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Bat conservation has become prevalent over the last few decades due to critical population declines worldwide. Our purpose was to assess whether Brock Fenton's research career coincided with increasing bat conservation research in Canada and North America. Fenton has made significant contributions to bat research during a long and productive publishing career accompanied by participation in research organizations like the North American Society for Bat Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. His conservation research as well as efforts to raise public awareness about these animals has coincided with work for the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada and its equivalent (Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario) in ON. To assess the impact of his career, we quantified the relative amount of his peer-reviewed publications with a conservation focus and compared this with the level of conservation-related presentations at annual North American Society for Bat Research conferences. In the same manner, we assessed how often conservation-focused applications were funded by the Ecology and Evolution section of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council—Canada Discovery grant program. Although it cannot be said with authority that Fenton actually initiated the increase in bat conservation research, our results indicate that his research efforts coincide with and presumably had considerable influence in driving this area of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study that examined greater sage-grouse nest and brood habitat use in Alberta using radiotelemetry and assessed the relationship between habitat and population decline. Correlation of vegetation characteristics and the success of nests; Measurements of habitat characteristics; Use of the forward stepwise Discriminant Function Analysis; Suggested wildlife management strategies for sage-grouse.

Presents a study which examined the productivity and nesting activities of greater sage-grouse in southeastern Alberta using radio-telemetry. Cause of the decline in sage-grouse populations; Methods used; Results; Discussion.

Presents a study that investigates the year-to-year reuse of roost trees by California bats in Southern British Columbia. Factors that drive researchers to study the roosting behavior of bats; Methodology used in the study; Findings on the roost trees used by bats.

We observed 56 forced copulation (FC) events in a breeding colony of American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) in Saskatchewan, Canada during the 2005 nesting season. All FCs were directed at nestlings >21 days of age that were not continuously attended by an adult. The onset of FCs occurred in close synchrony with an unexpected late-season increase in adult copulation attempts. We suggest that FC directed at nestlings is not simply an aberrant and non-adaptive behavior. Rather, copulations with nestlings result from adult male pelicans being inappropriately stimulated to copulate with nestlings when actually seeking copulations with adult females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which observed the occurrence of greater sage-grouse and sharp-tailed grouse hybrids in southeastern Alberta. Decline in the sage-grouse populations throughout North America since the 1950s; Methods used; Results; Discussion.

After accounting for body size, bats have the longest lifespan of all mammals. Little Brown Bats ( Myotis lucifugus) are one of the most common and widely distributed mammals in Canada; however, little is known of their longevity. We captured bats in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Saskatchewan in May 2015, as part of long-term bat research in the Park that began in 1991. On 31 May 2015, we captured 16 female Little Brown Bats in a maternity colony, including a bat that was originally captured and banded as an adult in 1993. This capture record indicates that the female bat was at least 23 y old and this record represents the oldest bat record in Saskatchewan. Little Brown Bats in eastern North America have declined dramatically due to white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease responsible for the quickest wildlife die-off in history. Pre-infection natural history data for Little Brown Bats are important as the disease spreads through central Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the post-fledging survival and cause-specific mortality of juvenile burrowing owls in Saskatchewan. Factors behind the decline in the number of burrowing owls; Calculation of cause-specific mortality rates; Recommendation on the management of burrowing owls.