Steven Ferguson Fisheries & Oceans Canada - Science Biological Sciences - University of Manitoba

	Research Interests
	Students(Current & Past) and Staff
	Publications
	University Associations
	Education History
	Contact
	Ringed Seal Tracking
	Orcas of the Canadian Arctic

• I am fascinated by evolutionary ecology and have focused my research on large mammals of Canada’s Arctic, including polar bears, caribou, moose, wolves, seals, and whales.
• Currently, I am responsible for the population health of marine mammals in the Canadian Arctic that includes seals and whales. I am gathering information on how global warming and human economic development in the Arctic affects the ecology of marine mammals and ways to mitigate potential problems. The goal is to conserve the region’s diversity of marine mammals and their immediate environment.
• I conduct research into marine ecosystem ecology. For example, knowing more about the arctic food web and foraging behaviour will help to understand variation in food for marine mammals and ultimately support the Inuit traditional lifestyle.
• We are working to organize a string of communities across the Canadian Arctic to assist with Community-Based Monitoring. The objective is to empower Inuit to lead an Arctic Observation Network that adds considerably to our ability to monitor and understand the profound changes occurring in the circumpolar Arctic.
• Global Warming and Arctic Marine Mammals
  • International Polar Year Project 2008 Progress Report
  • International Polar Year Project 2009 Progress Report
• I am interested in global climate change and how a reduction in sea ice extent will affect marine mammal fitness and ultimately impact their distribution and abundance. Field work includes marine mammal capture and attaching satellite transmitters to monitor their movements and determine food habits and resource selection.
• Local Inuit hunters provide samples from harvested marine mammals that are being analyzed for contaminants, genetics, disease, reproduction, food habits, reproduction, survival, and growth rate. Marine mammal, fish, zooplankton, algae, water, and sediment samples are tested in labs to monitor chemical signals, such as fatty acids and stable isotopes, that reveal spatial and temporal trends in trophic relations.
• We hope to better understand how climate, ocean, sea ice, and trophic links determine the viability of marine mammal populations in a future Arctic under global warming.
• To document change we have developed a unique team of northerners monitoring killer whale movements, distribution, and predation events. In conjunction with Traditional Ecological Knowledge studies of Inuit elders and hunters, we hope to understand how the current polar bear-seal world is transforming into a cetacean world dominated by killer whales. How will this dramatic regime shift affect northerners and how can we assist to provide mitigative solutions that will help them adapt?
• Local Inuit need the whales and seals for subsistence hunting and preservation of their social values. Their way of life is endangered by any changes in the movements and availability of marine mammals associated with climate change.
• The ultimate goal is to preserve Arctic biodiversity in a holistic vision that includes human culture. To accomplish this goal I will
  • (1) train a new generation of Arctic scientists,
  • (2) build predictive models to assist northerners adapt to global warming, and
  • (3) develop a locally run community-based monitoring system that empowers the north.

• Ashley Gade: 2006-2009, M.Sc., Effects of contaminants on ringed seals, Department of Environment and Geography, University of Manitoba.
• Lisa Loseto: 2003-2007, Ph.D., Beaufort beluga whales: mercury, diet, and trophic level interactions, Zoology Department, University of Manitoba.
• Alexander Smith: 2005-2007, M.Sc., Hudson Bay beluga use of the Nelson River estuary, Geography Department, University of Manitoba. 

