THE DISTRIBUTION OF DERMACENTOR TICKS IN CANADA IN RELATION TO BIOCLIMATIC ZONES

1967 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 517-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. R. Wilkinson

Dermacentor andersoni has been collected north of Jasper, Alberta, close to 54° N. and near 53° N. in British Columbia. Spread to the north and northwest is probably limited by low summer soil temperatures, which would act principally by slowing egg development, thus disrupting the seasonal cycle of the tick. To the southwest, mild winters may fail to release diapause at the correct time of year. Aspect and slope are important factors. Altitude spread of records is from 1000–7000 ft. The most generally applicable description of its distribution is the ecotone between western grassland and moister regions, including clearings and rocky outcrops m the montane and Columbia forests, and shrubby areas of the prairies. In British Columbia, a series of randomly selected transects indicated a strong association between the tick's presence and several species of shrubs growing without tree shade.Each bioclimatic zone tends to have a characteristic group of rodents as main hosts of the immature stages. The prairie and montane regions differ in the indigenous hosts available to the adult tick.East of 105° D. andersoni is replaced by D. variabilis, which is adapted to the more humid summers of the eastern deciduous forest zones, and differs considerably from D. andersoni in its phenology. There are no reliable records of indigenous D. variabilis north of 52° latitude.D. albipictus occurs from the east to the west coast. Because of the winter activity of its larvae, allowing the whole summer for egg development, it is able to penetrate much farther north than the other two species. There are two records close to 60° latitude.

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 197-214
Author(s):  
Jason T. Bried

Inland sand areas scattered across the North American eastern deciduous forest and western tallgrass prairie ecotone are known for supporting pyrogenic early-successional vegetation and specially adapted terrestrial faunas. Many of these globally and regionally rare systems contain functionally connected wetland networks (“wetscapes”) potentially important for aquatic insects. Sampling adults, nymphs, and exuviae in a remnant sand prairie-savanna wetscape in Illinois, USA, I assessed odonate species diversity (alpha, gamma, beta), distributions (spatial, temporal, abundance), and rarity status. In one field season (12 sites, 12 visits) I found more than a third of Illinois odonate species and close to half of the state’s lentic breeding odonates, including a new state record (Erythemis vesiculosa). Richness averaged 25.8 species per site, reducing to 12.4 species with removal of nonbreeding occurrences. Three sites including a shrub swamp, beaver pond, and forested vernal depressions complex made significant contributions to beta diversity, dependent on general versus breeding occurrences. Majorities of Anisoptera species (70%) and Zygoptera species (53%) bred at three or fewer sites. Eight species flew during all or most of the study period (late May to early October) whereas 14 species were detected on a si ngle survey. Status classification derived from the observed spatial, temporal, and abundance distributions resulted in 24 common or very common species, 20 uncommon or rare species, and 10 vagrants across the wetscape. These context-specific classifications may be combined with diversity and breeding patterns and other information in wetscape prioritization schemes.


1972 ◽  
Vol 29 (12) ◽  
pp. 1717-1723 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. S. Ketchen

Information on the biology of dogfish in British Columbia waters, none of it previously reported, is compared with similar information from other areas of the North Pacific as well as the North Atlantic.Males and females on both sides of the Pacific have an approximate maximum size of 100 and 130 cm, respectively, or at least 10 cm greater than in the North Atlantic. Females in the North Pacific mature at an average length of 92–100 cm depending on region, as compared to 77–82 cm in the North Atlantic. Males likewise mature at a larger size in the North Pacific.Observations in Canadian west coast waters show a weak correlation between number of embryos and length of the mother (r = 0.57).Female dogfish produce 2–17 young with an average of 6–7 in the North Pacific off the British Columbia coast; 3–25, averaging 12 in the Sea of Japan; 1–9, averaging 4 in the northwest Atlantic; and 1–10, averaging 3–5 in the northeast Atlantic. Size at birth is about the same throughout the northern hemisphere being between 23 and 30 cm with an average of 25–27 cm.Intrauterine growth rate is essentially the same in all regions, but at any given time of year differences is size are substantial and are determined largely by differences in time of conception.


2013 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank F. Mallory ◽  
Rebecca A. Carter ◽  
Jenny L. Fortier ◽  
I. Stuart Kenn ◽  
Linsay Weis ◽  
...  

