Thesis (doctoral)--Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 2003. / Appendix includes reproductions of five papers and manuscripts, some co-authored with others. Includes bibliographical references. Also issued electronically via World Wide Web in PDF format; online version lacks appendix of papers.

Thesis (Ph. D., Natural Resources)--University of Idaho, May 2009. / Major professor: Lisette P. Waits. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online (PDF file) by subscription or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (M.S.)--Dalhousie University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-73).

Thesis (M. Env. Des.)--University of Calgary, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 36-40).

Research is presented that evaluates a semi-passive treatment system for remediation of contaminated groundwater with elevated dissolved metal concentrations, including selenium and sulphate, at the Wolverine Mine, Yukon. Laboratory up-flow columns were used to treat simulated mine impacted waters. Five columns were filled with varying compositions of gravel and creek substrate organics, and were un-amended or amended with manure, sewage sludge, zero-valent iron, or wood chips and alfalfa. Selenium, sulphate and other parameters of concern were lowered in column effluents, most effectively by the control column and by the columns amended with sewage sludge. Column effluent metal and sulphate concentrations provided evidence that co-precipitation, adsorption and microbially mediated redox reactions were the predominant biogeochemical mechanisms operating within the columns. Based on this research, recommendations are made to further the design of a semi-passive treatment system that may be installed at the mine site upon closure.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2006. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

Over the past decades, wolverines in Sweden have made a recovery from near extinction to recolonization large part of their historic range. Effective conservation of large carnivores, which inhabit extensive territories, necessitates adaptative management that considers the diverse ecological and societal factors spanning their entire range. This report contributes to our understanding of wolverines in the southern periphery of their recolonized area, focusing on their scavenging behaviour. I utilize data from 14 wolverines, tracked with GPS-collars in Värmland, Dalarna and Jämtland over five years (2018-2022). The monitoring covered 19 three-week periods, during spring, early summer, and autumn. My thesis focusses on the wolverine’s utilization of two type of scavenging sites: anthropogenic food resources and carcasses from wild ungulates. The results show that females exhibit higher visit frequencies to both types of scavenging sites during spring and summer, but this difference diminishes in autumn when males visit scavenging sites more frequently than in other seasons. Anthropogenic feeding sites had more visits during autumn, compared to wild carcasses, whereas wild carcasses are more commonly utilized in spring and summer. The presence of large predators influences wolverine scavenging behavior, as evidenced by shorter visits to feeding sites in Jämtland (with high bear density) compared to Värmland and Dalarna. Nevertheless, these low-conflict areas have all benefited wolverines by increasing their reproductive rate, offering hope for the ongoing recolonization. Moreover, my results show that human activities in this region can have a positive impact on wolverines, by acting as and apex predator providing a stable food source, which should further facilitate recolonization success.

In the face of an expanding global human footprint, mammalian carnivores have become vulnerable to the effects of large-scale landscape change. Throughout North America, wide-ranging terrestrial carnivores have experienced significant species declines and range retractions. Understanding the complex and interacting effects of human-caused habitat disturbance on highly mobile species remains an ongoing challenge for ecologists. To address these challenges, studies commonly select a focal species to examine the adverse effects of human disturbance. Due to the paucity of multi-species study, little is yet known about the relative role interspecific interactions play within communities of carnivores in human-altered systems. In an effort to address this knowledge gap, I examined occurrence patterns of one species known to be sensitive to human disturbance – the wolverine – and compared occurrence patterns among multiple carnivores across a gradient of increasing human land use within a rugged and heterogeneous landscape in the Canadian Rocky Mountains of Alberta. I surveyed carnivore occurrence by combining remote camera trapping and non-invasive genetic tagging. Using a systematic grid based design, medium to large sized carnivores were detected over an area approximately 15,000km2. Consistent with the literature, I found wolverines to be less likely to occur outside of protected areas boundaries and with increasing human-caused landscape disturbance. Contrary to recent climate-focused hypotheses, the spatial pattern of wolverine occurrence was best explained by cumulative effects. When modeling multiple carnivore occurrence across this spatial gradient of human land use, no generality in response was observed. However, a consistent and distinct dissimilarity in response to natural and anthropogenic landscape features was found between wolverine and coyote. The patterns of occurrence led me to infer that habitat condition in the more human-altered systems found along eastern slopes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains is less suitable for some more sensitive species and benefits more human-adapted species. I further hypothesized that an indirect and additive effect of human disturbance is increased interspecific competition between co-occurring carnivores that differentially respond to changes in habitat condition. My results emphasize that by broadening our scope to investigate both single and multiple species, ecologists and managers may better understand the full suite of factors influencing current and future distribution patterns. / Graduate / heimnikki@gmail.com

