A framework for mapping cumulative threats and its application to Canada

Methods for cumulative threat mapping, such as the human footprint, have been rapidly developing to inform the management of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Here, I perform the first comprehensive literature review establishing what methods are used, what threats are mapped and where, and if threats or impacts are mapped statically or dynamically in time. From knowledge gained in the review, I compiled geospatial datasets in a geographic information system to map the first Canadian human footprint. Subsequently, I answer where the most intact and heavily threatened areas are, what the most prevalent threats in Canada are and assess the accuracy of the data through a technical validation. This thesis contributes to conservation science by highlighting where regional studies are lacking, which threats are not being captured, providing examples of how studies have managed dynamic timescales and mapped through to impacts, and provides key information for future conservation in Canada.