Life-history evolution

Ferguson, S.H. and S. Larivière. 2008. How Social Behaviour Links Environment and Body Size in Mammalian Carnivores. Open Journal of Ecology 1:1-7. doi: 10.2174/1874213000801010001 (PDF)

Higdon, J.W., O.R.P. Bininda-Emonds, R. Beck, and S.H. Ferguson. 2007. Phylogeny and divergence of the pinnipeds (Carnivora: Mammalia) assessed using a multigene supertree with fossil calibrations. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 7:216. (PDF) (ERRATUM)

Ferguson, S.H., J.W. Higdon, and S. Larivière. 2006. Does seasonality explain the evolution and maintenance of delayed implantation in the family Mustelidae (Mammalia: Carnivora)? Oikos 114:249-256. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H. and S. Larivière. 2004. Are long penis bones an adaptation to high latitude snowy environments? Oikos 105:255-267. (PDF)

Great Northern Penis Bones: Quirks & Quarks Interview (MP3 file)

Nature Science Update Story 5 April 2004 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news040329-18 (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H. and S. Larivière. 2004. Is mustelid life history different? In: Martens and Fishers (Martes) in human-altered environments: An international perspective. Pp 2-19. D.J. Harrison, A.K. Fuller, and G. Proulx (eds). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, Massachusetts, USA. (PDF)

Larivière, S. and S.H. Ferguson. 2003. Evolution of induced ovulation in North American carnivores. Journal of Mammalogy 84: 937-947. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H. and S. Larivière. 2002. Can comparing life histories help conserve carnivores? Animal Conservation 5: 1-12. (PDF)

Larivière, S. and S.H. Ferguson. 2002. On the evolution of the mammalian baculum: vaginal friction, prolonged intromission, and induced ovulation? Mammal Review 32: 283-294. (PDF)

McLoughlin, P.D., and S.H. Ferguson. 2000. A hierarchical sequence of limiting factors may help explain variation in home range size. Écoscience 7:123-130. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H., J.A. Virgl, and S. Larivière. 1996. Evolution of delayed implantation and associated grade shifts in life history traits of North American carnivores. Écoscience 3: 7-17. (PDF)

Marine mammals [top of publications][top of page]

Loseto, L.L., G.A. Stern, T.L. Connelly, D. Deibel, B. Gemmill, A. Prokopowicz, L. Fortier, and S.H. Ferguson. 2009. Summer diet of beluga whales inferred by fatty acid analysis of the eastern Beaufort Sea food web. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 374: 12–18. doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2009.03.015 (PDF)

Higdon, J.W. and S.H. Ferguson. 2009. Loss of Arctic sea ice causing punctuated change in sightings of killer whales (Orcinus orca) over the past century. Ecological Applications 19(5): 1365-1375. doi: 10.1890/07-1941.1 (PDF)

Gaden, A., S.H. Ferguson, L. Harwood, H. Melling, and G.A. Stern. 2009. Mercury trends in ringed seals (Phoca hispida) from the Western Canadian Arctic since 1973: Associations with length of ice-free season. Environmental Science and Technology 43(10): 3646–3651. doi: 10.1021/es803293z (PDF)

Chambellant, M. and S.H. Ferguson. 2009. Ageing live ringed seals (Phoca hispida): Which tooth to pull? Marine Mammal Science 25(2): 478-486. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2008.00269.x (PDF)

Luque, S.P. and S.H. Ferguson. 2009. Ecosystem regime shifts have not affected growth and survivorship of eastern Beaufort Sea belugas. Oecologia 160(2): 1432-1939. doi: 10.1007/s00442-009-1300-6 (PDF)(supplemental material)

Laidre, K.L., I. Stirling, L.F. Lowry, Ø. Wiig, M.P. Heide-JØrgensen, and S.H. Ferguson. 2008. Quantifying the sensitivity of Arctic marine mammals to climate-induced habitat change. Ecological Applications 18: S97-S125. (PDF)

Loseto, L.L., G.A. Stern, and S.H. Ferguson. 2008. Size and Biomagnification: How Habitat Selection Explains Beluga Mercury Levels. Environmental Science and Technology 42:3982-3988. doi: 2008.10.1021/es7024388 (PDF)

Loseto, L.L., Stern, G.A., Connelly, T.L., Prokopowicz, A., Deibel, D., Fortier, L., Ferguson, S.H. 2008. Linking Habitat and Feeding Behaviour to Mercury Exposure in Beaufort Sea Beluga Whales. Journal of Marine Systems. (PDF)

