Angela Fuller, PhD
Unit Leader - New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Research Interests
The single unifying theme of Angela's research program that transcends all projects is that they provide information that contributes to the conservation or management of wildlife species and that has an impact on the way species are managed. The first area of her research is on how spatial variation in the environment influences resource use, movements, and population ecology of mammals. This research is focused primarily on mammalian carnivores, which have many traits that make them especially susceptible to landscape change (e.g., large home ranges, relatively low population densities, and long dispersal distances). She frequently uses non-invasive sampling methods that do not require direct capture of individuals. Using these noninvasively collected samples from carnivores, she employs methods for population estimation that incorporate spatial or landscape processes to help explain the density of species across a landscape. The second major program area of her research is in applying structured decision making (SDM) and adaptive management to guide natural resource management and policy outcomes. SDM is a process for helping to make management or policy decisions in a clear and transparent way, and involves evaluating how well alternative management strategies do at achieving objectives that have been identified by the decision maker and stakeholders. This work integrates quantitative modeling to help predict outcomes of the management strategies that were developed to achieve the stated objectives. Both of her research areas involve the spatial ecology of species, investigating how spatial landscape patterns influence the distribution, density, or dynamics of animal populations.
Teaching Interests
- Decision Making for Natural Resources
- Landscape Ecology
- Habitat Ecology
- Forest Landscape Planning
Professional Experience
Unit Leader, New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, 2014-
Assistant Unit Leader, New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, 2009-2014
Education and Certifications
Ph D University of Maine 2006
MS University of Maine 1999
BS University of Maine at Machias 1996
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 41
Wildlife management is science based: Myth or reality?
In the January/February issue of The Wildlife Professional, a group of wildlife leaders discussed what they considered "myths" in wildlife management and invited other wildlife professionals to contribute their favorites. Here, five wildlife professionals take up that theme with their discussions of the scientific basis of wildlife management.
Authors
Daniel J. Decker, John F. Organ, Ann Forstchen, Michael V. Schiavone, Angela K. Fuller
Large-scale variation in density of an aquatic ecosystem indicator species
Monitoring indicator species is a pragmatic approach to natural resource assessments, especially when the link between the indicator species and ecosystem state is well justified. However, conducting ecosystem assessments over representative spatial scales that are insensitive to local heterogeneity is challenging. We examine the link between polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination and popula
Authors
Chris Sutherland, Angela K. Fuller, Andy Royle, Matthew P. Hare, Sean Madden
The use of remote camera trapping to study cheetahs
Remote camera trapping is an efficient noninvasive technique for monitoring rare and elusive species, such as cheetahs. The unique pelage pattern of cheetahs allows for identification of individuals from photographs, providing detection histories that are naturally suited for abundance estimation using capture–recapture methods. Furthermore, the spatial location of photographic detections allows f
Authors
Ezequiel Fabiano, Lorraine Boast, Angela K. Fuller, Chris Sutherland
Examining the occupancy–density relationship for a low-density carnivore
The challenges associated with monitoring low-density carnivores across large landscapes have limited the ability to implement and evaluate conservation and management strategies for such species. Non-invasive sampling techniques and advanced statistical approaches have alleviated some of these challenges and can even allow for spatially explicit estimates of density, one of the most valuable wild
Authors
Daniel W. Linden, Angela K. Fuller, J. Andrew Royle, Matthew P. Hare
Dynamic optimization of landscape connectivity embedding spatial-capture-recapture information
Maintaining landscape connectivity is increasingly important
in wildlife conservation, especially for species experiencing
the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation. We propose a
novel approach to dynamically optimize landscape connectivity.
