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Contemporary high latitude diversity may be largely structured due to vicariant events during major glaciations and subsequent species radiations during the Pleistocene. Little is known about how diversity was produced at high latitudes, although recent studies suggest that these regions may have increased rates of both speciation and extinction because of large scale climatic changes. In this study, I focus on the high latitude islands of the North Pacific Coast and track the historical processes responsible for contemporary diversification of multiple species. I characterize the holarctic distribution for Mustela erminea in light of three previously described monophyletic clades. Using a suite of molecular markers,...
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Cultural diversity in the United States and Canada presents communication scholars with a challenge for increasing the representation of marginalized groups in public decision-making in North American. While differences in values, norms, and language make the process problematic; power inequalities and negative historical relationships are dimensions that are far more difficult to overcome. The ability to build long-term relationships across cultural barriers is an area that appears promising for increasing the engagement of marginalized groups in the public dialogue required for community planning. The purpose of this study was to develop theory to describe how First Nations and the governments of Canada and British...
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Understanding how diversity is partitioned across the landscape can provide perspectives related to the environmental processes that have influenced the evolutionary history of organisms. This main idea, often termed phylogeography, serves as the backdrop to my research where I explore three broad concepts including historical biogeography, cryptic diversity and ecology, and conservation phylogenetics. I address various questions in each of these concepts by using a set of mammals that are associated with montane and mesic environments of North America. More specifically, I focus on the jumping mice (Zapodidae) to test hypotheses that scale to the broader community. This approach allows for a more refined understanding...
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The primary focus in this dissertation is on the processes of environmental change that drive evolution. We are currently witnessing unparalleled changes in climate and associated changes in biotic communities. With a growing understanding that climate and habitat change, coupled with natural variability, will have an increased influence on biota into the future, it is our responsibility to learn how best to manage and conserve the Earth's natural resources. Among other things, this will require a firmer understanding of biodiversity, life histories, evolutionary relationships among species, and community dynamics over multiple species. One method of understanding how species will respond to future change is to...
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