RESEARCH
EFFECTS OF GLYPHOSATE ON WILDLIFE PHYSIOLOGY
Glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) are applied to control vegetation in forestry and agricultural practices. Although widely used, there is growing concern about the potential negative impacts of these chemicals. The Glyphosate Research on Forest Organisms and Wildlife Health (GROW) project is a comprehensive research initiative aimed at investigating the effects of Glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) on forest ecosystems and wildlife. This collaborative project involves many researchers and stakeholders, including the Plant Lab at UNBC led by Dr. Lisa Wood, the Swan River First Nation, the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation, and the British Columbia and Alberta Trappers Associations.
In the WEB Lab, students are contributing to the GROW project through their research on the effects of glyphosate on small mammal communities (mice and voles), examining changes in population dynamics and fecal hormone levels before and after glyphosate application (Yaelle Sarid-Segal). Additionally, investigating how glyphosate impacts mustelids (weasels and martens) by comparing hormone levels and body condition of specimens whose home ranges likely overlap with glyphosate-treated areas to those that do not (Kevin Petersen).
EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE ON WILDLIFE PHYSIOLOGY
Although wildlife have remarkable capacity to respond to environmental change, many species face complex stressors that may compromise their ability to persist. Our research aims to elucidate the responses of wildlife to environmental change using measures of physiology combined with landscape-level analyses and modeling. For example, our team is examining whether potential stressors, including habitat fragmentation and prescribed burning , influence physiology, nutrition, and immune function in moose (Carlie O'Brien & Carl-Evan Jefferies), Stone’s sheep (Westin Creyke & Alicia Woods), and caribou (Lauren Elviss). This work involves the use of existing data, field studies, and lab analyses.
PREDATOR-PREY DISEASE RESEARCH PROJECT
Predators play a key role in wildlife disease dynamics. For example, the ‘healthy herds’ hypothesis predicts that predators reduce parasite prevalence in prey through selective predation of infected individuals. However, predators can also amplify disease transmission by contributing to pathogen spread or persistence. Given different phenotypic targets, non-human predators and humans (i.e., hunters) might have divergent effects on disease transmission. Our team is investigating this question using literature reviews and modeling.
PARASITE-HOST INTERACTIONS
Currently, little is known about the relationship between parasite-host interactions and anthropogenic landscape change such as habitat fragmentation and road density. Our team is using the ungulate-winter tick (Dermacentor albipictus) system to study the effects of anthropogenic landscape change on parasite-host interactions. Landscape structure could influence tick transmission by affecting the survival rates of larval stages in the environment and/or through effects on ungulate foraging decisions and movements. For instance, fragmentation might concentrate animals into smaller areas of suitable habitat, thereby facilitating tick transmission. Forest stand age can also influence the presence of ungulate winter tick larvae. We have been studying this by performing tick drags throughout the fall in young cutblocks, middle-aged stands, and older, mature stands (Tlell Schreiner).
THE MUSKWA-KECHIKA MANAGEMENT AREA (M-KMA)
The Muskwa-Kechika Management Area spans 6.4 million hectares in northern British Columbia, which is nearly twice the size of Vancouver Island. The Management Area is situated on the traditional territories of the Kaska Dena, Treaty 8, and Carrier-Sekani Nations and is commonly referred to as the ‘Serengeti of the North’ due to an abundance of large mammals. The purpose of the Management Area is to maintain wilderness values, wildlife, ecosystems, and cultures that exist in the region through an innovative management system that allows for sustainable resource development. As part of the governance system of the M-KMA, an Advisory Board comprising members representing diverse perspectives was established to provide the government of British Columbia with advice on management.
Since 1999, the University of Northern British Columbia has partnered with the Advisory Board to support research in the M-KMA. Dr. Katherine Parker was the Ian McTaggart Cowan Muskwa-Kechika Research Professor at UNBC until 2019. Since Dr. Parker’s retirement, Dr. Bryan has been appointed to this position. Current research in our lab related to the M-KMA focuses on examining the effects of prescribed burns on Stone’s sheep health and populations (Collaboration with Alicia Woods, Ridgeline Wildlife Enhancement and the Wild Sheep Society of BC), the use of coarse woody debris by small mammals (Led by Alice Tew, Collaboration with the Halfway River First Nation and Cara Snell, UNBC), and the effects of forest fragmentation on mammalian diversity (led by Josh Green, collaboration with Chu Cho Environmental and the Tsay Keh Dene Nation.