In an attempt to describe, explain, and show the demographic significance of annual variations in the nesting distribution of Uinta ground squirrels, a study was conducted during the summers of 1964 through 1967 in northern Utah. Procedures included both trapping and direct observation. It was found that females tended to nest in open, previously inhabited, grassy areas. Males resided throughout a variety of habitats. This typical nesting distribution was established initially in the summer by juveniles shortly after they first appeared aboveground. The extent to which the distribution was maintained the following spring depended largely upon the number of female s which emerged from hibernation and the pattern in which they emerged. The number of females which appeared depended upon the previous year's breeding density and productivity. The pattern of emergence appeared to be a function of an inherent pattern of physiological arousal from hibernation and the prevailing weather conditions. The number and sequence of emergence of females in the early spring affected breeding and social organization in a manner which limited the number of females which retained residences in the study area. This determined the actual breeding density. In addition, emergence influenced the production of offspring by altering both the breeding density and the number of non-productive females in the population. The adaptive significance of the system and its applicability to other species are discussed.

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The Mackenzie Delta region, NWT, has a short growing season and highly seasonal climate, and brown bears (Ursus arctos) there face many challenges obtaining their nutritional requirements. Consumption of meat by brown bears is linked to increases in population density, fecundity, growth and body size. I examined the use of Arctic ground squirrels (Urocitellus parryii), and broad whitefish (Coregonus nasus) as meat sources by Mackenzie Delta brown bears. As a preliminary step, I built an Arctic ground squirrel habitat model, using field-surveyed ground squirrel burrow locations. Using this model, I examined bears selection for Arctic ground squirrel habitat as a population, by sex and as individuals, and linked this to results of stable isotope analysis and site investigations. Bears showed little evidence of Arctic ground squirrel use at the population and sex level, but some individual bears appeared to prey heavily on ground squirrels, particularly during hyperphagia. I also described observations of a brown bear using broad whitefish in autumn, and used telemetry locations to show that other bears may also feed heavily on broad whitefish during hyperphagia. My research provides prey-specific evidence for intrapopulation niche variation among Mackenzie Delta brown bears. / Ecology