U of S Experts Contribute to $2 M Alberta Grizzly Bear Landscape Change and Health Project

Posted November 17, 2005


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - November 17, 2005 2005-11-16-OTHER

U of S Experts Contribute to $2 M Alberta Grizzly Bear Landscape Change and
Health Project

An interprovincial team from Alberta, the University of Saskatchewan and the
University of Waterloo has been awarded $2 million from the Alberta
government's Innovation Program and industry partners to develop tools that
will harness high-tech veterinary diagnostics, satellite-generated maps, and
computer modeling to assess and predict the effects of landscape change on
the health of resident grizzly bears.

"This multidisciplinary research illustrates how expertise from across the
country can be brought together to protect the environment and the heritage
of all Canadians," says U of S president Peter MacKinnon. "These
partnerships are an integral part of our drive to be among Canada's top 10
research-intensive universities."

Project leader Gordon Stenhouse is a grizzly bear specialist with Alberta
Sustainable Resources Development and leader of the Foothills Model Forest
Grizzly Bear Program. He heads a team of wildlife veterinarians, habitat
specialists, molecular biologists, and remote sensing experts who have been
working for the past six years to understand how human activity affects
grizzly bear health. The project will also involve six graduate students and
three summer students from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario.

"Bears are at the top of the food chain, so they make a good indicator
species to assess ecosystem health," Stenhouse said. "They also have
enormous ranges, so by monitoring their health, we can assess the health of
thousands of square kilometers of ecosystem."

Grizzly bear habitat covers about one-third of Alberta, including the
foothills and eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Much of this area is
also prime timberland, with underlying oil, gas and coal deposits. For this
reason, many of the province's resource companies are strong supporters of
the grizzly bear project, together with government agencies such as Alberta
Innovation and Science.

Steven Franklin, geography professor and U of S vice-president research,
leads the remote sensing portion of the project. He will develop maps that
monitor changes in landscape, and detect changes that have an impact on
resident grizzly bear populations. The resulting maps will allow resource
managers to identify and manage key habitat areas.

The animal health portion of the project will be handled by U of S wildlife
health specialist Marc Cattet, U of S stress physiologist David Janz, and
University of Waterloo stress physiologist Matt Vijayan.

This part of the project will include isolating proteins that animals
produce when they are under long-term stress such as that caused when food
supplies are short or there is a habitat disturbance. These proteins will be
used in diagnostic "protein chips," portable tools that can quickly detect
the presence of these proteins and hence the level of stress in the bears.
Because these proteins are found in many species other than grizzly bears,
the tools developed in this project have the potential to be applied to
other wild species across Canada, particularly at-risk animals such as the
woodland caribou and wolverine.

The animal health group will also develop health profiles for individual
bears to measure the effects of long-term stress on outcomes such as
longevity, growth, reproduction, and immune function.

The habitat mapping and health data will form the core of new geographic
information system (GIS) tools that will allow resource managers to plan
their activities. Eventually, software tools can be developed that will
allow simulations of the effect developments such as new oil and gas wells,
coal mines, or forest-harvesting operations have on the health of resident
grizzly bears.

Stenhouse will handle the knowledge transfer portion of the project. This
will involve providing digital files of maps and other information, as well
as new GIS applications. Training will also be provided so that resource
managers at government agencies and among industry partners can use the new
tools to the best effect.

The Alberta Government established the Innovation Program in 2004 as a
three-year, $33-million initiative to support innovative proposals developed
by Alberta government departments, agencies, boards, commissions, Crown
corporations and their partners. The Innovation Program is designed to
achieve government's long-term goals for the province's prosperity by
expanding Alberta's capacity for innovation.

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For more information, contact:

Michael Robin
Research Communications
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-2427
michael.robin@usask.ca
www.usask.ca/research

Fran Hanington
Communications and Extension
Foothills Model Forest
(780) 865-8330
fran.hanington@gov.ab.ca
http://www.fmf.ca

Lynn Hutchings-Mah
Alberta Innovation and Science
(780) 415-6186
lynn.hutchings-mah@gov.ab.ca
http://www.innovation.gov.ab.ca