Publications

Emerging infectious diseases can cause rapid, widespread host mortality, and the lack of demographic data before and after pathogen emergence complicates understanding mechanisms of host persistence. This challenge is further compounded by environmental conditions that influence host behavior, while driving pathogen growth and virulence. These interactions create complex disease outcomes...

Invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) pose considerable ecological and economic challenges across their introduced range, and understanding their spatial ecology is critical for management. This research and accompanying dataset represents adult wild pig movement in South Carolina, United States based on 16 individuals collared in 2023-2024. Using hourly GPS collar data for 6 males and 5...

1. Long-term monitoring of bird populations across scales is important in evaluating conservation targets and creating effective conservation strategies. For nearly six decades, the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) has served as the primary broad-scaled source of relative abundance trends of swallows and martins in North America. Recently, however, it has become possible to obtain breeding...

In this study, we used a multi-faceted approach to understand patterns of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission and persistence in a wild white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) population. Serology data indicated transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and persistence during the seven-month sampling period. Traditional disease modelling based on deer-to-deer...

Understanding predator–prey relationships is fundamental to our knowledge of the stability and resilience of ecological systems. These dynamics are shaped by both ecological factors, like interaction strength, and anthropogenic factors, like harvest intensity, which can have large-scale implications for community structure. However, few studies have focused on the combined impact of...

Objective White Catfish Ameiurus catus has been introduced to coastal watersheds across the United States. In the Penobscot River, Maine, this species has become increasingly common in upstream habitats that have been made accessible by recent dam removals. We characterized the movements of White Catfish to understand the temporal variation in their movement patterns and contextualize...

Objective Habitat degradation has been associated with the loss of many self-sustaining Muskellunge Esox masquinongy populations, including those in Green Bay, where stocking has provided an exceptional trophy fishery but restoration goals include establishing self-sustaining populations and there is little evidence of natural recruitment. Our objectives were to determine whether (1)...

Daily ring counts in young-of-the-year fishes are important for estimating important vital rates, such as growth, mortality, and timing of hatch. To accurately estimate some of these rates, the timing of the first daily ring must be estimated accurately. Variation in the timing of the first daily ring can be attributed to many factors, including biology of the species and experience of...

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a fatal and contagious neurological disease of cervid populations across North America. Collaborative efforts between government agencies, researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders are necessary to minimize CWD prevalence, spread, and impacts on animal and human health and well-being. However, critical information related to CWD epidemiology, management...

The San Luis Valley (SLV), Colorado is a critical stopover area for Rocky Mountain Population greater Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis tabida). During spring and autumn, cranes use crops for foraging and water resources adjacent to foraging areas for roosting and loafing. However, surface water is becoming increasingly limited in the SLV. Understanding the factors that affect use by...

Wildlife agencies collect data on productivity (e.g., proportion of hens with poults and number of poults per hen) of wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) to monitor population status and trends. However, sampling protocols to collect productivity data rely on opportunistic observations reported by wildlife agency personnel and the public and have changed over time and differed among...

The frequency, magnitude and extent of stream drying is increasing due to climate change and human water demand. Fish vulnerability to increased stream drying is a combination of sensitivity (innate tolerance to low streamflow) and exposure to stream drying. To understand fish tolerance to low flow and susceptibility to decline under changing streamflow conditions, we estimated species...