Effects of the Kenow wildfire on amphibian populations in Waterton Lakes National Park

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dc.contributor.authorHunter, Danial
dc.contributor.authorUniversity of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science
dc.contributor.supervisorLee-Yaw, Julie
dc.date.accessioned2023-01-25T19:20:02Z
dc.date.available2023-01-25T19:20:02Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.degree.levelMastersen_US
dc.description.abstractAs extreme events become more common, understanding how they impact wildlife populations, and imperiled wildlife populations in particular, is of heightened importance. In this thesis, I aimed to characterize how a very severe wildfire impacted amphibian populations in Waterton Lakes National Park in southwestern Alberta, Canada. In chapter one, I first reviewed the literature, highlighting gaps in our understanding of the impacts of wildfire on amphibian populations. I then conducted two studies to address a number of these gaps. Specifically, in chapter two, I investigated potential changes to breeding pond occupancy and species richness for four amphibian species in response to the Kenow wildfire. In chapter three of this thesis, I quantified changes to genetic diversity in long-toed salamanders using tissues collected in both burnt and unburnt parts of the park at time points spanning this severe wildfire. My results suggest that the Kenow wildfire did not have a major impact on amphibian occupancy in Waterton Lakes National Park. I further found that, although levels of genetic diversity changed for some sites across time points, the magnitude and direction of change varied considerably among sites, including among sites in both burnt and unburnt parts of the park. Altogether, these results suggest that the amphibian populations studied here were mostly unaffected by the wildfire. However, downward trends in occupancy and signatures of increased inbreeding for long-toed salamanders in the burn zone, highlight the need for continued monitoring of these populations and for evaluation of potential longer-term impacts of the Kenow wildfire on amphibians in the park.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipUniversity of Lethbridge School of Graduate Studies tuition scholarship to Danial Hunter Master of Science Coca-Cola Admission Scholarship to Danial Hunter Park's Canada Contribution (CG-1330) to Julie Lee-Yaw University of Lethbridge Research Fund (G00003675) to Julie Lee-Yaw Alberta Conservation Association Research Grant (030-00-90-304) to Julie Lee-Yaw Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant to Julie Lee-Yaw Revive and Restore grant to Julie Lee-Yawen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10133/6420
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.proquestyesNoen_US
dc.publisherLethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Biological Sciencesen_US
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Biological Sciencesen_US
dc.publisher.facultyArts and Scienceen_US
dc.relation.ispartofseriesThesis (University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science)en_US
dc.subjectOccupancyen_US
dc.subjectExtreme eventsen_US
dc.subjectLong-term monitoringen_US
dc.subjectGenetic diversityen_US
dc.subjectAmphibiansen_US
dc.subjectWildfireen_US
dc.subjectKenow wildfire
dc.subject.lcshWildfires--Alberta--Waterton Lakes National Park
dc.subject.lcshWildfires--Environmental aspects--Alberta--Waterton Lakes National Park
dc.subject.lcshAmphibians--Alberta--Waterton Lakes National Park
dc.subject.lcshDissertations, Academic
dc.titleEffects of the Kenow wildfire on amphibian populations in Waterton Lakes National Parken_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
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