Land of the midnight sun

I don't know when May 2nd was over and where July 12th began but somewhere in that time, I flew home to Canada and back to the north country that I missed so much while I was away. After finishing Dr. Wilson's Biogeochemistry and Global Ecology exam, I packed my bags and Dr. Fuhlendorf and I were off to the airport via lunch on the way to Oklahoma City. I left OKC around 4pm and it was hot (approximately +25C). I knew what I was about to dive into and it just felt like a natural progression back into the world of range management and fire ecology as the Range Agrologist for what used to be known as the Fort Nelson Forest District.

I arrived in the homeland just as Prime Minister Harper was announced as the successful re-installed PM of Canada. I did get momentarily confused as I thought that Jack Layton had won. I had just had my bagel and steeped tea sitting on the floor under the stuffed killer whale outside of domestic security in Vancouver. Arriving at midnight in Prince George, I was greeted first by ice on the tarmack and about a -5C starry northern night and secondly by my very awesome and great friend Matthew Braun (P.Ag. with the Range Branch in PG as well as a MS student from the U of Saskatchewan and husband to the beautiful and awesome Julie Bergen). There are people in our lives who will never let you down and who will always have your back. These two humans are such people.

After closing my eyes for a few hours, I was heading out the door and off to my first day of the Ignitions Specialist class put on by the Wildfire Management Branch. About 30 of us were in attendance - all from the Forest Service and Parks/Ministry of Environment and all involved with prescribed fire in one way or another. It was an awesome 3 days of class and as always, I feel privileged and honoured to have the opportunity to work with the Wildfire Management Branch. The men and women that work in fire in our province are so knowledgeable and have given so much support and mentorship to me over the past 5 years that I don't really know how I will be able to repay their generosity. This course challenged me in ways that John Weir had set me up to be challenged after taking the Advanced Prescribed Fire class at OSU. It was an excellent course taught by outstanding instructors all from within the Wildfire Management Branch. After we submitted our homework and wrote our final exams, we were sent off on our way home and for me that meant a 10 hour drive back to Fort Nelson the next day ...

I remember Friday, May 6th very well. It was painful. I had no juice left in the tank. I had joked with friends and professors in Oklahoma that it would be a painful trip driving home by myself for a few reasons:
1. I had only driven a very small handful of times over the previous 5 months and none of that included long highway trips
2. I was already exhausted when I left Stillwater after finals and then had the week of the course to get through and try to keep my head above the water in course work that I knew would be more advanced then I had done before with fire
3. I would just want to get back to my home, my bed, my own space and the big country up north with very few people aroud.

And so I got 1 hour outside of PG and already had the urge to pull over and sleep for a while! Of which I was unable to do because every pull out was still piled high with snow and there was not enough room to get my truck in there! So I soldiered on to the Pine Pass and once I hit the mountains, I got my second wind. The Roches/Rockies always take my breath away. They are noblely regal and beyond beautiful. I wound my way through the pine pass and the snow that still lined the sides of the highway. As I rolled through Hudsons Hope I remembered 5 years ago when I made my move up north with my family helping me to do so.

Fort St. John was so close and my eyes were telling me that I they could not remain open for much longer and so I made myself wait one more day to get back to home and back to my north country life as it would have been foolish to drive the Alaska Highway in such a state of exhaustion. Thankfully Conrad Thiessen and Leslie Oliver had a free couch that night and I was able to meet up with them and Craig DeMars (Ph.D Candidate, University of Alberta) for the evening.

4am brought the sun shining brightly and made me think I had overslept till 9! I forced my eyes closed a little longer and by 6am I was on the road, headed north back home! Back to the community I love and the good friends and extended family up north. Back to Fort Nelson - BC's final frontier.

And when I got home, I had many questions but the first thing I did was walk into my house, look all around and remember it all and then I hugged my bed. And then I went to sleep for a long time. It was good to be home. It is where my heart is.

