There's always a better way: The application of eDNA to effectively assess biodiversity

Our ecosystem monitoring methodologies focus on data collection for reporting purposes that may not serve to identify the systematic causes of ecological change. Managers need precise and timely information at appropriate scales to build ecosystem resilience. Traditional species detection methodologies offer little information when species abundance are low, especially in large water ecosystems such as the Great Lakes. Species not found during monitoring doesn’t necessarily mean that species are absent. Moreover, even if a change in the ecosystem is detected, it is often not possible to determine its cause at a spatiotemporal scale or a trophic cascade level. As a result, we often find ourselves being reactive in our mitigation measures. Before irreversible change occurs, we must be guided by a better understanding of the actual ecological landscape which Environmental DNA (eDNA) may help provide. eDNA is a potential tool to effectively overcome traditional species survey limitations currently in use at many Parks Canada sites (Supplemental file 1). As various organisms interact with the environment, DNA is expelled and accumulates in their surroundings. Such samples can be analyzed by high-throughput DNA sequencing methods for rapid measurement and monitoring of biodiversity. Access to this genetic information makes a critical contribution to the understanding of population size, species distribution, and population dynamics for species not well documented. Despite the increasing use of eDNA in conservation practice, it requires further methodological improvement for greater influence on management decisions. The tool requires standardized protocols based on site-specific covariates and objectives. We’re working to tackle the challenge with 2 objectives: (1) to combine traditional biomonitoring knowledge and metagenomics to further develop eDNA as a reliable sampling tool for Parks Canada and (2) to support site-specific monitoring objectives for species-at-risk, invasive species, aquatic species inventories, and/or culturally significant species. The overall goal is to increase our capacity to make more informed, timely, regionally-coordinated conservation decisions through the rapid and sensitive species detection methods offered by eDNA.

Railway mortality for several mammal species increases with train speed, proximity to water, and track curvature

Railways are a major source of direct mortality for many populations of large mammals, but they have been less studied or mitigated than roads. We evaluated temporal and spatial factors affecting mortality risk using 646 railway mortality incidents for 11 mammal species collected over 24 years throughout Banff and Yoho National Parks, Canada. We divided species into three guilds (bears, other carnivores, and ungulates), compared site attributes of topography, land cover, and train operation between mortality and paired random locations at four spatial scales, and described temporal patterns or mortality. Mortality risk increased across multiple guilds and spatial scales with maximum train speed and higher track curvature, both suggesting problems with train detection, and in areas with high proximity to and amount of water, both suggesting limitations to animal movement. Mortality risk was also correlated, but more varied among guilds and spatial scales, with shrub cover, topographic complexity, and proximity to sidings and roads. Seasonally, mortality rates were highest in winter for ungulates and other carnivores, and in late spring for bears, respectively. Our results suggest that effective mitigation could address train speed or detectability by wildlife, especially at sites with high track curvature that are near water or attractive habitat.

Interplay and Cooperation in Environmental Conservation: Building Capacity and Responsive Institutions Within and Beyond the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, Canada

Although protected areas (PAs) have become pivotal components in the pursuit of environmental sustainability, they have had mixed success in achieving environmental goals, in part due to internal factors such as governance design and insufficient ability to operate within, and connect to, wider social, economic, and institutional frameworks. A growing body of scholarship reveals that there are fundamental mismatches between rhetoric and practice in state-driven “participatory” conservation, and that state–community cooperation is extremely challenging. This study draws on data from qualitative research on institutions and interactions in conservation planning and management to examine factors influencing collaboration between Parks Canada and Nuu-chah-nulth communities adjacent to the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. We consider the evolution of policies, institutional arrangements, state-community interactions, and socio-cultural and legal frameworks within which state-led conservation takes place to assess progress in multilevel cooperation. We found that despite differences in degrees of authority and decision-making power, and a land tenure framework that favors the state, there is a shift from domination toward negotiation in the interplay between the federal government and grassroots actors. That shift is linked to the recognition of First Nations’ ancestral tenure and custodianship, and the particularities of grassroots and state leadership. The findings suggest significant progress in sustaining the PA as a multilevel effort, and that cooperation in conservation helps all parties to build capacity for environmental stewardship beyond the PA and to fashion conservation institutions that are responsive to changing social–ecological conditions.