Loseto, L.L., P. Richard, G.A. Stern, J. Orr, and S.H. Ferguson. 2006. Segregation of Beaufort Sea beluga whales during the open-water season. Canadian Journal of Zoology 84:1743-1751. (PDF)

Luque, S.P., J.W. Higdon, and S.H. Ferguson. 2007. Dentine deposition rates in beluga (Delphinapterus leucas): An analysis of the evidence. Aquatic Mammals 33:241-245. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H. and J.W. Higdon. 2006. How seals divide up the world: environmental, life-history, and conservation. Oecologia 150:318-329. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H. 2006. The influence of environment, mating habitat, and predation on evolution of pinniped lactation strategies. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 13:63-82. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H., I. Stirling, P. McLoughlin. 2005. Climate change and ringed seal (Phoca hispida) recruitment in western Hudson Bay. Marine Mammal Science 21: 121-135. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H., and F. Messier. 1996. Ecological implications of a latitudinal gradient in inter-annual climatic variability: a test using fractal and chaos theories. Ecography 19: 382-292. (PDF)

Polar bears [top of publications][top of page]

Taylor, M.K., Laake, J., McLoughlin, P. D., Born, E., Cluff, H. D., Ferguson, S. H., Rosing-Asvid, A., Schweinsburg, R. and Messier, F. 2005. Demography and viability of a hunted population of polar bears Arctic 58: 203-214. (PDF)

Taylor, M.K., S. Akeeagok, D. Andriashek, W. Barbour, E.W. Born, W. Calvert, H.D. Cluff, S. Ferguson, J. Laake, A. Rosing-Asvid, I. Stirling, and F. Messier. 2001. Delineating Canadian and Greenland polar bear (Ursus maritimus) populations by cluster analysis of movements. Canadian Journal of Zoology 79: 690-709. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H., M.K. Taylor, E.W. Born, A. Rosing-Asvid, and F. Messier. 2001. Activity and movement patterns of polar bears inhabiting consolidating versus active pack ice. Arctic 54: 49-54. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H., M.K. Taylor, A. Rosing-Asvid, E.W. Born, and F. Messier. 2000. Relationship between denning of polar bears and sea-ice conditions. Journal of Mammalogy 81:1118-1127. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H., M.K. Taylor, and F. Messier. 2000. Influence of sea ice dynamics on habitat selection by polar bears. Ecology 81: 761-772. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H., M.K. Taylor, E.W. Born, A. Rosing-Asvid, and F. Messier. 1999. Determinants of range size in polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Ecology Letters 5: 311-318. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H., E. Born, M.K. Taylor, and F. Messier. 1998. Fractals, sea-ice landscape, and spatial dispersion of polar bears. Journal of Biogeography 25: 1081-1092. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H., M.K. Taylor, and F. Messier. 1997. Space use of polar bears in and around Auyuittuq National Park, Northwest Territories, during the ice-free period. Canadian Journal of Zoology 75: 1585-1594. (PDF)

Forestry [top of publications][top of page]

Ferguson, S.H. 2004. Effects of poisoning nonindigenous slugs in a boreal forest. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 34: 449-455. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H. and P.C. Elkie. 2003. Comparing snag abundance 20, 30, and 40 years following fire and harvesting disturbance in a boreal forest. Old Growth Forests in Canada: a science perspective. Forest Chronicle 79:1-9. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H. and D. Archibald. 2002. The ¾ power law in forest management: how to grow dead trees. Forest Ecology and Management 169: 283-292. (PDF)

Soil arthropods [top of publications][top of page]

Ferguson, S.H. 2004. Does predation or moisture explain distance to edge distribution of soil arthropods? American Midland Naturalist 152: 75-87. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H. 2004. Influence of edge on predator-prey distribution and abundance. Acta Oecologica 25:111-117. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H. and D.O. Joly. 2002. Dynamics of springtail and mite populations: the role of density dependence, predation, and weather. Ecological Entomology 27: 565-573. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H. 2001. Changes in trophic abundance of soil arthropods along a grass-shrub-forest gradient. Canadian Journal of Zoology 79: 457-464. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H. 2000. Predator size and distance to edge: is bigger better? Canadian Journal of Zoology 78: 713-720. (PDF)

