Changing Prairie Landscapes


Book Description

Landscapes of the Northern Great Plains have been constantly changing, but never so rapidly as under modern conditions of economic affluence and technological development. This change is multifaceted and has an impact not only on the fabric of culture and its perception of landscape, but also on the ecology and physical landforms. Multidisciplinary research has therefore become an important tool in identifying the influences that human activities have, not only on cultural landscapes but on biophysical ones as well. This collection of articles, originating in a conference held at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in April 2000, focuses on just such an integration of research concerning the Great Plains of North America and involving the disciplines of geology, archaeology, biology, geography, sociology, and agriculture.

























Holocene Climate and Environmental Change in the Palliser Triangle


Book Description

The Palliser Triangle extends from south-west Manitoba to south central Alberta, and is one of the most climatically sensitive regions in Canada. There is evidence & concern that climate change is likely to affect the Triangle. The geological record contains unique information on the impacts of a wide range of past climate changes. This paleoenvironmental record, and the context it provides for assessing the impacts of future climate change, is the focus of the Palliser Triangle Global Change Project. This bulletin contains 18 papers related to two major objectives of that Project: reconstruction of Holocene climatic and hydrological changes, and evaluation of the relationships between climate & landscape processes. The first paper is an overview of the Project and a broad synthesis of major results. The next nine papers are devoted to records of past climate & hydrological change documented in paleolimnological and hydrogeological studies. The rest of the papers focus on geomorphic processes in the Triangle and how these respond to climate forcing.