A5053748291- Viral Infections and Vectors
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Vector-Borne Animal Diseases
- Vector-borne infectious diseases
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Mosquito-borne diseases and control
- Land Use and Ecosystem Services
- Insect symbiosis and bacterial influences
- Plant Parasitism and Resistance
- Urban Green Space and Health
- Avian ecology and behavior
- Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research
- Insect Pest Control Strategies
- Animal Disease Management and Epidemiology
- Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies
- Fire effects on ecosystems
- Rangeland and Wildlife Management
- Amphibian and Reptile Biology
- Insect and Pesticide Research
- Plant and Fungal Interactions Research
- Forest Insect Ecology and Management
- Zoonotic diseases and public health
- Wildlife-Road Interactions and Conservation
- Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics
- Parasite Biology and Host Interactions
Washington University in St. Louis
2018-2025
Tyson Foods (United States)
2025
University of Delaware
2016-2021
Pennsylvania State University
2009
Abstract Fire is a powerful ecological and evolutionary force that regulates organismal traits, population sizes, species interactions, community composition, carbon nutrient cycling ecosystem function. It also presents rapidly growing societal challenge, due to both increasingly destructive wildfires fire exclusion in fire‐dependent ecosystems. As an process, integrates complex feedbacks among biological, social geophysical processes, requiring coordination across several fields scales of...
The family Leptotyphlopidae (116 species) includes the smallest and thinnest species of snakes, often called threadsnakes (or wormsnakes). They are burrowing, have small eyes, they feed on several life history stages social insects. Leptotyphlopids a West Gondwanan distribution, occurring primarily in Africa Neotropics (South America, Middle Indies). is one most poorly known all terrestrial vertebrates from standpoint systematics ecology. No published phylogenetic studies higher-level...
Urban biodiversity provides critical ecosystem services and is a key component to environmentally socially sustainable cities. However, varies greatly within among cities, leading human communities with changing unequal experiences nature. The "luxury effect," hypothesis that predicts positive correlation between wealth, typically measured by per capita income, species richness may be one indication of these inequities. While the luxury effect well studied for some taxa, it has rarely been...
Background: Bourbon virus (BRBV) is an emerging pathogen that can cause severe and fatal disease in humans. BRBV vectored by Amblyomma americanum (lone star ticks), which are widely distributed across the central, southern, eastern United States. Wildlife species potentially important for maintenance transmission of BRBV, but little known about involved, what other factors play a role their exposure to BRBV. Methods: To assess risk among wildlife St. Louis, Missouri, area, we collected sera...
Circadian rhythms are a mechanism by which species adapt to environmental variability and fundamental understanding behavior. However, we lack data standardized framework accurately assess compare temporal activity for during rapid ecological change. Through global network representing 38 countries, leveraged 8.9 million mammalian observations create library of 14,587 diel estimates 445 species. We found that less than half the species’ were in agreement with classifications from reference...
Abstract Deciphering how environmental heterogeneity affects population dynamics in migratory species is complicated by the redistribution of individuals time and space across annual cycle. Approaches that tackle this problem require information about respond to ecological factors space, they are linked periods. Using high spatial resolution (10 m) GPS tracking individual male songbirds, we quantified for first (1) local‐ landscape‐scale habitat selection cycle (2) patterns indicative...
Forests in urban landscapes differ from their rural counterparts ways that may alter vector-borne disease dynamics. In forest fragments, tick-borne pathogen prevalence is not well characterized; mitigating risk densely-populated requires understanding ecological factors affect prevalence. We trapped blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) nymphs fragments on the East Coast of United States and used multiplex real-time PCR assays to quantify four zoonotic, pathogens. Bayesian logistic regression...
Abstract Nonnative, invasive shrubs can affect human disease risk through direct and indirect effects on vector populations. Multiflora rose ( Rosa multiflora ) is a common invader within eastern deciduous forests where tick‐borne (e.g., Lyme disease) rates are high. We tested whether R. invasion affects blacklegged tick Ixodes scapularis abundance at what scale. sampled host‐seeking ticks two spatial scales: fine scale, ‐invaded forest fragments; patch among ‐free fragments. At we trapped...
One of the most profound recent global changes has been proliferation urban metropolitan areas. A consequence urbanization is a reduction in abundance, or diversity, wildlife. exception, vectors disease; years have seen emergence and resurgence diseases vectored by species closely associated with humans. Aedes albopictus, mosquito near range broad ecological niche, described as an urban, suburban, rural vector, forest edge depending on local conditions. We tested hypothesis that abundance...
Heartland and Bourbon viruses are pathogenic tick-borne putatively transmitted by Amblyomma americanum, an abundant tick species in Missouri. To assess the prevalence of these ticks, we collected 2778 ticks from eight sampling sites at Tyson Research Center, environmental field station within St. Louis County close to City Louis, May - July 2019 2021. Ticks were pooled according life stage sex, grouped year site create 355 pools screened RT-qPCR for viruses. Overall, 14 (3.9%) 27 (7.6%)...
While there is increasing recognition that social processes in cities like gentrification have ecological consequences, we lack nuanced understanding of the ways affects urban biodiversity. We analyzed a large camera trap dataset mammals (>500 g) to evaluate how impacts species richness and community composition across 23 US cities. After controlling for negative effect impervious cover, gentrified parts had highest mammal richness. Change was associated with few cities, which were mostly...
ABSTRACT Bourbon virus (BRBV) is an emerging pathogen that can cause severe and fatal disease in humans. BRBV vectored by Amblyomma americanum (lone star ticks), which are widely distributed across the central, southern, eastern United States. Wildlife species potentially important for maintenance transmission of BRBV, but little known about involved, what other factors play a role exposure to BRBV. To assess risk among wildlife St. Louis area, we collected sera from 98 individuals,...
Urban environments impose novel selection pressures with varying impacts across species and life history stages. The post‐fledging stage for migratory passerines, defined as the period of time from when hatch‐year birds fledge until their first migration, is a poorly understood component annual productivity that potentially limits population growth. We studied two passerines positive negative responses to urbanization, respectively: gray catbird Dumetella carolinensis wood thrush Hylocichla...
The lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum Linnaeus (Ixodida: Ixodidae), is emerging as an important human disease vector in the United States. While some recent studies have modeled broad-scale (regional or county-level) distribution patterns of A. americanum, less known about how local-scale habitat characteristics drive abundance. Such information vital to identify targets for tick population control measures within land management units. We investigated features predict host-seeking adult...
Persistent declines in migratory songbird populations continue to motivate research exploring contributing factors inform conservation efforts. Nearctic-Neotropical species' population have been linked habitat loss and reductions quality due increasing urbanization areas used throughout the annual cycle. Despite an increase number of studies on post-fledging ecology, generally characterized by period between fledging dispersal from natal or migration, contextual linking survival use...
Host condition depends in large part on the quality and quantity of available food heavily influences outcome parasite infection. Although fitness traits such as growth rate size may depend host condition, whether or is more important to within-host interactions poorly understood. We provided individual mosquito hosts with a standard dose gregarine reared mosquitoes two types different quantities. measured size, total count area, average parasites within each treatment. Food significantly...
Heartland and Bourbon viruses are pathogenic tick-borne putatively transmitted by Amblyomma americanum , an abundant tick species in Missouri. To assess the prevalence of these ticks, we collected 2778 ticks from 8 sampling sites at Tyson Research Center, environmental field station within St. Louis County close to City Louis, May - July 2019 2021. Ticks were pooled according life stage sex, grouped year site create 355 pools screened RT-qPCR for viruses. Overall, 14 (3.9%) 27 (7.6%)...