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Topic

Investigating the impacts of anthropogenic disturbance in Canada’s Oil Sands Region on large mammals, with a focus on black bears (Ursus americanus) and moose (Alces alces)

School of Environmental Studies

Date & location

• Friday, November 28, 2025

• 11:30 A.M.

• David Turpin Building

• Room B255

Reviewers

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Jason Fisher, School of Environmental Studies, ӣ��Ӱ�� (Supervisor)

• Dr. Chris Bone, Department of Geography, UVic (Member) 

External Examiner

• Dr. Ammie Kalan, Department of Anthropology, ӣ��Ӱ�� 

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Joel Ong, Department of Visual Arts, UVic

   

Abstract

Rapid and expansive anthropogenic landscape change is transforming wildlife habitat and driving global biodiversity loss. In this thesis, I used wildlife camera traps to investigate how the spatial distributions of two culturally and ecologically important species, black bear and moose, are affected by industrial development in the Oil Sands Region (OSR) of western Canada. In both cases, I applied novel analytical approaches to address key ecological knowledge gaps and better understand species’ responses to shifting risk-reward trade-offs associated with landscape change. In Chapter 2, I addressed the lack of clarity surrounding black bear responses to industrial disturbance by incorporating seasonal and demographic considerations into the analysis. This finer-scale approach revealed that spatial associations with disturbances features were shaped by both season and demographic group. Notably, solitary adults exhibited seasonal variation in road associations, potentially linked to changes in hunter activity. These findings highlight the importance of considering ecological context when evaluating species’ responses to landscape change, with direct implications for wildlife management and conservation. In Chapter 3, I used structural equation modelling (SEM) to investigate potential drivers of moose population declines in the OSR, assessing both direct and indirect effects of natural habitat, industrial disturbance, and predator occurrence. I found a strong negative direct effect of roads on moose, which outweighed positive associations with forage-subsiding features, suggesting an overall net-negative impact of industrial disturbance. However, due to the limited capacity of camera traps to capture fine-scale predator-prey dynamics, I was unable to evaluate potential indirect effects mediated by predators. This study demonstrates the value of SEM as a mechanism-oriented alternative to traditional predictive models and provides a transferable framework for understanding complex ecological relationships in other disturbed systems.