Our approach is based on a mixed integer program formulation,
embedding a spatial capture-recapture model that
estimates the density, space usage, and lan
Authors
Yexiang Xue, Xiaojian Wu, Dana J. Morin, Bistra Dilkina, Angela K. Fuller, J. Andrew Royle, Carla P. Gomes
Use of spatial capture–recapture to estimate density of Andean bears in northern Ecuador
The Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) is the only extant species of bear in South America and is considered threatened across its range and endangered in Ecuador. Habitat loss and fragmentation is considered a critical threat to the species, and there is a lack of knowledge regarding its distribution and abundance. The species is thought to occur at low densities, making field studies designed to e
Authors
Santiago Molina, Angela K. Fuller, Dana J. Morin, J. Andrew Royle
Evaluating population expansion of black bears using spatial capture-recapture
The population of American black bears (Ursus americanus) in southern New York, USA has been growing and expanding in range since the 1990s. This has motivated a need to anticipate future patterns of range expansion. We conducted a non-invasive, genetic, spatial capture-recapture (SCR) study to estimate black bear density and identify spatial patterns of population density that are potentially ass
Authors
Catherine C. Sun, Angela K. Fuller, Matthew P. Hare, Jeremy E. Hurst
Addressing wild turkey population declines using structured decision making
We present a case study from New York, USA, of the use of structured decision making (SDM) to identify fall turkey harvest regulations that best meet stakeholder objectives, in light of recent apparent declines in abundance of wild turkeys in the northeastern United States. We used the SDM framework to incorporate the multiple objectives associated with turkey hunting, stakeholder desires, and reg
Authors
Kelly F. Robinson, Angela K. Fuller, Michael V. Schiavone, Bryan L. Swift, Duane R. Diefenbach, William F. Siemer, Daniel J. Decker
Estimating occupancy probability of moose using hunter survey data
Monitoring rare species can be difficult, especially across large spatial extents, making conventional methods of population monitoring costly and logistically challenging. Citizen science has the potential to produce observational data across large areas that can be used to monitor wildlife distributions using occupancy models. We used citizen science (i.e., hunter surveys) to facilitate monitori
Authors
Nathan J. Crum, Angela K. Fuller, Christopher S. Sutherland, Evan G. Cooch, Jeremy E. Hurst
Unifying population and landscape ecology with spatial capture-recapture
Spatial heterogeneity in the environment induces variation in population demographic rates and dispersal patterns, which result in spatio‐temporal variation in density and gene flow. Unfortunately, applying theory to learn about the role of spatial structure on populations has been hindered by the lack of mechanistic spatial models and inability to make precise observations of population state and
Authors
J. Andrew Royle, Angela K. Fuller, Christopher Sutherland
Model-based estimators of density and connectivity to inform conservation of spatially structured populations
Conservation and management of spatially structured populations is challenging because solutions must consider where individuals are located, but also differential individual space use as a result of landscape heterogeneity. A recent extension of spatial capture–recapture (SCR) models, the ecological distance model, uses spatial encounter histories of individuals (e.g., a record of where individua
Authors
Dana J. Morin, Angela K. Fuller, J. Andrew Royle, Chris Sutherland
Participatory modeling and structured decision making
Structured decision making (SDM) provides a framework for making sound decisions even when faced with uncertainty, and is a transparent, defensible, and replicable method used to understand complex problems. A hallmark of SDM is the explicit incorporation of values and science, which often includes participation from multiple stakeholders, helping to garner trust and ultimately result in a decisio
Authors
Kelly F. Robinson, Angela K. Fuller
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 41
Wildlife management is science based: Myth or reality?
In the January/February issue of The Wildlife Professional, a group of wildlife leaders discussed what they considered "myths" in wildlife management and invited other wildlife professionals to contribute their favorites. Here, five wildlife professionals take up that theme with their discussions of the scientific basis of wildlife management.
Authors
Daniel J. Decker, John F. Organ, Ann Forstchen, Michael V. Schiavone, Angela K. Fuller
Large-scale variation in density of an aquatic ecosystem indicator species
Monitoring indicator species is a pragmatic approach to natural resource assessments, especially when the link between the indicator species and ecosystem state is well justified. However, conducting ecosystem assessments over representative spatial scales that are insensitive to local heterogeneity is challenging. We examine the link between polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination and popula
Authors
Chris Sutherland, Angela K. Fuller, Andy Royle, Matthew P. Hare, Sean Madden
The use of remote camera trapping to study cheetahs
Remote camera trapping is an efficient noninvasive technique for monitoring rare and elusive species, such as cheetahs. The unique pelage pattern of cheetahs allows for identification of individuals from photographs, providing detection histories that are naturally suited for abundance estimation using capture–recapture methods. Furthermore, the spatial location of photographic detections allows f
Authors
Ezequiel Fabiano, Lorraine Boast, Angela K. Fuller, Chris Sutherland
Examining the occupancy–density relationship for a low-density carnivore
The challenges associated with monitoring low-density carnivores across large landscapes have limited the ability to implement and evaluate conservation and management strategies for such species. Non-invasive sampling techniques and advanced statistical approaches have alleviated some of these challenges and can even allow for spatially explicit estimates of density, one of the most valuable wild
Authors
Daniel W. Linden, Angela K. Fuller, J. Andrew Royle, Matthew P. Hare
Dynamic optimization of landscape connectivity embedding spatial-capture-recapture information
Maintaining landscape connectivity is increasingly important
in wildlife conservation, especially for species experiencing
the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation. We propose a
novel approach to dynamically optimize landscape connectivity.