Phosphorous and 40 hours to go

I breathe in. I breathe out. It's just past midnight and I've been contemplating the differences in available phosphorous between molisols of a grassland and oxisols of the tropics. Dr. Gail Wilson sure knows how to write a challenging biogeochemistry final exam. I walked back to my residence on campus which is only 10 minutes away from my office. If I was wearing a Lotek GPS collar, my minimum convex polygon representing my home range and my kernel density estimate would be within a 500m triangular area of the depanneur/7-11, my bedroom and Ag. Hall. Dr. Bob Fenimore (veterinarian and long time family friend) and Greg Anderson (formerly provinical manager of the Ecosystem Restoration program and recently retired from the BC Forest Service as well as a mentor and good friend to me) told me 2 things:
1. "Ass in seat" - Bob Fenimore in reference to working hard, being studious and doing my work
2. "Treat it like a job" - Greg Anderson in reference to working hard, being studious and doing my work!
And I can tell both of y'all that in fact, that's what I've done this past semester and while I was walking back just now, I realized that may be the key to success as a graduate student - hard work and dedication.

My good friend Dan Dvorett, a recent PhD candidate who has just completed his Masters, hosted the annual Zoology-NREM crawfish boil at his place outside of Stillwater. I went for a couple hours to break up my final exam writing and got the opportunity to visit with my fellow grad students who have become very good friends to me. And when it was time to come back to my small home range, I realized I was sad to say good bye to these folks. It is an honour to be surrounded by some of the brightest and academically inclined folks around. People who are kind, respectful, nice and just down right good. So thank y'all all y'all for giving to me great friendship, comradery and community. You are good people and I'm honoured to know y'all.

6 days to go ...

Resource ecology: the ecology of trophic interactions between consumers and their resources.

Spatial ecology: effects of space and scale on the dynamics of individual species and on the structure and dynamics of multiple species assemblages

Analysis of 13C/12C isotope ratios in soil samples from a forested hillside between Tulsa and Stillwaer are likely to reveal δ 13Cvalues of -26 per mil near the surface and δ 13C values closer to -14 per mil deeper in the soil. These values are negative because .... The most likely explanation for the change in values (less negative) with depth is ...

Recent models indicate organic N may be an important component of the N cycle as opposed to classical N cycling models that assume inorganic N is the sole source of N available to plants. Moxdzer et al. (2010) suggest that ...

Hawth's tool for Kernel Density Estimates and Minimum Convex Polygons ... ARC GIS 9.3 ... resource selection ...

Grassland bird populations are declining because of lack of appropriate habitat and the intrusion of cross fencing and shrubs onto rangelands...

Just a few of the things that are floating around in my brain today on my last Tuesday in America as I sit and try to motor through my final exam for Biogeochemistry and Global Ecology. 6 days of solid production of maps, final GIS analysis and working my way through my first scientific paper to be submitted through the summer. This semester was a 10/10 in comparison to last year in many ways. As sad as I am to leave America again, it is time to go home. I leave here with so much more knowledge of what I don't know and what I want to know, of being more skeptical than ever before, of reflecting solidly before I speak, of listening hard to all the information I am presented with, of lighting fires in my advanced prescribed burn class with John Weir. I leave here reluctantly because being in this world of rangeland science, fire ecology, in depth ecological research has become part of who I am. I know so much more about range management and ecosystem processes that I am eager to contribute back to the management of the land at home.

The journey here in America and with my PhD is almost hard to described. It's the biggest brain overload I've ever had in my life, it's being competitive with some of the most intelligent thinkers in North America and it's a lot about personal growth and development that I hope will contribute to science and management in the not so distant future!

I look forward to coming home to Canada and that just means that I will also look forward to my return for my last semester in America in the Fall of 2012... onwards!

Society for Range Management - Montana 2011

Stillwater got blasted with the worst winter storm in recent history. This is a picture looking out my dorm room to the snow drifting high outside and on my window sill. Thank goodness for space heaters from WalMart to keep me warm in my room along with many quilts and fleece pants! School was closed for a week. Temperatures dropped to below -30C. And we left to head up north to Montana in the middle of all of it ...

A small herd of us decided it was best to drive to Montana for the 2011 Society for Range Management international meeting. It was a 21 hour drive north and a 21 hour drive back south ... with minimal stops along the way. I was looking forward to the trip so that I could see Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana but things didn't end out as hoped for. We travelled through the night, leaving Stillwater at midnight and arriving in Billings, Montana at 9pm the following evening. We had 3 white outs, major winds and storms, icey road conditions and a whole lot of car sickness from the Canadian in the back of the bus. It was good to get to finally arrive in Billings!

