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Shelterbelts were established in the Canadian Prairies as a means to protect soil from wind erosion. Knowledge gaps remain about shelterbelts' ecosystem services to the agro-landscape, hence hiding farmers' trade-offs in a changing agriculture. This research first investigated shelterbelts' effect on soil biological activity and fertility. Soil samples were collected in September 2012 from sheltered and non-sheltered fields in the Rural Municipality of Stanley, Manitoba. Results showed that shelterbelts promote higher soil biological activity, potentially correlated to the enhanced organic matter and micro-climate adjacent to shelterbelts. A survey was then conducted to explore shelterbelts' cultural services to the local community. Results indicated that while shelterbelts were perceived to significantly benefit community well-being, they were mainly recognised for agricultural functions. We conclude that shelterbelts are a significant element of both supporting and cultural ecosystem services, contributing to the prairie agro-system resilience. Further research and quantification of shelterbelts' socio-ecological services is recommended.

The purpose of this research is to contribute to the identification of appropriate forest tenure and governance designs that are in congruence with Aboriginal values, interests and rights. The research is highly relevant to current societal deliberations on sustainable forest management as well as to the future of the forest sector in Canada. First Nations culture and ways of life are intimately and inextricably tied to the land. Some eighty percent of Canada’s First Nations communities are situated in productive forest regions (NAFA 2003). Even so, First Nations have been largely excluded from forest development and planning activities. Furthermore, the provincial policy emphasis on industrial timber production may not be consistent with Aboriginal forest values. This community-based research takes a participatory approach to forest policy analysis. The work is conducted in partnership with the Stellat’en First Nation and Carrier Sekani Tribal Council in central British Columbia. Stellat’en criteria for forest tenure and governance are identified in a series of workshops and interviews. These criteria are then applied in the analysis of four alternative models: the Community Ecosystem Trust, the Gitanyow joint land use planning model, BC Community Forest Agreements and Aboriginal reservations in the United States. The results indicated that Stellat’en have three main goals regarding forest tenure and governance: protect the traditional territory for future generations, protect Stellat’en culture and support Stellat’en economic self-determination. Implementation of the Stellat’en vision calls for a greater emphasis on ecological and cultural values in forest management, devolution of decision making authority to First Nations, reallocation of harvesting rights and redistribution of wealth generated by forest activities. The Stellat’en perspective emphasizes co-existence and stewardship. Evaluation of the four alternative models provided useful insights for progressive tenure and governance design. All four models had positive aspects to contribute, as well as shortcomings. The models are not mutually exclusive. Since each model addresses different management and institutional functions, they could be combined into a new system for the future.

The purpose of this research is to contribute to the identification of appropriate forest tenure and governance designs that are in congruence with Aboriginal values, interests and rights. The research is highly relevant to current societal deliberations on sustainable forest management as well as to the future of the forest sector in Canada. First Nations culture and ways of life are intimately and inextricably tied to the land. Some eighty percent of Canada’s First Nations communities are situated in productive forest regions (NAFA 2003). Even so, First Nations have been largely excluded from forest development and planning activities. Furthermore, the provincial policy emphasis on industrial timber production may not be consistent with Aboriginal forest values. This community-based research takes a participatory approach to forest policy analysis. The work is conducted in partnership with the Stellat’en First Nation and Carrier Sekani Tribal Council in central British Columbia. Stellat’en criteria for forest tenure and governance are identified in a series of workshops and interviews. These criteria are then applied in the analysis of four alternative models: the Community Ecosystem Trust, the Gitanyow joint land use planning model, BC Community Forest Agreements and Aboriginal reservations in the United States. The results indicated that Stellat’en have three main goals regarding forest tenure and governance: protect the traditional territory for future generations, protect Stellat’en culture and support Stellat’en economic self-determination. Implementation of the Stellat’en vision calls for a greater emphasis on ecological and cultural values in forest management, devolution of decision making authority to First Nations, reallocation of harvesting rights and redistribution of wealth generated by forest activities. The Stellat’en perspective emphasizes co-existence and stewardship. Evaluation of the four alternative models provided useful insights for progressive tenure and governance design. All four models had positive aspects to contribute, as well as shortcomings. The models are not mutually exclusive. Since each model addresses different management and institutional functions, they could be combined into a new system for the future.

