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I investigated biodiversity of birds and vegetation associations along the boreal-tundra ecotone in Ivvavik National Park, Yukon Territory, and breeding adaptations used by American Robins (Turdus migratorius) at high latitudes. Twenty bird species were detected over three years using point-count surveys. Densities of American Robin, Dark-eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis), and Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata) had positive relationships with tree and shrub density, whereas density of White-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) was negatively related to tree density. American Robins at this latitude raised only one brood, but females laid slightly larger clutches, the young fledged earlier, and pairs experienced higher nest-success than American Robins at more southerly latitudes. American Robins selected nest sites with high vegetation volume, at both the nest-site, and the nest-patch. This study is important for the first description of the bird community at this high latitude location, and describing how a species at the northern limit of the boreal forest has adapted to living with short-breeding seasons.

Author Keywords: American Robin, Ivvavik National Park, Life History, Nest-stie selection, Northern limit

The typical contrast mechanism employed in multimodal CARS microscopy involves the use of other nonlinear imaging modalities such as two-photon excitation fluorescence (TPEF) microscopy and second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy to produce a molecule-specific pseudocolor image. In this work, I explore the use of unsupervised multivariate statistical analysis tools such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Vertex Component Analysis (VCA) to provide better contrast using the hyperspectral CARS data alone. Using simulated CARS images, I investigate the effects of the quadratic dependence of CARS signal on concentration on the pixel clustering and classification and I find that a normalization step is necessary to improve pixel color assignment. Using an atherosclerotic rabbit aorta test image, I show that the VCA algorithm provides pseudocolor contrast that is comparable to multimodal imaging, thus showing that much of the information gleaned from a multimodal approach can be sufficiently extracted from the CARS hyperspectral stack itself.

Author Keywords: Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering Microscopy, Hyperspectral Imaging, Multimodal Imaging, Multivariate Analysis, Principal Component Analysis, Vertex Component Analysis

The relationship between siblings is unique in both its history and duration across the lifespan. Previous relationship researchers have examined siblings in childhood, but few have explored this distinctive relationship in adulthood. In this study, the adult sibling relationship was explored from an attachment perspective to determine the effect of an individual's attachment on conflict and collaboration with siblings. As expected, secure attachment predicted negative associations with conflict and positive associations with collaboration whereas insecure attachment (fearful, preoccupied, and dismissing) predicted opposite patterns. Results were compared to the abundance of literature on romantic relationships and findings from this study provided support for the theory that siblings function as attachment figures in adulthood.

Author Keywords: Attachment, Collaboration, Conflict, Relationships, Romantic partners, Siblings

My study was primarily focused on the comparison of life history traits between stocked American eel and their naturally recruited conspecifics in Lake Ontario and the upper St. Lawrence River (USLR/LO). I found that stocked eels experienced faster annual growth than their naturally recruited conspecifics and were comprised of a greater proportion of males. These findings indicate that the life history patterns of American eel may be genetically predisposed. Additionally, my study served to characterize the diets of stocked American eel and examine possible associations between eel and prey size. The eels consumed a number of macroinvertebrate prey orders as well as fishes and macrocrustaceans, with the latter prey items being more prevalent in the diets of larger eel specimens. A disparity in eel growth and body condition was observed between two primary stocking locations and were likely attributable to differences in available forage and habitat. Lastly, growth, body condition, and stocked eel diet were compared between lentic and lotic habitats. Eels from lotic streams experienced slower annual growth and had reduced body condition, and their diets were comprised of smaller prey items. The results of this study suggest that the current stocking methods employed in the USLR/LO are not suitable to restore the natural recruitment of individuals that will exhibit desired life history traits.

This study uses stable isotope analysis on both the organic and inorganic fractions of ostrich eggshell obtained from archaeological excavations in Mongolia, northern China, and southern Siberia. By establishing the δ13Corg, δ15N, δ13Cinorg, δ18O isotopic compositions of the eggshell of the Asian ostrich (Struthio asiaticus), this study provides insight into the maximum northern range of the species, which I suggest reached Lake Baikal, Siberia through the late Pleistocene, up to the Last Glacial Maximum. Through these isotopic data, the interactions between S. asiaticus and human forager groups are explored, specifically the trade of ostrich eggshell by hunter/gatherer populations in the early/middle Holocene. Because of deviations from the correlation between δ18O and latitude observed for other sites, the site of Shabarakh-usu may have been an aggregation point for ostrich eggshell from other locations. Movement of eggshell is observable from north to south but not from south to north on the basis of eggshell δ18O. Finally, I am able to develop a hypothesis regarding the drivers of species extinction. Specifically, I discuss trade in eggshell leading up to extinction as evidence for human pressure on S. asiaticus at a time when environmental shifts likely isolated populations in small regions of habitable landscape. I therefore implicate both changing environmental conditions and human pressure in my proposed explanation for the extinction of S. asiaticus.

Author Keywords: Extinction, Holocene, ostrich, Pleistocene, Steppe, Struthio

Arctic ecosystems are increasingly altered by climate change, and some wildlife species, like moose, are adapting to these new conditions. Indigenous knowledge and values, such as those held by Inuit, can provide insight into adaptive wildlife management and may improve ecosystem resiliency. This thesis seeks to address the following question: What is the potential role of Indigenous knowledge in managing wildlife under climate change? This thesis follows a qualitative exploratory design involving 1) a systematic literature review of the peer-reviewed literature and 2) a case study on moose in Nunatsiavut in which 35 interviews and participatory mapping were conducted with Inuit beneficiaries. The results demonstrate a range of potential roles for Indigenous knowledge and values in managing species impacted by climate change. The case study of moose in Nunatsiavut has applicability across the Canadian Arctic where the sustainability of harvested species is at risk.

