Research Interests
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Current Research
Land access and elk space use
Elk space use during hunting seasons can affect wildlife managers ability to properly manage population numbers through harvest regulations. Elk use areas where they are secure from hunting pressure to mitigate their risk during hunting seasons. Security habitat includes areas far from roads, heavily timbered and private land or land that otherwise restricts hunting access. We are exploring how the distribution of different forms of security habitat can affect the efficacy of hunter harvest in achieving management goals.
Past research
Carnivores as seed dispersers
Many members of the order Carnivora are extensive omnivores despite their orders name. This omnivory is generally accepted however few papers look at its effect on plant communities. We evaluated how various species within the order Carnivora can affect plant communities through seed dispersal, suppression or promotion of germination, and other factors. In turn we modeled how these potential changes can affect ecosystem function and carbon storage at a landscape level.
Wildlife Damage Management
Reducing conflict between livestock producers and wild carnivores is a crucial aspect of managing wildlife in and promoting carnivore recoveries. Livestock are vulnerable to depredation from carnivores in both open range and pasture husbandry settings. To reduce livestock losses and and increase tolerance and support for carnivores on the landscape we (Young Lab), are testing multiple non-lethal techniques to reduce conflict between livestock and multiple species of carnivores, including wolves (Canis lupis), coyotes (Canis latrans), black bear (Ursus americanus), and grizzly bear (Ursus arctos). We are currently testing different fladry designs for increased efficacy in excluding coyotes from sensitive areas, either pastures or sensitive habitat for endangered species. We are also quantifying different variables related to livestock protection dogs fidelity to their sheep bands to inform on improving their continued use in open range sheep herding.
Bobcat Ecology
The Kofa National Wildlife Refuge lies in the middle of the hottest part of the Sonoran desert, creating unique and harsh conditions for the animals that reside therein to survive under. Bobcats have been little studied in the southwestern United States, and even less so under these particularly harsh conditions. Through the use of GPS enabled collars, camera trapping, and DNA meta bar-coding of scat contents, we hope to establish a solid foundation of bobcat ecology in this harsh desert landscape.
Black Bears in Alabama
Bears have been extirpated from Alabama since 1921 outside of a small isolated population near Mobile. Recently however a new population has been recolonizing a part of northeastern Alabama in and around the Little River National Preserve. Both of these populations are isolated and have a low number of individuals. This raises concerns about the genetic health of the population. In conjunction with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources we sampled both populations utilizing minimally invasive hair snaring techniques. From these snares we obtained genetic samples, which we used in capture-mark-recapture models to obtain population sizes. Additionally we determined the source population for the northern population, the level of interconnection between both populations and surrounding bear populations, and the overall genetic health of the population (Draper et. al 2017). Additionally bears were collared with GPS enabled collars for habitat use, home range and denning behavior analysis, publication to follow shortly.