- Department
- Email Address
- [email protected]
- Research Areas
- Research Keywords
- Research Description
My research focuses on interactions between behaviour and predator-prey dynamics, using a mix of theoretical and empirical approaches to consider the dynamics of specific systems. Theoretical questions of interest include herbivore and carnivore movement in relation to resource availability and predation risk, optimal diet, patch selection, and dispersal patterns in heterogeneous environments.
- Research Summary
Recent work has involved herbivores and carnivores movement ecology in Serengeti, woodland caribou, wolves, and moose in northern Ontario, and both wild and Norwegian reindeer. We conduct detailed field and experimental studies of both behavioural and demographic responses to landscape heterogeneity and compare these with theoretical models. As part of the Food from Thought research program, we are also evaluating the impact of anthropogenic stressors (nutrient additions due to fertilizer run-off, pesticide application, and temperature increase due to global climate change) on phytoplankton and zooplankton populations in massive aquatic mesocosms and the effect of marginal land restoration (prairies, wetlands, and secondary forest) on arthropod biodiversity using DNA meta-barcoding.
- Techniques Used
Field: population census, observational behavior, GPS radio-telemetry and videography. Lab: aquatic mesocosms, benchtop demographic and behavioral studies, meta-barcoding.
- Lab Equipment
Computers, microscopes, scales, cameras and video equipment.
- Locations of international collaborators
Norway, Tanzania.
- Links