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The Canadian supply managed dairy sector is likely to face more competitive pressure from challenges through the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the changing global trade environment. Therefore, it is highly prudent for Canadian dairy producers to focus their concern on their level of competitiveness and how to improve it. This study investigated the competitiveness of Ontario dairy sector based on a sample of farm level data with a Box-Cox transformed econometric cost model. The data were gathered by the Ontario Dairy Farm Accounting Project, for the years 2005, 2006, and 2007. The impacts of output, yield per cow and several farm-specific characteristics on the average cost of milk production were examined. Results support the presence of significant size economies and yield economies within Ontario milk production. Minimum costs were achieved for farms with approximately 125 cows. The results also indicated that some farm-specific characteristics, breed and region, also had significant impacts on the cost of Ontario milk production. However, it appears that Ontario farms may find it difficult to survive if they are forced to face international competition. Even at their minimum, average costs were above an indicator international dairy price.

Data were collected on 24 traits to characterize and classify 35 white floury corn (Zea mays L.) landraces collected on native reserves in Ontario. Several landrace x landrace and landrace x inbred crosses were evaluated. Test crosses were made to determine whether the landraces carry the floury-l (fl$ sb1$) allele. Most traits examined exhibited considerable variation among the landraces. Variation was also observed within many of the landraces for ear and cob colour, for endosperm texture and row number. The landraces were grouped into 10 clusters by centroid clustering analysis. Significant heterosis over the mid-parent value was observed in the crosses among landraces. Some crosses between landraces and inbreds yielded more than either parent. Crossing the landraces with the inbreds improved some agronomic characteristics, but disrupted some of the ear characteristics of the landraces. The floury factor responsible for the characteristic endosperm texture of the IAPO landraces was identified as being the dosage dependent fl$ sb1$.

This study investigated the relationship between flood duration of beaver ponds in eastern Ontario and their productivity for waterfowl. The primary objective was to assess the effect of removing water from a beaver pond for one year had on the subsequent productivity of the wetland. Productivity was estimated by sampling water chemistry, standing crops of aquatic invertebrates, vertebrates, algae and vegetation composition and distribution in naturally occurring and managed beaver ponds of varying ages during 1994 and 1995. Three ponds in each of the following categories were sampled; managed ponds reflooded in 1993, managed ponds reflooded in 1991, naturally occurring beaver ponds reflooded in 1992-93, and naturally occurring old flood ponds ($>$5 years old). / Results from this study indicate that beaver pond productivity is negatively affected by flooding duration. Removal of a portion of the beaver dam on old flood ponds may be an effective means of rejuvenating the wetland. Positive effects on the productivity of the wetland should be realized for several years after reflood. Variability in results indicates that other environmental variables were also affecting the overall productivity of beaver ponds. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Subsurface peat decomposition, through CO2 production, was analyzed in laboratory and field experiments in a bog, poor fen, and beaver pond margin at Mer Bleue, Ottawa. Intact core samples in 10 cm depth intervals from 5--45 cm below the surface of each site were incubated in the laboratory. Treatments involved aerobic and anaerobic conditions at 4 and 14°C. Field measurements of CO2 flux were made by a static chamber technique. / Incubation results indicate modelled CO2 surface fluxes differ amongst wetlands. Aerobic CO2 modelled surface fluxes at 4°C were 2.3, 3.1 and 4.2 g CO2 m-2 d-1 for the bog, the beaver pond margin, and the poor fen, respectively. On average, aerobic production rates from peat cores with field moisture conditions were 11.7 times larger than anaerobic production rates. A mean Q10 of 2.3 defined the role of temperature. Differences among the peat samples were related to degree of decomposition, and differences among the sites were related to trophic status and nutrient availability. / A model of CO2 production was constructed and validated against field fluxes of CO2. The model provides a good prediction (r 2 = 0.72) of subsurface peat decomposition. The results suggest that warmer peat temperatures and lowered water tables, as predicted by climate change scenarios, will increase surface CO2 fluxes due to peat decomposition.