Our approach is based on a mixed integer program formulation,
embedding a spatial capture-recapture model that
estimates the density, space usage, and lan
Authors
Yexiang Xue, Xiaojian Wu, Dana J. Morin, Bistra Dilkina, Angela K. Fuller, J. Andrew Royle, Carla P. Gomes
Use of spatial capture–recapture to estimate density of Andean bears in northern Ecuador
The Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) is the only extant species of bear in South America and is considered threatened across its range and endangered in Ecuador. Habitat loss and fragmentation is considered a critical threat to the species, and there is a lack of knowledge regarding its distribution and abundance. The species is thought to occur at low densities, making field studies designed to e
Authors
Santiago Molina, Angela K. Fuller, Dana J. Morin, J. Andrew Royle
Evaluating population expansion of black bears using spatial capture-recapture
The population of American black bears (Ursus americanus) in southern New York, USA has been growing and expanding in range since the 1990s. This has motivated a need to anticipate future patterns of range expansion. We conducted a non-invasive, genetic, spatial capture-recapture (SCR) study to estimate black bear density and identify spatial patterns of population density that are potentially ass
Authors
Catherine C. Sun, Angela K. Fuller, Matthew P. Hare, Jeremy E. Hurst
Addressing wild turkey population declines using structured decision making
We present a case study from New York, USA, of the use of structured decision making (SDM) to identify fall turkey harvest regulations that best meet stakeholder objectives, in light of recent apparent declines in abundance of wild turkeys in the northeastern United States. We used the SDM framework to incorporate the multiple objectives associated with turkey hunting, stakeholder desires, and reg
Authors
Kelly F. Robinson, Angela K. Fuller, Michael V. Schiavone, Bryan L. Swift, Duane R. Diefenbach, William F. Siemer, Daniel J. Decker
Estimating occupancy probability of moose using hunter survey data
Monitoring rare species can be difficult, especially across large spatial extents, making conventional methods of population monitoring costly and logistically challenging. Citizen science has the potential to produce observational data across large areas that can be used to monitor wildlife distributions using occupancy models. We used citizen science (i.e., hunter surveys) to facilitate monitori
Authors
Nathan J. Crum, Angela K. Fuller, Christopher S. Sutherland, Evan G. Cooch, Jeremy E. Hurst
Unifying population and landscape ecology with spatial capture-recapture
Spatial heterogeneity in the environment induces variation in population demographic rates and dispersal patterns, which result in spatio‐temporal variation in density and gene flow. Unfortunately, applying theory to learn about the role of spatial structure on populations has been hindered by the lack of mechanistic spatial models and inability to make precise observations of population state and
Authors
J. Andrew Royle, Angela K. Fuller, Christopher Sutherland
Model-based estimators of density and connectivity to inform conservation of spatially structured populations
Conservation and management of spatially structured populations is challenging because solutions must consider where individuals are located, but also differential individual space use as a result of landscape heterogeneity. A recent extension of spatial capture–recapture (SCR) models, the ecological distance model, uses spatial encounter histories of individuals (e.g., a record of where individua
Authors
Dana J. Morin, Angela K. Fuller, J. Andrew Royle, Chris Sutherland
Participatory modeling and structured decision making
Structured decision making (SDM) provides a framework for making sound decisions even when faced with uncertainty, and is a transparent, defensible, and replicable method used to understand complex problems. A hallmark of SDM is the explicit incorporation of values and science, which often includes participation from multiple stakeholders, helping to garner trust and ultimately result in a decisio
Authors
Kelly F. Robinson, Angela K. Fuller