Castle Rock, Wyoming

Welcome to Wyoming!

Wyoming!

Winter storm on the way in Wyoming

Big spaces in Wyoming!

Theatre and biodiversity

Billy Elliott is the most amazing musical I have ever been to. It is an international hit and it has the potential to inspire millions to reach for their dreams even in times of adversity. Futhermore, the creators of this theatrical phenomenon and its film that was released a few years ago, are true inspirations. In particular, I make reference to Eric Fellner who is a smart businessman and an entrepreneur and who is diverse in his creativity from producing films to television shows to documentaries and now to theatrical performances.

Biodiversity or biological diversity or differences in species compositions and richness are topics that I discuss on a daily basis. Recently I completed my first exam for biogeochemistry and global change. Dr. Gail Wilson asked us to defend climate change and provide examples of global change and why it is important for the public to be knowledgeable in that subject matter. As I wrote my response, I was struck with the last sentence in one of my paragraphs which was finished off as "a decrease in biodiversity is inappropriate for the future of the earth." I was left wondering how to explain to someone else what the next logical question to my response would be : why is biodiversity important? To me, as a scientist, land manager, ranch kid, outdoor enthusiast and landscape ecologist - biodiversity is what life hinges on - it's innate that it is important!

How do I explain the importance of biodiversity to a stoke broker who lives inside a concrete building and trades foreign commodities for numbers on a computer screen? Or what about to the grade 6 class at a local elementary school that I had the good fortune of giving a 1 hour long presentation to about northern Canada last month? Or what about to the beaureacratics who do not think that humans are part of the ecosystem, who think that doing nothing is a good management decision and who sit with my papers on their desks for months on end while being the final signature in order to keep fire on the land? How do I express in words how critical heterogeneity is to the future of the boreal forest - of all global ecosystems along with keeping their natural processes "functioning properly" and the system "resilient"?

How do I explain to Eric Fellner, a very smart and admirable and respected man about the need to ensure that Wood bison survive and that their critical habitat must be maintained in order for their reintroduction to be successful?

It really hit me hard yesterday as I was preparing for our weekly paper discussion group lead by Andy Crosby (MS canddiate at OSU) and Torre Hovick (PhD candidate at OSU). We read a paper by John Wiens about conservation not being black or white but rather a portrait and mosaic of tones and hues. Just like my thoughts (and that of other knowledgeable people) of the boreal as a mosaic and patchwork of different species growing in different places, at different heights, of different ages with fire, landslides, avalanches, herbivory, insect outbreaks all occurring together in chaotic succession. Just like Eric Fellner is a diverse producer of theatrical productions. Just like a person in the stockmarket would most likely not have all their eggs in one basket but rather spread out across different stocks. Just like the oil and gas companies frac more then one well at a time ... it's about production, economics, diversifying ... finacial diversity, artistic and creative diversity, biological diversity.

So in my pitiful explanation to my uncle, Eric Fellner, I tried to explain about how important fire is in maintaining habitat for Wood bison and how it is part of natural environment. That if we remove fire, we remove part of the chaotic succession that naturally has been occurring either through wildfire or the humans that ARE part of the ecosystem. To think that humans are not part of the ecosystem is a null, rejectable hypothesis that doesn't even warrant the time it took to write this sentence. Micro-management would suggest that at minute scales, humans are not part of the tippy top of the pass that goes from the Tuchodi down into the Gataga. Landscape ecologists and those who understand that scale is important spatially and temporally would suggest that as we look around the geographical area of the Tuchodi and the Gataga, humans have been in that system for many years. So why discount our impact - our influence - our dramatic part in the ecosystem?

Eric, you have inspired me even futher into the world of diversity. My world would be biological diversity and I will be forever very proud and in awe of your world of artistic and creative theatrical diversity.

Family.

A tribute to Ray Coupe

Ray Coupe : A man of adventure, leadership, land ethic and dedication.