Mass loss of alpine glaciers presently account for about half of the cryospheric contribution to the global sea-level rise. Mass balance of alpine glaciers has predominantly been monitored by; (1) glaciological and hydrological methods, and (2) satellite gravimetric methods using data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission. However, the former can be logistically costly and have large extrapolation errors: measurements taken at monthly temporal scales are expensive and have a spatial resolution of roughly one kilometer. The latter provides monthly mass-balance estimates of aggregates of alpine glaciers, although the spatial resolution (~300 km) is far too coarse for assessing individual glaciers’ mass balance. Ground-based, time-lapse microgravity measurements can potentially overcome some of the disadvantages of the glaciological, hydrological, and satellite gravitational methods for assessing mass changes and their spatial distribution on a single glacier. Gravity models were utilized to predict the gravity signals of the summer-time mass balance, changes in the seasonal snow cover outside of the glacier, and the vertical gravity gradient (VGG) needed for the free-air correction on Wolverine Glacier, AK. The modeled gravity signal of the summer-time mass balance (average of -0.237 mGal) is more than an order of magnitude larger than the uncertainty of conventional relative gravimeters (±0.007 mGal). Therefore, modeling predict that the time-lapse gravitational method could detect the summer-time mass balance on Wolverine Glacier. The seasonal snow effect was shown to have the greatest influence (~ -0.15 mGal) on the outer 100 m boundary of the glacier and minimal effect (~ -0.02 mGal) towards the center, both larger than the uncertainty of relative gravimeters. The VGG has a positive deviation, about -0.1 to -0.2 mGal/m, from the normal VGG (-0.309 mGal/m). Thus, seasonal snow effect and VGG need to be correctly accounted for when processing gravity measurements to derive the residual gravity signal of the glacier mass balance. Accurate measurements of elevation changes, seasonal snow depth, and the VGG should be performed in future gravity surveys of glaciers. / Geology

Abstract Rare and elusive species are difficult to study, because they are usually secretive, solitary, occur at low densities and have large home ranges. Wolverines (Gulo gulo) can both hunt and scavenge for food. In Fennoscandia, wolverines co-exist with either wild or semi-domesticated reindeer, which constitute their most important winter food. Approximately half of the 180–220 Finnish wolverines are found in northern Finland within the reindeer management area. However, the other half of the population is distributed in eastern and central Finland, and the ecology of wolverines especially in this area is poorly known. This research examined the habitat selection, diet and population genetics of wolverines in northern and eastern Finland. The results suggest that wolf presence is one of the most important variables influencing the habitat selection of wolverines. This finding supports the speculative idea that wolverines might benefit from being sympatric with wolves through increased scavenging opportunities. Furthermore, both the reproductive status of wolverines and the availability of different prey items were found to affect the wolverine diet. In northern Finland, semi-domesticated reindeer and mountain hare were the most frequently utilized prey species for breeding female wolverines. In eastern Finland, the most important food source for breeding females was moose carrion, whereas males and non-breeding females heavily utilized mountain hares. These results support the predictions of the optimal foraging theory, suggesting that wolverines opportunistically utilize the food source that is most energy-efficiently available. In areas with a low density of medium-sized ungulates, scavenging of wolf- and human-killed carrion plays an essential role in food acquisition by wolverines. According to the results of a population genetics investigation, two wolverine subpopulations exist in Finland: a northern and an eastern one. The overall genetic variability was found to be low, and signs of a recent population bottleneck were detected in both populations. It is likely that the wolverine populations in Finland would benefit from improved connectivity between them, but also with neighbouring populations in Scandinavia and north-eastern Russia. / Tiivistelmä Ahma (Gulo gulo) tunnetaan sekä haaskansyöjänä että keskikokoisia hirvieläimiä ja pienriistaa saalistavana petona. Fennoskandian alueella peuran kesy tai villi muoto on ahman merkittävin saalislaji. Noin puolet Suomen 180–220 ahmasta elää Pohjois-Suomessa poronhoitoalueella, ja loput Itä- ja Keski-Suomessa. Poronhoitoalueen ulkopuolella elävien ahmojen ekologiaa on tutkittu erityisen vähän. Väitöstyössäni tarkastelin ahman habitaatinvalintaa, ruokavaliota ja populaatiogenetiikkaa pääasiassa Pohjois- ja Itä-Suomen alueilla. Tutkimukseni tulokset osoittivat, että suden läheisyys oli yksi tärkeimmistä ahman habitaatinvalintaan vaikuttavista tekijöistä. Tämä havainto tukee hypoteesia, jonka mukaan ahma saattaisi hyötyä susien läheisyydestä suuremman haaskatiheyden ansiosta. Todennäköisesti ahmat elävät mielellään samoilla seuduilla susien kanssa, mutta kaihtavat läheistä kanssakäymistä välttääkseen killansisäisen saalistuksen. Tutkimusteni perusteella sekä ahman lisääntymistila että alueen saaliseläinten saatavuus vaikuttivat ahman ruokavalioon. Poro ja metsäjänis olivat lisääntyvien ahmanaaraiden tärkein ravintokohde Pohjois-Suomessa. Itä-Suomessa merkittävin lisääntyvien naaraiden ravintokohde oli hirvi, jota ahmat hyödyntävät lähinnä haaskojen muodossa, mutta urokset ja ei-lisääntyvät naaraat sen sijaan saalistivat eniten metsäjänistä. Ahmat siis näyttävät hyödyntävän opportunistisesti sitä ravintokohdetta, joka kullakin alueella on energiatehokkainta saavuttaa. Susien ja ihmisten jälkeensä jättämät haaskat ovat merkittävä ravintolähde ahmoille alueilla, joilla keskikokoisten hirvieläinten tiheydet ovat alhaisia. Ahman populaatiogeneettinen tutkimus osoitti, että Suomen ahmat ovat geneettisesti jakautuneet kahteen alapopulaatioon, pohjoiseen ja itäiseen. Ahmakannan geneettinen monimuotoisuus oli pientä, ja molemmissa alapopulaatiossa oli nähtävissä merkkejä äskettäisestä pullonkaulailmiöstä. Populaatioiden välisen geenivirran määrän tulisi olla nykyistä korkeampi, jotta ahmakannan elinvoimaisuuden voisi katsoa olevan turvattu tulevaisuudessa.