A Simpler Method for Understanding Emergency Shelter Access Patterns

The Simplified Access Metric (SAM) is a new approach for characterizing emergency shelter access patterns as a measure of shelter client vulnerability. The goal of SAM is to provide shelter operators with an intuitive way to understand access patterns that can be implemented by non-technical staff using spreadsheet operations. Client data from a large North American shelter will be used to demonstrate that SAM produces similar results to traditional transitional, episodic and chronic client cluster analysis. Since SAM requires less data than cluster analysis, it is also able to generate a real time picture of how shelter access patterns are affected by external factors. Timelines generated from nine years of shelter client data using SAM demonstrate the impact of Housing First programming and the COVID-19 lockdown on how people access shelter. Finally, SAM allows shelter staff to move beyond assigning transitional, episodic and chronic labels and instead use the "soft" output of SAM directly as a measure of vulnerability

A Graph Analysis of the Impact of COVID-19 on Emergency Housing Shelter Access Patterns

This paper investigates how COVID-19 disrupted emergency housing shelter access patterns in Calgary, Canada and what aspects of these changes persist to the present day. This analysis will utilize aggregated shelter access data for over 40,000 individuals from seven major urban shelters dating from 2018 to the present. A graph theoretic approach will be used to examine the journeys of individuals between shelters before, during and after the COVID-19 lockdown period. This approach treats shelters as nodes in a graph and a person's transition between shelter as an arrow or edge between nodes. This perspective is used to create both timeline and network diagrams that visualize shelter use and the flow of people between shelters. Statistical results are also presented that illustrate the differences between the cohorts of people who only used shelter pre/post-lockdown, people who stayed in shelter during lockdown and people who used shelter for the first time during lockdown. The results demonstrate not only how a complex system of care responded to the pandemic but also the characteristics of the people most likely to continue to rely on that system during an emergency

Interacting influence of light and size on aboveground biomass distribution in sub-boreal conifer sapling with contrasting shade tolerance

Plant size often influences shade tolerance but relatively few studies have considered the functional response of taller plants to contrasting light environments. Several boreal and sub-boreal Abies, Picea and Pinus species were studied along a light (0-90% full sunlight) and size (30-400-cm high) gradient to examine the interactive influence of tree size and light availability on aboveground biomass distribution. Sampling was conducted in two regions of Canada: (A) British Columbia, for Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt., the Picea glauca (Moench.) Voss x P. engelmannii Parry ex. Engelm. complex and Pinus contorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm.; and (B) Qu

Seasonal distribution and population parameters of woodland caribou in central Manitoba: implications for forestry practices

Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in the boreal forest are believed threatened by human encroachment and associated disturbances such as resource exploration and extraction. We radiocollared and monitored fifteen female woodland caribou in central Manitoba, from 1995 to 1997, to obtain information on their population range, seasonal distribution and movements in relation to forestry concerns. The population ranged over 4600 km2 within a large peatland system and concentrated their activities in two areas for both the summer and winter seasons. Females were relatively more solitary during the summer and exhibited fidelity to specific calving and summering areas averaging 83.4 km2. Individual wintering locations varied between years and among individuals. Post-rut and pre-calving mixed-sex aggregations occurred on the southern portion of the herds range. Caribou from the northern part of the range utilized a traditional travel corridor moving as far as 65 km to access the aggregation areas and their summer or winter ranges. Adult survival during the study period averaged 0.90 (95% CI, 0.80-1.00). Survival of the 1995 cohort appeared to be high as indicated by the 0.65:1 calf-cow ratio, and 30 ± 7% calf composition of observed caribou in the autumn of 1995. The annual rate of change (A,) of 1.19 (95% CI, 1.02-1.36) from January to November of 1995 indicated rhat the population was increasing at that time