This study investigates the land-use patterns of the Iroquoian populations that occupied south-central Ontario during the Late Woodland period. Its initial objective is to understand their cultural ecology as reflected in the placement of their semi-permanent settlements over time. Its ultimate goal is to ascertain how environmental change and ecological adaptation contributed to culture change and particularly to the historical development of these populations and their long-term settlement shift from the north shore of Lake Ontario to Huronia and Petunia. / The theoretical guide for this study is the premise that an understanding of culture change can only be achieved by considering evolutionary sequences in all their particularistic complexity, taking into account both generalizations about human behaviour and contingent influences. The methodological guide is the concept of multidimensional constraint, the idea that human behaviour is the rational negotiation of objectives that are constrained by both internal and external parameters operating in a nested series of contexts. These principles are used to develop a methodology utilizing detailed environmental description, summary statistics, and careful evaluation and interpretation to investigate correlations between settlement locations and environmental features at the local, regional, and pan-regional scales. The overall objective is a well-grounded explanatory narrative outlining the multiple dimensions of constraint that influenced Late Woodland settlement in south-central Ontario. / The ensuing investigations yield numerous insights into Iroquoian cultural ecology and illustrate the complexity of the long-term settlement shift. In broad outline, it involves an initial phase of settlement, indicating continuity with the Middle Woodland period, an expansion phase, involving the occupation of analogous physiographic zones throughout south-central Ontario, and a final contraction phase, involving coalescence into the uplands of northern Simcoe County. At the local and regional scales, these phases involve slightly different adaptive strategies over time and space, influenced by constraints that included community population size, intensifying food production, temporal and spatial climatic variation, foraging logistics, changing distributions of natural resources, and geo-politics. These results demonstrate the adaptive capacity of these Iroquoian populations, confirm the efficacy of the methodological approach, and establish an ecological context for future investigations dealing with the social aspects of Late Woodland culture change in South-central Ontario.

In 1995 the Government of Ontario introduced reforms that significantly changed the way welfare was delivered in the province. Welfare rates were cut and benefits became conditional on recipients participating in a workfare programme called Ontario Works. These reforms ignore women's responsibility for child care. Single mothers and their children will be the group most affected by these changes. Single mothers are interviewed about how these changes have affected them, with particular attention to their experiences with the Ontario Works programme and its impact on their ability to care for their children.

This study concerns Paleo-Indian behaviour and culture history in the central Great Lakes region. More than 15 sites and numerous loci associated with Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene societies in southwestern Ontario are reported. These are organized into archaeological complexes and their interpretation is synthesized into a broader understanding of early occupations in the Northeast. / Complexes are defined by projectile point typology and substantiated by other technological traits and patterns of lithic raw material utilization. Early (fluted point associated) Paleo-Indian complexes are, in suggested chronological order, Gainey, Parkhill, and Crowfield. Late Paleo-Indian complexes are Holcombe and Madina. All date between 11 000 and 10 000 B.P. according to geological considerations, pollen dating, and comparisons to dated materials elsewhere. / Seasonal rounds of resource exploitation within broad territorial ranges are suggested for Gainey and Parkhill populations. Commodity exchange involving particular implement categories provides evidence of band interaction. Mortuary practices and religious beliefs are suggested by possible cremation burials at the Crowfield site. Other significant behavioural patterns are revealed through inter- and intra-site analyses.

This study is an examination of frontier movement and economic development in a portion of the Canadian Shield--Northeastern Ontario--in the period from 1850 to 1914. The process of frontier advance is examined with reference to five key elements: (1) the nature and distribution of resources; (2) external economic and cultural forces; (3) technological change, with emphasis on transportation developments; (4) public policy; and (5) entrepreneurship. The interrelationships of these factors are analysed to explain the spatial distribution of settlement and frontier-core interaction in the Nipissing Lowlands, the Algoma-Sudbury district, and the Timiskaming area. Significant changes occurred in both the process and pattern of frontier advance. The direction of movement in the nineteenth century was foreshadowed by the earlier fur trade, which was followed in some areas by logging and subsidiary agriculture. Inward movements of people and frontier-core interaction were oriented toward Montreal via the Ottawa Valley transportation linkages. In the twentieth century, northward extension of the railway system from southern Ontario gave rise to a dynamic mining frontier. A strong north-south interaction emerged, contrasting with the earlier east-west pattern. Northeastern Ontario, at first almost wholly within the sphere of influence of Montreal, had become part of the economic and cultural hinterland of Toronto by 1914. By 1914 there was established a pattern of land occupance which is still strongly in evidence at present. It was characterized by a high degree of nucleation and a linear orientation of settlement along transportation corridors. The distribution of population and the location of economic activity were usually influenced by the distribution of resources, ease of access, and the presence or absence of government stimulus, entrepreneurial skill, and capital. Economic development was (and still is) based predominantly on the extraction and processing of natural resources for consumption outside the region. Frontier-core interaction was characterized by outbound movements of commodities such as furs, minerals, and wood, either unprocessed or in various stages of manufacture. The introduction of resource-processing industries depended on whether there was less cost to the external consuming area, and to some extent on public policy. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

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