Traditional ecology focuses on relationships between species and their environment. However,
today, humans and human systems increasingly interact with these relationships, making humans
an essential part of ecology worth acknowledgment and understanding. Here, I will present my
efforts to bridge the foundations of ecology with practice to better reflect the realities of our
integrated human and natural world. I will share a case study of the New Zealand sea lion, and the
complications that arise in modeling its future geographic range in areas where human-wildlife
interactions are inevitable. Beyond this example, I show that modeling human influence on species
distributions is severely under-practiced. Based on a synthesis and analysis of thousands of
ecological studies from the past two decades, I reveal some surprising gaps and inconsistencies.
Popular methods and applications such as species distribution modeling and conservation
planning reflect ecological theories such as the niche. I conclude with some proposed next steps
for better integrating human systems into such theories to enhance efforts toward coexistence
and sustainability.

The National Park Services' decision to reintroduce wolves (Canis lupus) to Isle Royale in 2018
presented a unique opportunity to study how large carnivores influence a simple, insular
community of carnivores, red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and martens (Martes americana). Although
the community is simple, Isle Royale features a highly dynamic seasonal flux of resources and
extensive tourism in the summer. To understand the effects that the wolf reintroduction had on
foxes and martens, we quantified their demography, space-use, and diet before and after the wolf
reintroduction. Furthermore, we quantified the seasonal diet of foxes to test the degree to which
wolves and humans mediate dietary seasonality through trophic facilitation and human food
subsidies. Wolves did not impact fox demography, though foxes increased their use of campsites
initially following the reintroduction, which reflected an increase in human food consumption.
Martens subsequently responded by increasing in abundance and exhibiting a broader space use.
Finally, the resource use of foxes was highly seasonal, consuming mostly large prey (moose and
snowshoe hares Lepus americanus) during winter and small prey, berries, and human foods in
summer. Our results suggest that the cascading effects of apex carnivore reintroductions are at
first strong, but then relax. Importantly, though large carnivores strongly impact subordinate
carnivores, seasonal resources coupled with human recreation can provide a buffer for
meso-carnivores, which can have strong consequences on carnivore community structure.

Recent advances in our understanding of Adelie penguin ecology and the Southern Ocean ecosystem in the context of climate change

Point Blue Conservation Science has been studying the ecology of the southern ocean since the early 1970's, with ongoing studies largely focused on the population dynamics of Adelie penguins. After several decades of relative stability in the Ross Sea region, sea ice has rapidly declined there over the past 7 years, joining the rest of the world's polar seas. I will summarize the context of our research and report recent findings leveraging advances in technology, computer science, and perspectives gained from long-term ecological observations.

Social-Ecological Practice Theory & Human-Wildlife Interactions: People, Cattle, and Predators in Makgadikgadi, Botswana

The intertwinement of ecological and social processes is complex; conservation projects aiming to overcome human-wildlife conflict may in fact risk exacerbating it and causing injustices whenever either process is only superficially addressed. Using a case study in north-central Botswana, we provide a nuanced approach in conservation and ecology which intentionally considers the social sciences, using a framework we call ‘Social-Ecological Practice Theory’. First, we demonstrate differences of wildlife activity in space and time across communal, private, and protected areas using a 180-camera trap survey. We then provide the context to why this occurs through the study of cattle rearing logics, based on our findings of 80 semi-structured interviews of local community members across the region and GPS collars on select cattle herds. We then use our social and ecological understanding of the landscape to help us predict perceived predator presence in the area. Using theories and methodologies based in anthropology, social sciences, and ecology we hope to demonstrate that this integrative framework helps us to better understand human-carnivore interactions and progress how we approach applied management and conservation.

To combat ongoing declines of biodiversity worldwide, conservationists are increasingly looking to restore wildlife populations, with a central objective to re-establish their ecological influence. However, the ecological outcomes of wildlife restoration have been inconsistent, in part due to the significant ecosystem changes that have occurred over the time following the extirpation of target species. In Patagonia, the local eradication of mainland predators at the turn of the 20th century is believed to have triggered the expansion of Magellanic penguin colonies across the Atlantic coast of Argentina. Today, large-scale rewilding and conservation initiatives in the region have led to local recoveries of mainland predators, like the puma, leading to a novel predator-prey dynamic between pumas and penguins. This presentation will highlight the impact of this novel marine resource on puma behavior and density, as well as its impact on their primary prey, guanacos. 

Nearshore marine ecosystems are among the most productive ecosystems on the planet, host diverse assemblages of ecologically, economically, and culturally important species, and also lie on the front lines of climate change.   Yet like many ecosystems, classic models of organismal and ecological dynamics have often underpredicted effects of harvest and climate.  I will present recent work showing how measuring and modeling processes such as energetic plasticity, acclimatization, consumer-resource dynamics, and metapopulation structure can substantially improve our understanding of how individuals, populations, and ecosystems respond to climate change and harvest.

Please join us Today, 2/23/24 from 12noon-1pm for a talk from Axel Hunnicutt, CDFW Wolf Coordinator for a talk titled:  "The Return of an Apex Predator: California’s Conservation of Gray Wolves,"

The talk will take place in 36 Mulford Hall.  Or you can join by zoom using this link.  Please see below for a short description of the talk.

In this presentation, I will speak on the historic return and current status of gray wolves in California, and the social, ecological, and economic challenges posed by their recolonization. I’ll share CDFW’s efforts for conservation and recovery planning of the species, as well as our efforts in the field of population monitoring and community engagement. Lastly, as the new state wolf coordinator, whose career has largely been spent working with African carnivores, I’ll link the parallels of predator management and conflict across continents, highlighting the hope of success for the future of wolves in California.
 

Migratory landbirds are experiencing dramatic population declines in North America, but little is known about the important habitats they use as stopover sites during migration. We used data from weather surveillance radar to map seasonal stopover densities of landbirds across the eastern U.S. during spring and autumn migrations. We identified stopover hotspots covering 2.47 million hectares that consistently support high densities of migrants across years. However, only 16.7% of these sites are hotspots in both seasons. Deciduous forest is the most important habitat type, with high concentrations of birds in forest fragments embedded in broadly deforested regions, especially in spring. While protected areas have higher stopover densities of birds, only 1/3 of hotspots are covered, and many of these protected areas are still subject to extractive uses. We also found evidence that the agricultural Midwest is an anthropogenic migration barrier for many landbirds, affecting their flight and stopover behaviors. In summary, a well-distributed network of well-protected stopover areas, complementing conservation efforts on the breeding and wintering grounds, is essential to sustaining healthy populations of migratory landbirds in North America.

Our speaker for this week - is Dr. Sudeep Chandra, A Professor of Limnology in the Biology Department at the University of Nevada, Reno (USA), Sudeep Chandra serves as Director of the University’s Global Water Center: Solutions for Sustainability, the Ozmen Institute for Global Studies, and is the former Co-Director for the Lake Tahoe Science Advisory Council.

In his seminar, Sudeep will discuss efforts to conserve Lake Tahoe

Please join us on Friday (10/27) from 12-1pm for our next installment in the Wildlife Seminar Series.

This week's speaker is Marisa McGrew, Fisheries & Natural Resources Specialist for the Shawir Darrudaluduk Natural Resources Department. McGrew's seminar is titled: "Gou’daw (Pacific lamprey) in the Eel River"

Harshad Karandikar, ESPM Grad Student

Kendall Calhoun, ESPM Grad Student

Anders Goksøyr, Professor and Fulbright Arctic Chair, U. Bergen