After 36 years with the Forest Service, January 31st 2011 will be Ray Coupe's last day as a full-time BC Government employee. I am thankful to have crossed paths with Ray a couple years ago on the top of Nonda Mountain in the heart of the Northern Rockies. Since that time, Ray has contributed a huge amount to my learning of ecology, plants and ecosystem dynamics. I find it hard to believe that the Government could possibly think that it would be the right decision to make his position "redundant" as I am sure there are many across BC who will echo my words when I say that what Ray brings not only to what used to be called the Forest Service, but also to all Natural Resource managers and even more so to the scientific community, public and land stewards of British Columbia, is impossible to quantify.

Ray Coupe's vast knowledge is a vital asset to all of us across the entire province of British Columbia. Redundant would be the very last word on a 100 paged list that I would use to describe the critical role that Ray has played in what used to be called the Forest Service. One person's loss is another person's gain and it is my great honour, pleasure and delight to have Ray as a member of our Range and Fire Ecology Research Team in North East British Columbia. His expertise, wisdom, professionalism and dedication to helping and mentoring others is beyond any call to duty that we have as public servants. I am in awe of your selfless, generous and kind donations of your time to the Forest Service and to me and I know both of those will continue long into the future! Thank you for all you do!! Ray Coupe - you're one heck of a guy and I'm glad you're on my team! See you in the North Country this summer ( I hope $$) and I solemnly promise this to you: no more daubenmaire frames!!!! Onwards and upwards my friend! Here's to you!

Ray Coupe : The Botanist.

Ray Coupe : The Nevis Creek dancer.

Ray Coupe : The knower of all plants!

Monkshood

Ray Coupe : The Daubenmaire demon!

Ray Coupe : An intelligent and skilled team member!

Ray Coupe : The Chef!

Ray Coupe : A thoughtful contributor.

Ray Coupe : A man who maintains his cool, especially when exploring permafrost!

Ray Coupe : Weather proof.

Ray Coupe : Always calm and ready for a challenge!

Ray Coupe : A mentor and a guide.

Ray Coupe : The legend continues!

Geranium richardsonii

http://www.books-by-isbn.com/1-55105/1551050579-Plants-of-southern-interior-British-Columbia-1-55105-057-9.html

http://www.books-by-isbn.com/1-55105/1551052199-Plants-of-southern-interior-British-Columbia-and-the-inland-northwest-1-55105-219-9.html

http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/docs/lmh/Lmh46.pdf

http://www.alibris.com/booksearch.detail?invid=10513716044&browse=1&qwork=5162456&qsort=&page=1

http://www.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/eflora/E-FloraTreesofBritishColumbia.html

Fire is bad because it causes ecosystem dysfunction?

2 years post fire.

In the beginning of the fall, my research assistants and I hit the exclosures on the Liard to take our 2nd year vegetation samples after Fire 084. We were amazed like many others who have studied the vegetation response in the Boreal after fire. Fire 084 burned through the summer of 2009 and grew to 24,000 ha causing an incredible mosaic of landscape throughout its run. It was actioned along the highway but allowed to run out north away from the major transportation corridor that ties the north to the south.

As you peruse the following pictures, I challenge you to ask yourself some questions:

Why not burn? Is it ecologically sound to write impact assessments on "why an area should burn" when fire has been part of that site's ecological history and evolution?

Geared up and heading into the burn to set up the plots inside the exclosures constructed in partnership with Liard River Adventures, the Wildfire Management Branch (NIFAC crews), Oklahoma State University and the Range program of the Ministry of Forests and Range.

Exclosure 1 on the north side of the Liard River, 3 months post fire in 2009.

How much proof is needed to show that fire is the dominant ecosystem driver in the boreal?

Are humans part of the ecosystem?

What happens to those species who depend on fire, when there is no fire?

3 months postfire in 2009 - clearly this landscape has been devestated by fire and this plot is a good example of how fire can cause ED - ecosystem dysfunction.

What does ecologically sound mean anyways? Function ... functionality ... proper use ... uniform distribution ...

And furthermore, why do we not talk about ecosystem dysfunction or what I will now term as the ecological ED whereby there is an inability to develop or maintain an ecosystem including the proper functioning of all natural processes for satisfactory ecosystem performance?

Tell me what you think ... sonja.leverkus@okstate.edu

Trevor Scott setting up the plots and spacing inside the exclosures.

