Northern Prairie Research Articles

Potential landscape connectivity for invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) across the northern prairies of North America

Potential landscape connectivity for invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) across the northern prairies of North America

Rising summer river water temperature across Canada: spatial patterns and hydroclimatic controls

Understanding the spatio-temporal variability of climate-induced river water temperature change is critical for identifying hotspots and assessing the impacts on ecological and socioeconomic systems. Here, we employ the air2stream model reconstructed river temperature records for 106 stations in Canada (Nash Sutcliffe coefficient goodness-of-fit: minimum = 0.79; median = 0.93; maximum = 0.97) to analyze summer temperature changes over the years 1980–2018. Results reveal widespread river temperature increases from June to September, with significantly increasing trends for about 40%–60% of stations. Additionally, we find significantly rising 7-day maximum temperature and increasing occurrences over the critical 18 and 20 °C thresholds for about 30%–65% of stations. Furthermore, by employing the Ward’s agglomerative hierarchical clustering machine learning (ML) method, we identify eight regions of spatially coherent variability and change. We find that the south-east, coast and northern prairies are the regions of high vulnerability because of the likely impacts of rising summer water temperatures on cold-water aquatic species. Additionally, by using the random forests ML method, we demonstrate that mean air temperature and its trends are the primary drivers of mean water temperature and trends, respectively. Thus, with the projected enhanced air temperature increase across Canada, an amplified future summer river warming can be expected, which could have severe consequences, particularly in already thermally-stressed river systems.

Overwinter and Spring Thaw Nitrous Oxide Fluxes in a Northern Prairie Cropland Are Limited but a Significant Proportion of Annual Emissions

AbstractCroplands that experience seasonal soil freezing and thawing have been shown to be significant sources of N2O emissions. Yet, there is a paucity of year‐round N2O emission data for one of the most significant crop production regions that seasonally freeze, the Prairies. Here, we present micrometeorological N2O fluxes measured over 4 years in Saskatchewan, Canada, to evaluate the magnitude of freeze‐thaw N2O emissions and investigate its driving factors. Significant thaw related emissions occurred in 2 of the 4 years and were associated with relatively higher fall nitrate levels and a more gradual soil thawing period. Overall, fall soil nitrate levels were a strong explanatory variable for the differences in non‐growing season (NGS) N2O emission (r2 = 0.485). Measured cumulative N2O emissions for the NGS were 123–938 g N ha−1 and were much smaller than those obtained at other cold climate sites but amounted to 52% of annual totals on average. The November to April period contributed 30% of the annual total emissions in years without major thaw events, but 70% in years with significant thaws. NGS N2O emissions were not explained by cumulative freezing degree days unlike most other cold climate sites. We propose that NGS N2O emissions are more strongly influenced by thaw dynamics during freezing‐thawing conditions in dry regions, whereas freezing intensity is the dominant factor for wetter regions. Our results indicate that even for a semi‐arid region freeze‐thaw is an important source of N2O emissions and must be considered for more accurate reporting and development of mitigation strategies.

CDC Kernen oilseed flax

CDC Kernen, a late maturing oilseed flax ( Linum usitatissimum L.), was registered in 2021 by the Crop Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. This cultivar had a significant yield advantage (107%) compared to CDC Glas (the yield check) in all soil zones of the Northern Prairies. The yield of CDC Kernen was 115%, 98%, and 105% of CDC Glas in the Black, Brown, and Black and Grey soil zones of Western Canada, respectively. This cultivar has medium (45.1%) oil content, oil quality (iodine value (IV) 192; alpha linolenic acid content 57.1%), equivalent to CDC Glas (the seed quality standard) coupled with larger seed size (thousand seed weight 6.1 g) than CDC Glas. It is immune to North American rust (race 371) caused by Melampsora lini and moderately resistant to wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lini and powdery mildew caused by Oidium lini.

