Josée-Anne Otis, a second-year Masters student in the Environmental and Life Sciences program at Trent University, was recognized with a top honour at the “Genomes to Biomes” conference held in Montreal in May 2014. Ms. Otis won first prize for Outstanding CSEE Student Poster at the conference, the first-ever joint event held by the Canadian scientific societies of Ecology and Evolution (CSEE), Zoology (CSZ) and Limnologists (SCL).

Ms. Otis was among a large student delegation from Trent University who attended the conference to give speeches and poster presentations about their research. Based on research conducted alongside Dr. Dennis Murray, senior Canada research chair in integrative wildlife conservation, Ms. Otis presented a poster titled “Ecological niche differentiation along a Canis hybridization gradient in eastern North America,” which explored longstanding questions regarding the ecological role of the “coywolf”, a wolf-coyote hybrid, as well as its parental species. Her findings are an important foundation for the conservation and management of these species.

“It is understood that the eastern wolf, which currently inhabits especially the Algonquin Park area in Ontario, and the western coyote, which occurs primarily in central North America, have hybridized to create viable and fertile offspring that now occupy most of eastern North America,” Ms. Otis said. “However, until now, the ecological differentiation between wolves, coyotes and hybrids has remained largely unknown.”

Through her research at Trent, Ms. Otis found that these different Canis types are not only genetically different but also exhibit ecological differences. “Because coyotes are more tolerant of human activity and landscape modification compared to eastern wolves, it was rather striking to find that in terms of almost all the habitat and environmental variables that I looked at, hybrids occupied areas that were intermediate to the two parental species,” she said.

Ms. Otis came to Trent to study conservation from Quebec, the only Canadian province outside Ontario with an established eastern wolf population, and feels that she chose the perfect project and location. “I knew which skills I want to develop during my Masters degree and this is why I came to Trent to work with Dr. Murray, who is recognized for his work in wildlife conservation biology,” Ms. Otis said. “I am so happy to have found this project, which provides me with opportunities for collaboration, acquisition of new skills, as well as allows me to address conservation problems that are relevant to Ontario, as well as my native province of Quebec.”

The eastern wolf was identified in 2001 as “special concern” by the Canadian (COSEWIC) and Ontarian (COSSARO) Committees on the Status of species at Risk, and investigations are currently underway to more accurately determine the species’ status and conservation needs.

"Range expansion of coyotes and their hybrids continues, but there is limited understanding of the consequences for the remnant eastern wolf population. The implication, however, is that the expansion hybrids into eastern wolf range will have serious repercussions for wolf conservation. Moreover, these species are very hard to identify visually,” Ms. Otis said. “In fact, in most cases we need to use genetic testing to determine their identity. This makes the study of these animals very complex and expensive." Ms. Otis’ work required extensive cooperation with government agencies and museums across the United States and Canada.

Ms. Otis adds her latest accomplishment to several awards she has received during her time at Trent, including a national scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), being named a provincial Ontario Graduate Student, and Quebec Nature and Technologies scholarships, as well as awards from the Desjardins Foundation and from Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters for her research profile and social engagement.

For more information about the Integrative Wildlife Conservation lab at Trent University, please visit www.dennismurray.ca.

Posted on Monday, June 30, 2014.