Recent evidence suggests that the Cougar (Puma concolor) has returned to New Brunswick, Quebec, Manitoba, and Ontario. An abundance of sightings have been reported for many decades throughout south-central Ontario, but genetic confirmation has been confounded by a lack of carcasses or DNA. In this paper, we identify (1) genetic evidence of a single Cougar in the wild of Ontario, (2) a gene (cytochrome b) and methodology to distinguish the Cougar from other mammals in Ontario using scats, hair follicles, and soft and hard tissue, and (3) a gene that can distinguish individual Cougars from each other and would distinguish populations of subspecies if they exist in Ontario. Potential Cougar scats and other tissue samples were collected from across Ontario, and hair snares baited with catnip and carnivore lure were placed in locations where Cougar sightings were frequent, near Sudbury, Ontario. We analyzed samples for mtDNA, and one scat sample from the Wainfleet Bog Conservation Area, Port Colborne, Ontario, was positive for Cougar. Evidence from archeological data and Cougar sightings suggests that the historical range of Cougars extended in Ontario from the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Ecotone south, primarily associated with the Eastern Deciduous Forest Biome and the primary prey of the Cougar, the White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and the North American Elk (Cervus elaphus). The data suggest that Cougar distribution has moved north in recent times due to clear-cutting, along with their primary prey. Further studies of Cougar presence in the province are warranted.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Y Frommel ◽  
Justin Carless ◽  
Brian P V Hunt ◽  
Colin J Brauner

Abstract Pacific salmon stocks are in decline with climate change named as a contributing factor. The North Pacific coast of British Columbia is characterized by strong temporal and spatial heterogeneity in ocean conditions with upwelling events elevating CO2 levels up to 10-fold those of pre-industrial global averages. Early life stages of pink salmon have been shown to be affected by these CO2 levels, and juveniles naturally migrate through regions of high CO2 during the energetically costly phase of smoltification. To investigate the physiological response of out-migrating wild juvenile pink salmon to these naturally occurring elevated CO2 levels, we captured fish in Georgia Strait, British Columbia and transported them to a marine lab (Hakai Institute, Quadra Island) where fish were exposed to one of three CO2 levels (850, 1500 and 2000 μatm CO2) for 2 weeks. At ½, 1 and 2 weeks of exposure, we measured their weight and length to calculate condition factor (Fulton’s K), as well as haematocrit and plasma [Cl−]. At each of these times, two additional stressors were imposed (hypoxia and temperature) to provide further insight into their physiological condition. Juvenile pink salmon were largely robust to elevated CO2 concentrations up to 2000 μatm CO2, with no mortality or change in condition factor over the 2-week exposure duration. After 1 week of exposure, temperature and hypoxia tolerance were significantly reduced in high CO2, an effect that did not persist to 2 weeks of exposure. Haematocrit was increased by 20% after 2 weeks in the CO2 treatments relative to the initial measurements, while plasma [Cl−] was not significantly different. Taken together, these data indicate that juvenile pink salmon are quite resilient to naturally occurring high CO2 levels during their ocean outmigration.


2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Brown ◽  
Henry Davis ◽  
Michael Schwan ◽  
Barbara Sennott

Gitksan (git) is an Interior Tsimshianic language spoken in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is closely related to Nisga'a, and more distantly related to Coast Tsimshian and Southern Tsimshian. The specific dialect of Gitksan presented here is what can be called Eastern Gitksan, spoken in the villages of Kispiox (Ansbayaxw), Glen Vowell (Sigit'ox), and Hazelton (Git-an'maaxs), which contrasts with the Western dialects, spoken in the villages of Kitwanga (Gitwingax), Gitanyow (Git-anyaaw), and Kitseguecla (Gijigyukwhla). The primary phonological differences between the dialects are a lexical shift in vowels and the presence of stop lenition in the Eastern dialects. While there exists a dialect continuum, the primary cultural and political distinction drawn is between Eastern and Western Gitksan. For reference, Gitksan is bordered on the west by Nisga'a, in the south by Coast Tsimshian and Witsuwit'en, in the east by Dakelh and Sekani, and in the north by Tahltan (the latter four of these being Athabaskan languages).


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document