CDC Esme oilseed flax

CDC Esme, a high-yielding, late-maturing oilseed flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) cultivar, was registered in 2023 by the Crop Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. CDC Esme had a superior yield (106%) compared to the check variety, CDC Glas, in all soil zones of the Northern Prairies. The yield of CDC Esme was 106%, 105%, and 105% of CDC Glas, in the long-season Black, Brown, and short-season Black and Grey soil zones of Western Canada, respectively. CDC Esme has larger seeds (thousand seed weight) than that of check cultivar, CDC Glas with improved quality based on the iodine value (IV) of 192 and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) content of 57.1%. This cultivar is immune to the North American rust (race 371) caused by Melampsora lini and moderately resistant to wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lini.

Invasion success of three cool‐season grasses in the northern prairie: a test of three hypotheses

Empirical invasion ecology is laden with high context dependency. If general mechanisms underlying invasion success exist, they should be detectable in species that share biological and ecological characteristics. We carried out a growth experiment with Agropyron cristatum, Bromus inermis and Poa pratensis (subsp. angustifolia), to better understand the mechanisms underlying the invasion success of cool‐season grasses in northern prairie grasslands of North America. By using a home–away approach, we tested whether 1) non‐native plants have a higher performance than native plants, and whether invasiveness is 2) mediated by interactions with soils, such as a release from pathogens or enhanced mutualism, or 3) an adaptation to local soils. We compared seed size and weight of populations in Canada (non‐native range) and Eurasia (native range) and carried out an experiment, in which seeds from the non‐native and native ranges were planted into sterilized soil (control) and soil from a population in Canada or Eurasia, or local soils, respectively. We found inconsistent effects across species and response variables. Seed size and weight were not significantly different between native and non‐native populations. The experiment showed a seed origin effect in A. cristatum (root and total biomass) and B. inermis (root biomass), with non‐native populations outperforming native ones. Soil‐mediated effects were supported in A. cristatum (root biomass) and local adaptation in B. inermis (root and total biomass). Germination across all species and biomass in P. pratensis did not respond to treatments. Despite the high similarity of our study group, our results indicate that invasiveness might be driven by idiosyncratic causes at the species level. Mechanisms not considered in our study, such as high propagule pressure and preadaptation could also potentially explain the invasion success across species.

Differences in the reproductive output and larval survival of Rocky Mountain wood ticks (Dermacentor andersoni) and American dog ticks (Dermacentor variabilis) from prairie populations near their northern distributional limits in western Canada.

The effects of temperature and relative humidity (RH) on female reproductive output, egg development and larval survival were determined for Rocky Mountain wood ticks (Dermacentor andersoni) from a prairie population (Chin Lakes, Alberta, Canada) near the northern distribution limit of this species. The responses of D. andersoni eggs and unfed larvae to different temperature (25 or 32°C) and RH (35, 55, 75, 85 or 95%) regimes were compared to our previously published data (Diyes et al. 2021) for a northern prairie population of American dog ticks (Dermacentor variabilis). Oviposition by D. andersoni females took 21-30 days at 25°C and 95% RH compared to 10-21 days for D. variabilis. The number of eggs laid by female ticks was strongly dependent on their engorgement weight, and D. andersoni females produced more eggs than D. variabilis females of an equivalent body weight. Eggs of D. andersoni took less time to develop at 32°C than 25°C with ≥ 85% RH, and hatched faster than those of D. variabilis. Larval survival times declined as temperature increased and RH decreased, but D. andersoni survived longer at 32°C and ≤ 75% RH than D. variabilis. The interspecific differences in responses to the same temperature and humidity regimes indicate that D. andersoni is xerophilic, whereas D. variabilis is hydrophilic. Hence, 'prairie' populations of the Rocky Mountain wood tick occur in the drier grassland ecoregions but are absent in Aspen Parklands Ecoregion which is located to the north and east of the distributional range of D. andersoni.

Comparison of Integrated Crop Rotation Systems in Western Canada

AbstractResearch has shown the benefits of diversifying crop rotations, yet many Prairie farmers keep their rotations short and simple with cereals and oilseeds or cereals and pulses being intensively grown in two‐year rotations. As western Canadian farms are pressed to increase yields while reducing inputs and the environmental impact of food production, growers need help to determine what crop rotations can help them achieve these goals and remain economically viable. This article reports on research evaluating yield and yield stability, nitrogen use efficiency, and net economic returns of six crop rotations in the Southern Prairies, Northern Prairies, and Red River Valley ecozones of western Canada. Earn 0.5 CEUs in Crop Management by reading this article and taking the quiz at https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning‐Center/Courses.