Author Keywords: Arctic, climate change, Indigenous knowledge, moose, Nunatsiavut, wildlife management

The influence of stress exposure on the body temperature of vertebrates has been known for nearly two-thousand years. While the proximate mechanisms supporting this phenomenon are well described, the ultimate mechanisms remain enigmatic. In this thesis, I propose a novel hypothesis which states that changes in body surface temperature (henceforth "surface temperature") following stress exposure occur to reduce energetic expenditure toward thermoregulation, thus freeing energy for use in the stress response (hereafter, the "Thermoprotective Hypothesis"). Using a paired experimental design, I first show that black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus, Linnaeus, 1766) exposed to repeated stressors decrease their surface temperatures at low ambient temperatures, and increase their surface temperatures at high ambient temperatures relative to unstressed controls. These changes in surface temperature contribute to a relative reduction in heat loss in the cold, and a relative increase in heat dissipation in the warmth among stress-exposed individuals, thus reducing their energetic demands toward more costly thermoregulatory strategies. Next, I show that stress-induced changes in surface temperature are most pronounced in chickadees that experience naturally-occurring resource-restrictions, suggesting that this response occurs to balance allocation of energy among the stress response and thermoregulation (i.e. a true energetic trade-off ). Third, I show that the magnitudes of chronic, stress-induced changes in surface temperature are highly variable among, and highly consistent within, chickadees, therefore suggesting that this response could hold adaptive significance if such variation among individuals is heritable. Finally, using domestic pigeons (Columba livia domestica, Gmelin, 1789) as a model species, I show that stress-induced changes in surface temperature are highly pronounced at bare tissues with a critical role in thermoregulation for some avian species (the bill), when compared with responses at surrounding bare tissues (the eye region). Together, these findings strongly support the Thermoprotective Hypothesis and suggest that endotherms may trade energetic investment toward thermoregulation with that toward the stress response in resource-limiting environments.

Author Keywords: heat transfer, infrared thermography, stress physiology, surface temperature, thermoregulation, trade-off

Bees (clade Anthophila), are poorly studied in northern Canada, as these regions can be difficult to access and have a short growing season. This study examined bees from two such regions: Ontario's Far North, and Akimiski Island, Nunavut. I present this study as the largest biogeographical study of bees performed in these remote areas to enhance knowledge of northern native bees. I found 10 geographically unexpected species in Ontario and on Akimiski Island. Rarefaction and the Chao 1 Diversity Index showed that Akimiski is nearly as diverse as the Far North of Ontario, a significantly larger area. I also found, based on log femur length versus latitude, Bombus worker size was consistent with Bergmann's rule, and there were no apparent statistical differences in the community weighted means of functional traits between the Far North's Boreal Shield and Hudson Bay Lowlands ecozones. This work provides invaluable knowledge of the native bee species from these regions, which has implications for their future conservation.

Author Keywords: Akimiski Island, Bergmann's rule, Chao 1, Community-weighted means, native bees, rarefaction

The goal of the thesis is to establish the temporal patterning of the cultural complexes of the Middle to Late Woodland periods in Ontario. To do so I examine the statistical shape and phase boundaries of samples of radiocarbon dates associated with the Princess Point, Sandbanks, Glen Meyer, and Pickering archaeological complexes. The radiocarbon dates used for this thesis were collected through published sources, grey literature, and resources such as the Canadian Archaeological Radiocarbon Database. Each date was put through a data hygiene process and those deemed acceptable were merged into Summed Probability Distributions (SPDs) and further analysed through the r-carbon and OxCal packages. Bayesian statistics were used to estimate the start and end dates per complex, Shapiro-Wilks tests were used to examine the legitimacy of cultural entities, and the amount of geographic, and chronological overlap was determined by randomly sampling between the compared datasets to determine an acceptable threshold of randomness. Results indicate that the Princess Point complex does not meet the requirements of a culturally homogeneous archaeological cultural group. There is no difference in the Glen Meyer and Pickering radiocarbon patterns, which supports combining them into a single cultural designation. It was impossible to evaluate the Sandbanks complex due to a lack of radiocarbon data, although overall it seems to agree with the current understanding of the complex.

Author Keywords: Glen Meyer, Ontario Archaeology, Pickering, Princess Point, Radiocarbon, Sandbanks

The "Orillia Asylum for Idiots" (1861 - 2009), Canada's oldest and largest facility for the care and protection of children and adults with disabilities, was once praised as a beacon of humanitarian progress and described as a "community within a community." Yet, survivors who lived in the facility during the post Second World War period, a time described as the "golden age of children's rights," tell harrowing stories of abuse and neglect. Despite the nation's promise to "put children first" and protect the universal rights of "Canada's children," children incarcerated within the Orillia Asylum were subjected to systemic neglect and cultural discrimination, daily humiliation and dehumanization, and physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Far from being a place for child protection and care, this dissertation finds that the Orillia Asylum was a site of a multi-faceted and all-encompassing violence, a reality that stands in complete contrast to the grand narrative through which the facility has historically been understood. This dissertation considers how such violence against children could occur for so long in a facility maintained by the state, a state invested in protecting children. It finds that children who were admitted to the Orillia Asylum were not considered to be "Canada's children" at all by virtue of being labelled as "mentally deficient," "feeble-minded," "not-quite-human," and "not-quite-children."

Author Keywords: childhood, disability, Huronia Regional Centre, institutional child abuse, institutional violence, institutionalization