Don Gayton and Ray Couple at exclosure 1 (same as previously shown in 2009) on the north side of the Liard River in 2010 amongst a carpet of Pink corydalis, Dragonhead mint, Bicknell's geranium, moss, grasses and other forbs ... is this system functioning?

Dr. Marten Geertsema and Ray Coupe at the aspen exclosure in Summer 2010. Is fire bad?

The aspen exclosure site 1 year post fire.

Using the 1m2 plots inside and outside the exclosure to compare the plant communities in burned and grazed vs burned and ungrazed.

Some dysfunctional Hairy Wild Rye to the left of Michelle? Max heights for 1 year post fire were up to 160cm ... clearly another case of ED (ecoystem dysfunction)? I would disagree...

Michelle Edwards (formerly of BC Timber Sales) with Dave (as bear watch) from the Hotsprings. Excellent field crew!


Year 2 of Exclosure sampling. Michelle Edwards (formerly of BC Timber Sales) and my mum Dr. Gillian Leverkus and I at the end of sampling. A tip of the hat to Ranger Al for covering bear watch duties for a day in Fall 2010. I owe a big thank you and special recognition to my field crew: Trevor Scott, Gillian Leverkus and Michelle Edwards.

Me 'n Woody the Wood bison. Woody watched over us while we were doing our vegetation work.

The 2009 field crew: Gillian Leverkus, Trevor Scott and I - the definition of hard work, outdoor enjoyment and family. Thank you mum and Trevor for believing in me and for all your sweat, blood, guts and tears with me!!!! I am proud to be family with you!

The elusive Wood bison

Charles Dickie, Dr. Helen Schwantje, Wood bison cow, Sonja with Ranger Al protecting us in the background.

It's always true that when you are looking for something that is typically found in a specific location, it's not going to be there that day. Such is true with the Wood bison herds of the Fontas and Liard. This past November brought us a week of working with the bison. The plan was to tranquilize the cows with collars, download the data from the past year and a half, put new batteries in those collars and add 2 more new GPS pods to make our sample size increased to 7 animals per herd and then I was to start analyzing the data for the Society for Range Management conference in Billings, Montana in February 2011 and to further analyze that data for my thesis and for the Ministry of Environment and Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation.

But! Such was not the way it came to an end! Only one collar was retrived from the Fontas (Etthithun herd), however, four collars were retrieved from the Liard (Nordquist herd). Although we had 5 collars in our hands, we were only able to download the data from 4 of the collars (one from Fontas and the rest from Liard). It would appear that the wires at the base of the collars were snapped/torn.

Some pictures from our intense, emotional roller coaster ride of a time doing the bison work include ....

Dr. Helen Schwantje teaching Charles Dickie about the tranquilizers used on the Wood bison.

The crew getting set up on the Alaska Highway with a Wood bison herd less then 20 feet away.

All great stories start out with ... it was a cool, calm morning and the Bison were all grazing peacefully by the side of the Alaska Highway... this herd ended up spooking and stampeding across the highway, not to be found until later in the day. Onto the other herd ...
Conservation Officer Jeff Scott and Wood bison cow.

Tyler Mattheis and Charles Dickie with one of the matriarchs (tranquilized)

Conservation Officer Jeff Scott helping Conrad Thiessen (Wildlife Biologist) and Helen work on the matriarch.

Conrad, Ranger Al and Tyler processing the matriarch.

Conrad Thiessen and I with a matriarch.

All a person could ever hope for is to have two big, strong bulls trying to lift you up to bring you back to the herd should you go down.

Charles Dickie and I putting the new GPS pod collar on.

Conrad won the sharpshooter of the day award for his excellent accuracy with the tranquilizer gun.

Charles Dickie monitoring the Bison herd the day after working with them.

The one who got away! She escaped us and we were unable to recover the collar. In a couple weeks, it should blow off and hopefully Ranger Al and Conrad will go up and retrieve it!

The Crew: Ranger Al Hansen, Dr. Helen Schwantje, Tyler Mattheis (NRRM), Charles Dickie, Sonja, Conrad Thiessen and Wood bison cow (missing: Armand and Conservation Officer Jeff Scott. Photo credit: Armand)