The purpose of this research is to contribute to the identification of appropriate forest tenure and governance designs that are in congruence with Aboriginal values, interests and rights. The research is highly relevant to current societal deliberations on sustainable forest management as well as to the future of the forest sector in Canada. First Nations culture and ways of life are intimately and inextricably tied to the land. Some eighty percent of Canada’s First Nations communities are situated in productive forest regions (NAFA 2003). Even so, First Nations have been largely excluded from forest development and planning activities. Furthermore, the provincial policy emphasis on industrial timber production may not be consistent with Aboriginal forest values. This community-based research takes a participatory approach to forest policy analysis. The work is conducted in partnership with the Stellat’en First Nation and Carrier Sekani Tribal Council in central British Columbia. Stellat’en criteria for forest tenure and governance are identified in a series of workshops and interviews. These criteria are then applied in the analysis of four alternative models: the Community Ecosystem Trust, the Gitanyow joint land use planning model, BC Community Forest Agreements and Aboriginal reservations in the United States. The results indicated that Stellat’en have three main goals regarding forest tenure and governance: protect the traditional territory for future generations, protect Stellat’en culture and support Stellat’en economic self-determination. Implementation of the Stellat’en vision calls for a greater emphasis on ecological and cultural values in forest management, devolution of decision making authority to First Nations, reallocation of harvesting rights and redistribution of wealth generated by forest activities. The Stellat’en perspective emphasizes co-existence and stewardship. Evaluation of the four alternative models provided useful insights for progressive tenure and governance design. All four models had positive aspects to contribute, as well as shortcomings. The models are not mutually exclusive. Since each model addresses different management and institutional functions, they could be combined into a new system for the future. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate

Promouvoir le service de contrôle biologique des bio-agresseurs des cultures nécessite de comprendre le fonctionnement des populations d’ennemis naturels dans des mosaïques agricoles qui sont hétérogènes et dynamiques. Cette thèse porte sur l’étude des déterminants de l’abondance des carabes impliqués dans la régulation des adventices via la consommation de leurs graines. L’analyse des variations d’abondance des espèces à une échelle nationale nous a permis d’évaluer le rôle relatif des facteurs locaux et paysagers et de mettre en évidence le rôle important de la proportion de colza et de prairie dans le paysage sur l’abondance de carabes consommateurs de graines dans les parcelles cultivées. Le suivi expérimental de la composition des communautés de carabes ainsi que du statut nutritionnel et des mouvements de plusieurs espèces dans des dispositifs colza/blé et colza/bordure pérenne sur l’ensemble de la période d’activité des carabes nous a permis de mettre en évidence que (i) les carabes répondent l’hétérogénéité de cette mosaïque agricole (type de culture, qualité de l’habitat au sein d’un même type de culture), avec des réponses souvent spécifiques (ii) que le colza d’hiver joue un rôle important dans le fonctionnement des populations de carabes consommateurs de graines du fait de sa haute qualité d’habitat pour ces espèces, (iii) que la variation de la qualité d’habitat peut jouer sur le mouvement des carabes vers l’habitat adjacent et (iv) que la présence d’une bordure pérenne au voisinage d’une culture favorise le maintien et le fonctionnement de plusieurs espèces consommatrices de graines d’adventices dans la mosaïque agricole. / Promoting biological pest control in crops requires to understand the functioning of natural enemies in heterogeneous and dynamic agricultural mosaics. This thesis focuses on the study of the determinants that influence the abundance of ground beetles involved in the regulation of weeds via the consumption of their seeds. In an analysis of the variations of species abundance at a national scale we identified the respective role of local and landscape factors and showed that oilseed rape and grassland proportions in the landscape were key determinants of the abundance of carabid species in cultivated fields. We then studied carabid communities through combined measured of their abundance, nutritional status and between-habitat movements, during an entire cropping season, in pairs of habitats consisting in winter oilseed rape fields with either a crop (winter cereal fields) or a semi-natural habitat (grassy field margins) as adjacent habitat. We demonstrated that (i) ground beetles respond to the heterogeneity of arable mosaic (crop type, habitat quality within the same crop type), often with specific responses, (ii) winter oilseed rape plays an important role in the functioning of weed seed-eating carabid species due to its high habitat quality, (iii) variations in habitat quality can influence the movement of beetles to the adjacent habitat and (iv) the presence of a grassy field margin in the vicinity of a crop promotes the maintenance and functioning of several species in arable mosaics.