Border History is Indigenous History

Border History is Indigenous History Ryan Hall (bio) Benjamin Hoy, A Line of Blood and Dirt: Creating the Canada-United States Border across Indigenous Lands. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021. Notes and index. xv + 322pp. $35.00. In the desperate final months of 1862, some two thousand Dakota Sioux people trekked north through the cold Minnesota winter in search of safety. To these survivors, British lands north of the 49th parallel represented their last possible refuge, their last hope. Over the previous summer, the Dakota had launched a doomed resistance campaign against American settlers and government authorities, citing broken treaty promises that had left them on the brink of starvation. In the war's aftermath, soldiers quickly rounded up and arrested Dakota survivors. Those who remained unfettered were forced to flee, and danger stalked their every step. Some went west to the lands of their Lakota kin, but punitive U.S. Army expeditions followed them to the plains to hunt them down. Those who instead went north had to avoid packs of vigilantes who roamed the border hoping to capture stragglers for rewards. Even after they crossed, the Dakota refugees still had to evade illegal kidnapping parties; keep peace with Indigenous nations like the Crees and Métis, who resented their presence on fast-shrinking hunting grounds; mollify British officials who saw them as dangerous nuisances; and find ways to subsist and survive in the harsh northern prairies. Despite all this, they persevered. By the 1870s, the Dakota refugees secured a handful of small reserves in what is now central Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where descendants remain today. The border saved them. The Dakota were the first of many Indigenous peoples to cross the U.S.-Canadian border to escape violent death during the era of continental expansion. In January 1870, many Blackfoot people in Montana fled north after escalating violence with settlers culminated in the U.S. Army massacring nearly two hundred peaceful Blackfoot people encamped along the Marias River. Many of the Blackfoot survivors never returned to the southern portions of their homelands that lay in the United States. In 1877, the renowned Lakota chief Sitting Bull led three thousand of his people north into Saskatchewan to avoid certain retribution following victory over U.S. troops in the Battle of Little Big [End Page 160] Horn. Later that year, Nez Percé people in Idaho lashed out against an invasion of their homelands, then led the U.S. Cavalry on an epic, thousand-mile chase that ended with a frantic final dash towards the Canadian border. The Nez Percé leader Chief Joseph and most of his followers were ambushed and forced to surrender within sight of their destination, but several hundred still managed to slip away and join Lakota refugees in Canada. The border worked in both directions, and Indigenous people in Canada sometimes fled to the United States for the same reasons as their American counterparts. Following an 1870 resistance campaign against the Canadian government in Manitoba, the spiritual and political leader of the Métis people, Louis Riel, absconded to Montana to avoid prosecution. After he returned to Canada to wage another failed campaign in 1885, Riel was executed, but many of his fellow Métis resistors fled across the American border, as did several bands of Cree allies who had risen up alongside them. To Indigenous people in the North American West, the international border in the late nineteenth century meant something very different than it means today. To them, the border meant safety; it meant refuge; for many, it represented the only possible option for avoiding the marauding violence of what Americans called the "Indian wars" era. The experience of Indigenous people during the bloody decades of the late nineteenth century has inspired generations of public interest and often predictable strains of historical writing. Writers have used the Indian wars to tell moralistic stories of American avarice and doomed Indian heroism, the perils of industrialization, and the clash of irreconcilable worldviews. In Canada, a parallel tradition has belatedly unfolded around their (more limited) conflicts with Métis and Cree people. Like America's Indian wars, Canada's prairie conflicts have turned an uncomfortable mirror onto...

