested sub-watersheds of the Catfish Creek watershed, a 642 km2, near-level, mixed land use and engineered Prairie watershed. First, the dataset is examined for runoff controls. Second, the history of the United States Curve Number Method is reviewed and its initial abstraction ratio examined against collected field data to determine the applicability of a single, constant ratio to Prairie landscapes. Overall, the results indicate that Prairie runoff generation processes differ significantly from those of humid, pristine catchments of higher relief and a conceptual model is proposed with that regards.

Within the transit industry it is well known that transit buses have the potential to operate at weights that exceed vehicle weight limits. However, few attempts have been made to date to determine how often this occurs and to what degree. This research characterizes the current transit industry with respect to the regulatory environment, factors that have affected the weight of modern day transit buses, and methods for accommodating transit buses in pavement design. This research then develops and applies a methodology for calculating the in-service weights of standard 40-ft. transit buses using a combination of passenger characteristic data, transit bus curb weight data, and transit ridership data. The findings of this research suggest that the transit bus industry is in a state of competing interests. Weight estimates developed in this research identify that current transit bus models are unable to comply with vehicle weight limits in most jurisdictions even with no passengers on board. Further, these estimates indicate that transit buses have a significant impact on pavements – comparable to those of fully-loaded, five-axle semi-trucks on a per vehicle basis. To date this issue has been addressed in the Canadian Prairie Region by indefinitely granting transit buses overweight permits. However, based on the current state of the transit industry there is little incentive for transit agencies to operate lightweight transit buses and little incentive for transit bus manufacturers to produce lightweight transit buses in order to address pavement and regulatory concerns. Consequently, transit bus axle weight issues in the Canadian Prairie Region are expected to continue in the foreseeable future. / October 2015

Agriculture is one of the main sources of phosphorous and nitrogen (P and N) contributing to cultural eutrophication of freshwater lakes and estuaries. In cold regions, the effects of agricultural management practices used to mitigate the runoff loss of these nutrients remain uncertain. In particular, the use of forage crops and minimum tillage, have not reduced some forms of P and N in runoff to streams, in part, as a result of freeze-thaw induced losses of mobile P and N from forages and crop residues. The purpose of this research is to improve the current understanding of the controls on P and N loss from Canadian Prairie fields to ultimately aid in the development and evaluation of beneficial agricultural management practices that perform predictably in cold regions. This study aims to provide new insights into the effects of cold regions hydrological processes on runoff quality through the development and application of a novel inductive - deductive modelling approach. Runoff flowpaths resulting from the three infiltration regimes identified for frozen soils (Granger et al., 1984) are hypothesized to impact the chemistry of field scale meltwater runoff by varying meltwater interaction with agricultural soils and vegetation. Hydrochemistry data from six intensively monitored minimum tillage and forage cropped fields in South Tobacco Creek, Manitoba were used to develop a nutrient model to integrate with a physics-based hydrological modelling platform that can represent the frozen soil infiltration regimes, in addition to other important cold region hydrological processes. The inductive development of a nutrient model, integrated with a deductive physics-based hydrological platform, enabled the modelling of meltwater flowpaths and freeze-thaw induced losses from vegetation. Further testing of the developed model and field experimentation are required to test the hypothesis that runoff generated over a basal ice layer eliminates the transfer of soil nutrients to runoff. Comparison of predicted and observed field scale runoff concentrations and masses suggest that this method of inductive-deductive model development has potential to predict the performance of agricultural management practices in cold regions.

A majority of the arid grasslands in the western U.S. have been dramatically altered by anthropogenic influences resulting in degradation and desertification. Within the arid grasslands of North America a guild of burrowing herbivorous rodents that includes kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spp.) and prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) is often considered integral to arid grassland maintenance. As part of the larger guild of burrowing herbivorous rodents, kangaroo rats are considered to be an important keystone guild whose role as ecosystem engineers and habitat modifiers complements that of prairie dogs. Together these species organize and structure arid grassland ecosystems and the biodiversity therein, by providing a mosaic of microhabitat patches, thus increasing overall heterogeneity. In an area where black-tailed prairie dogs (C. ludovicianus) were reintroduced, I used Giving-up Density (GUD) to assess the indirect effects black-tailed prairie dogs might have on the foraging patterns of resident kangaroo rats (D. spectabilis and D. merriamii). My objective was to compare and contrast kangaroo rat foraging GUD within and along the boundary of a on a recently established black-tailed prairie dog colony with that in the surrounding unmodified native habitat. This enabled assessment of whether black-tailed prairie dogs had an influence on the perceived quality of the habitat by kangaroo rats. Kangaroo rats visited off-colony feeding trays more frequently, and collected a greater mean mass of seed per tray as well. This indicates that the kangaroo rats perceived the area off the prairie dog colony as having a lower foraging cost than on the colony or along the colony edge. I conclude that from the perspective of the seed-eating kangaroo rat, the colony is not viewed as high quality habitat. What impact the reintroduction and management of one keystone species might have on another keystone species deserves additional consideration as we attempt to restore arid grassland ecosystems.

No description available.

Tallgrass prairie restoration is an important conservation activity in rural areas. However, little is known about prairie restoration in urban environments. The overall objective of this study was to characterize and better understand urban prairie restoration. This was carried out through an examination of 29 restoration sites within Winnipeg, Manitoba. The results indicated that actively restored urban prairies were successful and high in diversity. Multiple attributes of the restorations were examined as indicators of success including vegetation, the propagule bank and insects. However, not all attributes delivered equivocal results. This suggests that multiple measures should be used to assess a restoration site. Anthropogenic and biophysical variables were found to influence vegetation of the restorations equally, highlighting the importance of incorporating a human component in urban ecological research. These urban restorations were seen to surpass larger rural restorations in quality; thus, efforts should be made to increase their prevalence.

Prairie of Mine(s) explores the incorporation of cultural and historical elements within the reclamation of a post-industrial mining landscape in the South Saskatchewan prairie. Reclamation solely by ecological methods often fails to recognize the industrial processes and people that altered the landscape. This project utilizes experiential, cultural, and historical elements within the reclamation of mining lands to shed light on a part of our history that is frequently overlooked and draw attention to actions made on the earth everyday in order for us to live comfortably.