Co-management of Traditional Foods: Opportunities and Limitations for Food Security in Northern First Nation Communities

Traditional foods that First Nations peoples harvest or gather from the land remain critically important for achieving and sustaining food security for many communities. In Canada’s North, land claim agreements include provisions for First Nations to participate in the governance of their traditional territories, including the co-management of important traditional (wild-harvested) food species. Because such agreements only specify the broad contours of co-management governance, their actual functioning evolves out of a complex interplay among the co-managing organizations over the course of time. This paper aims to deepen our understanding of how First Nations communities can enhance food security as participants in co-management. Our study connects research on food security with research on co-management and is the first to analyze how First Nations can improve their food security by influencing decision-making that affects traditional foods through co-management arrangements. Following a succinct review of the Indigenous food security and co-management literatures, we analyze the experiences of Kluane First Nation in enhancing community food security through the co-management of its traditional territory with Yukon Government and Parks Canada, interpreting the data in light of the theories and evidences offered by research on co-management. The analysis of data collected from semi-structured interviews and from First Nations and government resources shows that, while the co-management system is imperfect, it does offer a mechanism through which First Nations can exert influence on decisions that affect their food security. The three key themes emerging from the excerpts confirm the importance of co-management as an evolutionary and long-term process, in which trust- and relationship-building are ongoing activities that are fundamental to beneficial collaboration involving the sharing of information and power. The analysis also highlights the role of context, or situational factors, in facilitating or hindering collaboration.

Multiple environmentalities and post-politicization in a Canadian Mountain Park

This research explores the centrality of multiple environmentalities at multiple scales in the post-politicization of conservation governance in Jasper National Park, Canada. Austerity politics in Canada contributed to the post-politicization of conservation as the interests of Parks Canada and private developers were brought into alignment in terms of increasing visitation and the revenue imperative. The Parks Canada Agency, under structural pressure, employed several post-political strategies to suture the space for dissensus and debate and orchestrate the appearance of consent for the private development and management of park services. Central to these strategies were multiple (sovereign, disciplinary, and neoliberal) environmentalities constructed at multiple scales by multiple actors (the federal government, the local parks department, and private sector interests) aimed at producing environmental subjects who understand and acquiesce to the idea that ‘there is no alternative’ to a privatized conservation practice. In response, opponents attempted to mobilize an alternative environmentality, combining a social democratic critique of neoliberalism with a Romantic vision of wilderness conservation. Although opponents enrolled a sizeable number of allies, they fell short of stabilizing a liberation environmentality as several underlying points of ‘agreement’ contributed to the stabilization of post-political discourse and practice, foreclosing alternative political economies of conservation.

Impacts of past and future coastal changes on the Yukon coast — threats for cultural sites, infrastructure, and travel routes

Yukon’s Beaufort coast, Canada, is a highly dynamic landscape. Cultural sites, infrastructure, and travel routes used by the local population are particularly vulnerable to coastal erosion. To assess threats to these phenomena, rates of shoreline change for a 210 km length of the coast were analyzed and combined with socioeconomic and cultural information. Rates of shoreline change were derived from aerial and satellite imagery from the 1950s, 1970s, 1990s, and 2011. Using these data, conservative (S1) and dynamic (S2) shoreline projections were constructed to predict shoreline positions for the year 2100. The locations of cultural features in the archives of a Parks Canada database, the Yukon Archaeological Program, and as reported in other literature were combined with projected shoreline position changes. Between 2011 and 2100, approximately 850 ha (S1) and 2660 ha (S2) may erode, resulting in a loss of 45% (S1) to 61% (S2) of all cultural features by 2100. The last large, actively used camp area and two nearshore landing strips will likely be threatened by future coastal processes. Future coastal erosion and sedimentation processes are expected to increasingly threaten cultural sites and influence travelling and living along the Yukon coast.