Inuit Knowledge of Long-term Changes in a Population of Arctic Tundra Caribou

Indigenous peoples possess knowledge about wildlife that dates back many generations. Inuit observations of historical changes in a caribou population on southern Baffin Island, collected from 43 elders and active hunters during 1983-95, indicate that caribou were abundant and their distributions extensive in most coastal areas of southern Baffin Island from c.1900-25. Subsequently, caribou distributions contracted and abundance declined, probably reaching an overall low in the 1940s. Beginning in the mid-1950s, distributions and abundance increased gradually, at least until the mid-1980s. Changes in distribution occurred mainly during autumn, as caribou migrated to their wintering areas. Within most wintering areas, increases in caribou abundance followed a process of range expansion, range drift (i.e., expanding on one front while contracting on another), and finally range shift (i.e., mass emigration to a new winter range). During the population decline and low, the caribou often exhibited winter range volatility (i.e., frequent, unpredictable interannual range shifts). On the basis of Inuit descriptions of caribou abundance, we estimated that the population as a whole decreased an average of 9% annually from 1910 to 1940, and then increased about 8% annually from 1940 to 1980. This pattern was largely consistent across southern Baffin Island. As Inuit elders had predicted in 1985, the population essentially abandoned its highest-density wintering area on Foxe Peninsula during the late 1980s, apparently emigrating en masse to a new wintering area on Meta Incognita Peninsula, about 375 km to the southeast. Inuit knowledge suggested that caribou population fluctuations are cyclic, with each full cycle occurring over the lifetime of an elder. Both this study and historical records dating from 1860 support a periodicity of 60-80 years for fluctuations of the South Baffin caribou population. Inuit elders suggested that the abundance of caribou on wintering areas decreases several years after caribou occupy small coastal islands, a phenomenon currently occurring throughout southern Baffin Island, except on Cumberland Peninsula. The Inuit recognize two ecotypes of caribou: migratory upland-lowland caribou and resident mountain-plateau caribou. After migratory caribou from Foxe Peninsula shifted their winter range around 1990, Meta Incognita Peninsula was occupied by both ecotypes. The migratory caribou apparently occupy low elevations, while the resident caribou remain in the mountains, producing two seasonal migratory patterns. Inuit knowledge proved to be temporally and spatially more complete than the written record.Les peuples autochtones possèdent des connaissances sur la faune qui remontent à des générations. Les observations inuit sur les changements historiques survenus dans une population de caribous sur la partie méridionale de l'île de Baffin recueillies auprès de 44 anciens et chasseurs en activité entre 1983 et 1995 révèlent que, d'environ 1900 à 1925, le caribou était abondant et réparti sur une vaste superficie dans la plupart des zones côtières du sud de l'île de Baffin. Par la suite, le domaine du caribou s'est rétréci et l'animal a diminué en nombre, atteignant probablement son niveau le plus bas dans les années 1940. À partir du milieu des années 1950, la distribution et le nombre d'animaux ont augmenté graduellement, au moins jusqu'au milieu des années 1980. La distribution changeait surtout durant l'automne, quand le caribou migrait vers ses aires d'hivernage. Dans toute aire d'hivernage, l'augmentation du nombre de caribous suivait un processus d'expansion du territoire, de dérive du territoire (c.-à-d. expansion sur un front en même temps que contraction sur un autre), et finalement de déplacement du territoire (c.-à-d. émigration généralisée du caribou vers une nouvelle aire d'hivernage). Durant la baisse et le minimum de population, l'aire du caribou se révélait souvent instable (c-.à-d. que d'une année à l'autre, l'animal changeait fréquemment de territoire, et ce, d'une façon imprévisible). En se fondant sur les descriptions inuit de l'abondance du caribou, on a estimé que l'ensemble de la population a baissé en moyenne de 9 p. cent par an de 1910 à 1940, puis augmenté de près de 8 p. cent par an de 1940 à 1980. Ce schéma était à peu près identique dans toute la partie méridionale de l'île de Baffin. Comme les Inuit l'avaient prédit en 1985, la population a quasiment abandonné son aire d'hivernage à très forte densité sur la péninsule Foxe à la fin des années 1980, pour apparemment émigrer en masse vers une nouvelle aire d'hivernage sur la péninsule Meta Incognita située à environ 375 km au sud-est. Le savoir inuit suggérait que les fluctuations dans la population du caribou sont cycliques, chaque cycle complet couvrant la durée de vie d'un ancien. Cette étude, de même que les dossiers historiques datant de 1860, appuient une périodicité de 60 à 80 ans pour les fluctuations de la population du caribou du sud de Baffin. Les anciens inuit suggéraient que les sous-populations de caribou sur l'île principale diminuent plusieurs années après que l'animal a occupé les petites îles côtières, phénomène qui se passe actuellement dans toute la partie méridionale de l'île de Baffin, sauf dans la péninsule Cumberland. Les anciens inuit identifient deux écotypes de caribou: celui qui migre des hautes terres vers les basses terres et inversement et celui qui réside en permanence sur les montagnes et plateaux. Après que le caribou de la péninsule Foxe a changé d'aire d'hivernage vers 1990, la péninsule Meta Incognita a été occupée par les deux écotypes. Le caribou migrateur occupe apparemment les sites bas, tandis que le caribou sédentaire reste dans les montagnes, ce qui donne lieu à deux schémas migratoires saisonniers. Les connaissances des Inuit se sont avérées plus complètes que celles consignées dans les documents écrits, autant en ce qui concerne les données spatiales que temporelles

The angular distribution of diffuse photosynthetically active radiation under different sky conditions in the open and within deciduous and conifer forest stands of Quebec and British Columbia, Canada

The angular distribution of diffuse photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) was characterised in the open and beneath deciduous and conifer forests in Quebec and British Columbia, Canada, under overcast and clear sky conditions, using a restricted field of view light sensor and hemispherical canopy photographs. The angular distribution of PAR was described by the relative light reading (RLR). In the open on overcast days, light was best characterized using the standard overcast sky distribution with the light intensity at the zenith set to four to five times greater than the light intensity at the horizon. RLR under forest stands was found to decrease with decreasing elevation angles under both overcast and clear sky conditions. Aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) and Jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) stands transmitted more light from a relatively wider angle around the zenith than the spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss and Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) stands, which transmitted light mainly from the zenith. RLR estimated with the hemispherical canopy photographs (RLR hc_corr) generally provided a comparable prediction of the effect of the canopy composition on the angular distribution of PAR