11月10日：Responses in butterflies to habitat change in oil sands landscapes

Loss and fragmentation of habitat are often a threat to biodiversity, with multiple processes determining species responses to anthropogenic habitat change. In Alberta, Canada, the extraction of oil sands is causing one of the largest examples of habitat fragmentation worldwide. In this talk I will discuss how this extensive anthropogenic footprint elicits responses in behavior, abundance and diversity of butterflies, and how such changes can inform the management of these boreal forests. I will discuss (i) the interplay between local and landscape environmental characteristics in moderating local patterns in species diversity; (ii) how structural changes in habitat can affect animal behavior; (iii) responses to changes in habitat for a rare species and our ability to observe it in the field; and (iv) how complex, combined effects between wildfire and anthropogenic footprint can determine unexpected patterns of response. I will conclude by discussing two broader lessons learned during my doctoral studies: (v) landscape analyses should take into account theory, methods, and the characteristics of data to represent ecological processes; and (vi) our ability to detect species has a substantial impact on ecological inference.