Non-Native Plant Invasions in Prairie Grasslands of Alberta, Canada

Native prairie grasslands are a fundamental part of Canada's natural heritage, but these formerly extensive ecosystems have undergone declines due to grassland conversion and fragmentation. In addition, remaining native grasslands are threatened by invasive non-native plants, which can outcompete native flora and negatively impact ecological functioning. Although several studies have reported invasions in northern prairie grasslands, only some have investigated patterns across a large spatial gradient, and few have tested their relationship with environmental predictors and anthropogenic disturbance. We surveyed 139 plots across a 938-km spatial gradient in Alberta to 1) identify the most frequent and abundant non-native species, 2) test whether levels of non-native plant invasions are linked to environmental factors or anthropogenic disturbance, and 3) inspect whether relationships differ between mesic and semiarid grasslands. Data were analyzed using generalized additive models and commonality analysis.Our results show that Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis subsp. angustifolia), commonly used for agronomic purposes, is by far the most frequent and abundant non-native plant in Alberta grasslands. Across all plots, abundance and richness of non-native plants were positively linked to a shared effect by aridity, soil texture, and agricultural activity. Furthermore, the importance of predictors differed between mesic and semiarid grasslands. In mesic grasslands, non-native plant abundance and richness were highest in areas with high agricultural activity and fine-textured soils. In the semiarid prairie, topography accounted for most explained variation in the levels of invasion. In summary, climatic conditions, and to some extent agricultural activity and topography, best explain the patterns of non-native plant invasions. A priority for future research is to identify the mechanisms underlying the differences in invasion across mesic and semiarid prairie grasslands. To counteract invasions, practitioners need to diminish the propagule pressure by invasive agronomic grasses, protect and restore grasslands remnants in the mesic region, and proactively control new invaders.

Arthropod prey and diets of woodland migrants are similar between natural riparian woodlands and anthropogenic woodlots in the northern prairie region

Arthropod prey and diets of woodland migrants are similar between natural riparian woodlands and anthropogenic woodlots in the northern prairie region

“It’s Very Stressful for Children”: Elementary School-Aged Children’s Psychological Wellbeing during COVID-19 in Canada

Emerging evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health measures, including lockdowns and school closures, have been negatively affecting school-aged children’s psychological wellbeing. To identify supports required to mitigate the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, we gathered in-depth information on school-aged children’s and parents’ lived experiences of COVID-19 and perceptions of its impact on psychological wellbeing in grade 4–6 students in Canada. In this qualitative study, we conducted telephone-based semi-structured interviews with parents (n = 15) and their children (n = 16) from six schools in small and mid-sized northern prairie communities in Canada. Interviews were analyzed through thematic analysis. Three interrelated themes have emerged. First, the start of COVID-19 brought sudden and stressful changes to children’s lives. Second, disruptions to daily life led to feelings of boredom and lack of purpose. Third, limited opportunities for social interaction led to loneliness and an increase in screen time to seek social connection with peers. Results underscore the need for resilience building and the promotion of positive coping strategies to help school-aged children thrive in the event of future health crises or natural disasters.

Wetness duration, temperature and cultivar affect floral infection by Botrytis cinerea in alfalfa

Blossom blight of alfalfa, caused by Botrytis cinerea and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, can be an important constraint to alfalfa seed production on the Canadian Prairies. Botrytis cinerea is the predominant pathogen in rain-fed production areas across the northern Prairie region. This study assessed the optimum conditions for infection of alfalfa florets by B. cinerea, and susceptibility in alfalfa based on cultivar and flower colour/orientation. The disease reaction of the cultivars was assessed in detached and intact inflorescences inoculated under controlled conditions and in field trials. The optimum temperature for infection was 20°C, with a minimum of 12 h of surface wetness. Increased duration of surface wetness generally increased infection, except at 30°C, where continued exposure to high temperature reduced infection. There were small but consistent differences in flower infection among cultivars, which were consistent across the testing protocols (detached inflorescence, whole-plant and field). Upward-facing inflorescences had a lower incidence of infection than downward-facing inflorescences. Also, purple florets were slightly less susceptible relative to white/yellow florets, but in only one of the three cultivars assessed. Knowledge of infection requirements from this study can be used to improve management of blossom blight, but the differences among cultivars were generally too small to have an important impact on disease management in the field.

