A5083451371- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies
- Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Plant and animal studies
- Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes
- Geophysics and Gravity Measurements
- Ocean Waves and Remote Sensing
- Wildlife-Road Interactions and Conservation
- Marine animal studies overview
- Human-Animal Interaction Studies
- Rabies epidemiology and control
- Bat Biology and Ecology Studies
- Manufacturing Process and Optimization
- Avian ecology and behavior
- Identification and Quantification in Food
- Marine and coastal ecosystems
- earthquake and tectonic studies
- Animal Disease Management and Epidemiology
- Scheduling and Optimization Algorithms
- Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
James Cook University
2016-2025
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
2013-2025
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
2017-2021
Texas Tech University
2017-2021
University of Florida
2014-2015
The Ohio State University
2012-2014
ForestGEO
2012
National Zoological Park
2009-2012
Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
2010-2012
New York State Museum
2010-2011
The Neotropics have many plant species that seem to be adapted for seed dispersal by megafauna went extinct in the late Pleistocene. Given crucial importance of persistence, it remains a mystery how these plants survived more than 10,000 y without their mutualist dispersers. Here we present support hypothesis secondary scatter-hoarding rodents has facilitated persistence large-seeded species. We used miniature radio transmitters track reputedly megafaunal seeds Central American agoutis,...
How do animals use their habitat? Where they go and what do? These basic questions are key not only to understanding a species' ecology evolution, but also for addressing many of the environmental challenges we currently face, including problems posed by invasive species, spread zoonotic diseases declines in wildlife populations due anthropogenic climate land-use changes. Monitoring movements activities wild can be difficult, especially when species question small, cryptic or move over large...
Scatter-hoarding animals spread out cached seeds to reduce density-dependent theft of their food reserves. This behaviour could lead directed dispersal into areas with lower densities conspecific trees, where seed and seedling survival are higher, profoundly affect the spatial structure plant communities. We tested this hypothesis Central American agoutis Astrocaryum standleyanum palm on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. radio-tracked as they were re-cached by agoutis, calculated density adult...
Raccoons are an important vector of rabies and other pathogens. The degree to which these pathogens can spread through a raccoon population should be closely linked association rates between individual raccoons. Most studies sociality have found patterns consistent with low levels social connectivity within populations, thus the likelihood direct pathogen transmission raccoons is theoretically low. We used proximity detecting collars network metrics calculate in urban for purposes estimating...
Infectious disease transmission often depends on the contact structure of host populations. Although it is challenging to capture in wild animals, new technology has enabled biologists obtain detailed temporal information wildlife social contacts. In this study, we investigated effects raccoon patterns rabies spread using network modelling. Raccoons (Procyon lotor) play an important role maintenance United States. It crucial understand how influence populations order design effective control...
Abstract Accurately quantifying species’ area requirements is a prerequisite for effective area‐based conservation. This typically involves collecting tracking data on species of interest and then conducting home‐range analyses. Problematically, autocorrelation in can result space needs being severely underestimated. Based the previous work, we hypothesized magnitude underestimation varies with body mass, relationship that could have serious conservation implications. To evaluate this...
Abstract Ecologists have long been interested in linking individual behaviour with higher level processes. For motile species, this ‘upscaling’ is governed by how well any given movement strategy maximizes encounters positive factors and minimizes negative factors. Despite the importance of encounter events for a broad range ecological processes, theory has not kept pace developments animal tracking or modelling. Furthermore, existing work focused primarily on relationship between rates...
Abstract Background Animal movement is a behavioral trait shaped by the need to find food and suitable habitat, avoid predators, reproduce. Using high-resolution tracking data, it possible describe in greater detail than ever before, which has led many discoveries about strategies of particular species. Recently, enough data been become available enable comparative approach, potential uncover general causes consequences variation patterns, but must be scale specific. Methods Here we...
Animal groups typically contain individuals with varying degrees of genetic relatedness, and this variation in kinship has a major influence on patterns aggression affiliative behaviors. This link between social behavior underlies socioecological models which have been developed to explain how why different types animal societies evolve. We tested if age-sex class homophily two ring-tailed coatis (Nasua nasua) predicted the network structure three behaviors: 1) association, 2) grooming, 3)...
Predation is a major pressure that shapes animal sociality, but predation risk not homogenous within groups. Animals located on the group edge typically face an increased threat of predation, although different patterns have been reported. We created simulation model to determine how changes in predator attack distance and prey density influence relation within-group spatial position. At large distances, peripheral animals were attacked far more than central animals. relatively short...
Summary The timing of raccoon rabies outbreaks in the eastern USA is non‐random and often exhibits a seasonal peak. While fluctuations disease transmission can be driven by changes animal population dynamics, behaviour physiology, it still unclear which causal factors lead to rabies. We used dynamic network modelling test three seasonally changing are most likely responsible for outbreaks: (i) birth pulses, (ii) social structure (iii) contact duration. In contrast previous predictions, we...
Abstract Home‐range estimates are a common product of animal tracking data, as each range represents the area needed by given individual. Population‐level inference home‐range areas—where multiple individual home ranges considered to be sampled from population—is also important evaluate changes over time, space or covariates such habitat quality fragmentation, and for comparative analyses species averages. parameters have traditionally been estimated first assuming that input data were...
There is widespread evidence that feeding ecology can lead to differences in mammalian social systems. To understand how diet and affect the behavior of ring-tailed coatis (Nasua nasua), detailed measures were recorded from 2 well-studied groups over a 2-year period. The proportion fruit invertebrates Iguazu, Argentina, was very similar diets white-nosed (N. narica) studied at field sites Brazil. Consumption vertebrates Iguazu exceptionally rare. time spent foraging for generally matched...
Abstract Ring‐tailed coatis exhibit an extreme form of juvenile agonism not found in other social mammals. Two groups habituated, individually recognized, were studied over a 2.5‐yr period Iguazu National Park, Argentina. Dominance matrices divided by year and group, resulting four dominance hierarchies which analyzed using the Matman computer program. Strong general patterns seen both during years. Adult males (one per group) highest ranking individuals, followed male juveniles, female...
Abstract The distance at which an animal can detect food has important ramifications for foraging behavior. Although some studies have investigated the factors affect visual detection, very little is known about what influences olfactory detection abilities in wild animals. discovery behavior of ring‐tailed coatis ( Nasua nasua ) was studied using experimental fruit plots. Coatis primarily used olfaction to these new sources, and appeared plausible only five 148 trials. detected from longer...