Brown bears [top of publications][top of page]

McLoughlin, P.D., S.H. Ferguson and F. Messier. 2001. Intraspecific variation in home range overlap with habitat quality: a comparison among brown bear populations. Evolutionary Ecology 14:39-60. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H., and P.D. McLoughlin. 2000. Effect of energy availability, seasonality, and geographic range on brown bear life history. Ecography 23: 193-200. (PDF)

McLoughlin, P.D., R.L. Case, R.J. Gau, S.H. Ferguson, and F. Messier. 1999. Annual and seasonal movement patterns of barren-ground grizzly bears in the central Northwest Territories. Ursus 11: 76-86. (PDF not available)

Moose [top of publications][top of page]

Ferguson, S.H. 2002. The effects of productivity and seasonality on life history: comparing age at maturity among moose (Alces alces) populations. Global Ecology and Biogeography 11: 303-312. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H. 2002. Using survivorship curves to estimate age of first reproduction in moose Alces alces. Wildlife Biology 8: 129-136. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H., A.R. Bisset, and F. Messier. 2000. The influences of density on growth and reproduction in moose Alces alces. Wildlife Biology 6: 31-39. (PDF)

Caribou [top of publications][top of page]

Weir, J.N., S.P. Mahoney, B. McLaren, and S.H. Ferguson. 2007. Effects of mine development on woodland caribou Rangifer tarandus distribution. Wildlife Biology 13:66-74. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H. and P.C. Elkie. 2004. Habitat requirements of boreal forest caribou during the travel seasons. Basic and Applied Ecology 5:465-474. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H. and P.C. Elkie. 2004. Seasonal movement patterns of woodland caribou Rangifer tarandus caribou. Journal of Zoology, London. 262: 125-134. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H. and P.C. Elkie. 2005. Use of lake areas in winter by woodland caribou. Northeastern Naturalist 12:45-66. (PDF)

Ferguson, S.H., A.T. Bergerud, and R.S. Ferguson. 1988. Predation risk and habitat selection in the persistence of a remnant caribou population. Oecologia 76: 236-245. (PDF)

Jakimchuk, R.D., S.H. Ferguson, and L.G. Sopuck. 1987. Differential habitat use and sexual segregation of the Central Arctic caribou herd. Canadian Journal of Zoology 65: 534-541. (PDF not available)

Carruthers, D.R., S.H. Ferguson, and L.G. Sopuck. 1987. Distribution and movements of caribou, Rangifer tarandus, in the Central Arctic region of Alaska. Canadian Field-Naturalist 101: 423-432. (PDF not available)

• Adjunct with University of Manitoba, Biological Sciences
  • 2 PhD and 1 MSc students
• Adjunct with University of Manitoba, Department of Environment and Geography
  • 2 PhD and 1 MSc students
• Adjunct with Lakehead University, Department of Biology
  • 1 MSc student

• Post-doctoral research, NSERC Industrial Research Fellowship, Marten and forest management, Lakehead University
• Post-doctoral research, Polar bear risk assessment. University of Saskatchewan
• PhD University of Saskatchewan, Biology Department, The meeting of two dynamics: Polar bears and sea ice
• MSc in Biology, University of Victoria, Why are caribou on Pic Island?
• BSc in Zoology, University of Guelph

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Freshwater Institute Room 2-31
501 University Crescent
Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N6, Canada
phone 204-983-5057
fax 204-984-2403
email: steve.ferguson at dfo-mpo dot gc dot ca

University of Manitoba - Department of Biological Sciences

Fisheries & Oceans Canada - Science

University of Manitoba - Centre for Earth Observation Science

Last update -Mar 2009