Effects of climate change on depression‐focused groundwater recharge in the Canadian Prairies

AbstractSmall topographic depressions are ubiquitous in the glaciated terrain of the Northern Prairies characterized by a cold semiarid climate. Groundwater recharge in this region is focused in topographic depressions, which receive lateral inputs of snowmelt runoff in addition to vertical inputs of precipitation. The response of depression‐focused recharge to climate change is largely unknown due to the difficulty of representing the complex interaction between depressions and surrounding uplands in hydrological models. This study evaluates climate change effects on recharge using a process‐based hydrological model and the pseudo‐global warming (PGW) approach representing a climate of 2092–2100, which has a higher mean annual temperature (+4.9 °C) and precipitation (+135 mm or +27%) compared with the present climate. The recharge model is conditioned using field data from an instrumented grassland site in the Canadian Prairies. Under the present climate, snowmelt runoff occurred in March–April over frozen soil, which accounted for the majority of water transfer from the upland to the depression. Under the PGW scenario, the amount of snowmelt runoff in March–April decreased due to lower snow accumulation and shorter periods of frozen soil. Instead, runoff occurred in midwinter and also in summer months due to increased intensity and duration of summer storms. Despite the increased precipitation, mean annual recharge rates decreased from 10.2 to 3.2 mm yr–1, indicating the importance of considering the complex effects of warmer and wetter climate on hydrological processes in cold semiarid regions.

CDC Rowland oilseed flax

CDC Rowland, a late-maturing oilseed flax (Linum usitatissimum L.), was registered in 2018 by the Crop Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. This cultivar had a significant yield advantage (12% higher) comparable to CDC Bethune in all soil zones of the Northern Prairies. The yield of CDC Rowland was 117%, 116%, and 105% of CDC Bethune in the Black, Brown, Black and Grey soil zones of Western Canada, respectively. This cultivar has medium (44.6%) oil content, superior oil quality (IV 194.5; ALA content 59.3%), and large seed size (TSW 6.8 g) coupled with resistance to lodging. It is immune to North American rust (race 371) caused by Melampsora lini and moderately resistant to wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lini and powdery mildew caused by Oidium lini.

Determinants of Wetland- Bird Community Composition in Agricultural Marshes of the Northern Prairie and Parkland Region

Wetland losses in the Northern Prairie and Parkland Region are largely attributed to agriculture. Since land use is known to influence bird habitat selection, bird community composition is likely sensitive to the extent of neighboring agricultural activity. We determined local and landscape habitat variables predictive of wetland-dependent avian assemblage occurrence in southern Alberta. We: 1) identified distinct bird assemblages with a cluster analysis, 2) identified species indicative of these assemblages using an indicator species analysis, and 3) predicted bird assemblage occurrence in wetlands using a classification and regression tree. Wetland-dependent birds formed distinct avian assemblages that were primarily differentiated by region and local-level habitat characteristics like wetland size, depth, or vegetation cover. Generally, however, wetland-dependent bird assemblages were surprisingly insensitive to surrounding landscape composition. The extent of agricultural activity in the surrounding landscape was weakly predictive of avian assemblages in wetlands in the Grassland Natural Region, with edge-nesting birds being excluded from wetlands with >42% agricultural land cover in the surrounding landscape.

Habitat associations and activity patterns of herpetofauna in the Central Platte River Valley, Nebraska, with notes on morphometric characteristics

