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Thesis Defence: Claire Paillard (MSc NRES, Biology)

Date: Jul 02, 2024 - 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Location: Zoom

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You are encouraged to attend the defence. The details of the defence and how to attend are included below:

DATE: 02 July 2024

TIME: 10 AM (PT)

DEFENCE MODE: Remote

Virtual Attendance: Zoom

Please contact the Office of Graduate Administration for information regarding remote/online defences.

To ensure the defence proceeds with no interruptions, please mute your audio and video on entry and do not inadvertently share your screen. The meeting will be locked to entry 5 minutes after it begins: ensure you are on time.

THESIS ENTITLED: THE TAXONOMIC AND FUNCTIONAL DIVERSITY OF GROUND ARTHROPODS IN A MID-SIZED BRITISH COLUMBIA CITY WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON PHORIDS

ABSTRACT: Urban environments can host diverse arthropod communities that provide critical ecosystem services. Yet cities are complex, heterogenous habitats with many different land management practices at small spatial scales, often with variable effects on arthropods. Arthropods should be considered during urban development, which often involves habitat destruction or modification that threatens or alters arthropod biodiversity and the services they provide, such as pollination and pestcontrol. In this study, I investigated how urban land use types impact the taxonomic and functional diversity of ground arthropods. I compared arthropod communities from industrial, greenbelt, and residential land use types across twelve sites (n=4 per land use type) in Prince George, a mid-sized British Columbia city, sampled in 2015. I also focused on phorids (Diptera: Phoridae) in chapter two, which represent one of the most taxonomically rich and abundant insect groups in urban spaces. I sampled phorids from 30 sites during the summer of 2022. For ground arthropods, neither functional nor taxonomic diversity differed significantly between land use types. Composition of communities, however, was distinct and urbanized land use types favoured herbivorous taxa. For the 2022 data, 99 operational taxonomic units were detected with DNA barcoding, with greenbelt, edge, and residential areas harbouring the most diverse and abundant fly communities. Overall, Prince George hosts species-rich, functionally diverse arthropod communities, even in its most urbanized land use types. This work provides a foundation for management and preservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in similar urban habitats

COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP:

Chair: Dr. Ranjana Bird, University of Northern British Columbia

Examining Committee Members:

Supervisor: Dr. Dezene Huber, University of Northern British Columbia

Committee Member: Dr. Felix Sperling, University of Alberta

Committee Member: Dr. Che Elkin, University of Northern British Columbia

External Examiner: Dr. Carly Ziter, Concordia University