The Central Platte River Valley (CPRV) is a unique and biologically important ecoregion, and several studies have conducted localized herpetofauna species inventories. However, there has been significantly less effort to quantify the habitat associations or activity patterns of these species. Habitat associations and activity patterns vary regionally and provide important information for ecosystem management. We deployed a total of 38 traps of 5 different types (pitfall, funnel, hoop, box, and coverboard) across 11 sites (7 terrestrial, 4 aquatic) for an 8-week period in June and July 2019. Our exploratory analyses used generalized linear models with a quasibinomial distribution to examine associations between herpetofauna abundance (captures per trap night) and habitat characteristics controlling for trap type. Habitat characteristics assessed included distance to nearest woodland, distance to nearest standing water, vegetation species richness, soil texture, and vegetative cover in addition to others. We also evaluated activity patterns weekly across the study period. The two most abundant species demonstrated divergent distributional patterns, Northern Prairie Skinks were only absent from two of the driest terrestrial sites, while the Six-lined Racerunners were locally abundant at just three sites with significant bare ground and sandy soils. We documented a Cope’s Gray Treefrog at a site with little woody cover in which the species had not been previously observed, suggesting it may be increasingly widespread regionally. We also detected relatively widespread juvenile anuran dispersal at multiple terrestrial sites a considerable distance from standing water. Our results provide a preliminary examination of habitat associations and summer activity patterns for herpetofauna in the CPRV that can be used to inform conservation efforts and further studies of this system.

Nutritional composition of saskatoon berries: a review

Saskatoon berry [Amelanchier alnifolia (Nutt.) Nutt., Rosaceae], also known as serviceberry, is a deciduous shrub native to the northern prairies and plains of North America. Saskatoon berries are an excellent source of typical health-promoting nutrients such as fibers, minerals (manganese, calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron), and vitamins (tocopherol, pyridoxine, riboflavin, ascorbic acid, riboflavin, thiamin, pantothenic acid). Saskatoon berries are rich in health-promoting phytochemical compounds, mainly anthocyanins (cyanidin-3-galactoside, cyanidin-3-glucoside, cyanidin-3-arabinoside, and cyanidin-3-xyloside), flavonols (quercetin-3-galactoside, quercetin-3-glucoside, quercetin-3-arabinoglucoside, quercetin-3-arabinoside, quercetin-3-rutinoside, and quercetin-3-xyloside), proanthocyanidins (A- and B-type procyanidins with different degrees of polymerization), phenolic acids, and volatile components. The total fat content of saskatoon berry seed oil is 99 g/100 g of oil, of which 9.8 g/100 g is saturated fat, 31 g/100 g is monounsaturated fat, and 58 g/100 g is cis–cis polyunsaturated fat. Saskatoon berry seed oil contains approximately 10 g of phytosterols per kilogram of oil (β-sitosterol, Δ5-avenasterol, campesterol, and stigmasterol). In mature (purple) saskatoon berries, the content of cyanogenic compounds amygdalin and prunasin were found to be 42–118 mg/kg and 5–17 mg/kg of fresh weight, respectively. These compounds are confined to the seeds, which greatly slows down their absorption when saskatoon berry fruit are consumed. In summary, saskatoon berries are emerging as a functional food because they are an excellent source of minerals, fiber, and phenolic compounds such as anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins.

CDC Plava oilseed flax

CDC Plava oilseed flax (Linum usitatissimum L.), registered in 2015 by the Crop Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, is targeted to the shorter growing season and the Dark Brown, Black, Grey, and Dark Grey soil zones of the northern prairies. This cultivar has a high seed yield (106%) compared with cultivar CDC Bethune and a medium maturity rating equal to Prairie Thunder. It has medium oil content (47.0%), α-linolenic acid content (57.8%), seed size (6.1 g 1000-seed weight), and good lodging resistance. It is resistant to North American races of rust caused by Melampsora lini (Ehrenb.) Thüm. and moderately resistant to wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum Schltdl. f. sp. lini (Bolley) W.C. Snyder & H.N. Hansen.

CDC Buryu oilseed flax

CDC Buryu, a late maturing oilseed flax (Linum usitatissimum L.), was registered in 2016 by the Crop Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada. This cultivar had a yield (106%) comparable to CDC Bethune and a maturity rating equal to Flanders in all soil zones of the northern prairies. The yield advantage over CDC Bethune was greater (>8%) in the Brown soil and Black soil zones of the northern prairies. It had medium oil content, oil quality, and seed size and good lodging resistance. It is immune to North American rust (race 371) caused by Melampsora lini (Ehrenb.) Thüm. and moderately resistant to wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum Schltdl. f. sp. lini (Bolley) W.C. Snyder & H.N. Hansen and powdery mildew caused by Oidium lini.