Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) have great ecological, economic, and cultural importance. Accordingly, understanding the genetic diversity of Pacific salmon populations is critical for their effective management and conservation. Spatial and temporal homing fidelity, a centra…
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The question of how native species diversity affects a community’s ability to resist invasive species has inspired decades of research. One of the oldest invasion biology hypotheses is that more species rich ecosystems are less invaded. While there has been strong support for th…
Yellow-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua sulphrea) provides an interesting case for investigating such a conservation paradox that a critically endangered species introduced to a non-native area is likely to establish in the exotic location. The native population of Yellow-crested Cocka…
Walker’s Manihot, Manihot walkerae Croizat (Euphorbiaceae), is an endangered plant that is endemic to the Tamaulipan thornscrub ecoregion. Understanding M. walkerae’s geographic distribution, populations, and species interactions can provide essential information for the develop…
Broad Whitefish (Coregonus nasus) is a critically important subsistence species for Alaska's Indigenous communities, yet little is known about the basic ecology of this species at the individual level. Understanding habitat use by Broad Whitefish is challenging due to their mobi…
Comparative phylogeography is the study of the effects of biogeography and evolutionary history on the spatial distribution of genetic variation of codistributed species. This approach allows investigation of the links between population processes and regional patterns. Here, I …
Aim: Evolutionary divergence may be caused by both biotic and abiotic factors such as landscape features or barriers to dispersal. Using an integration of species distribution modeling and population structure, we can understand how habitat, geography, and evolutionary history c…
Understanding how genetic and demographic factors affect establishment, adaptation, and persistence of small populations in changing environments is a critical question in fundamental and applied ecological and evolutionary research. My dissertation addresses this question using…
Root hemiparasites are green plants that tap into a neighboring plant’s water-filled xylem to acquire inorganic nutrients, which can lead to an accumulation of nutrients in hemiparasite biomass. I performed an observational field study at Nachusa Grasslands and Franklin Creek St…
Reptile populations are declining world-wide and the mechanisms behind many of these declines remain enigmatic. Food web interactions (i.e., reduced prey availability or increased predation) have been implicated behind some reptile declines. However, relatively little is known a…
Globally many bird populations are declining at a rapid pace due to direct and indirect anthropogenic disturbances. Bird collisions with buildings are one major source of direct mortality. Chapter 1 examined species- and life-history-related variation and correlates of collision…
Human activities play a large role in the threatened persistence of wildlife populations. Overhunting, overharvesting, and habitat loss are primary drivers in declines in abundance for many species. An additional risk comes from decreased connectivity between population fragment…
Madagascar’s lemurs are the most endangered group of mammals in the world, with 94% of species threatened with extinction. Forest loss is one the greatest threat to these arboreal primates, but hunting, habitat degradation, and climate change also threaten their survival. Lemurs…
Genetic factors such as loss of genetic diversity, mutations, and inbreeding depression can increase a populations chances of extinction, therefore it is important to understand how these factors can contribute to populations decline. Among the genetic factors that can contribut…
Rates of emerging infectious diseases are increasing globally. Impacts of emerging diseases on wildlife populations have been identified as major drivers to species declines and extinctions. Species loss due to disease has necessitated prioritizing disease mitigation in wild pop…
North American bat species face a range of environmental stressors which have negatively impacted recovery of the endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and led to inclusion of the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) as a federally threatened species. Historic thre…
The North American river otter is a semiaquatic carnivore that occupies freshwater habitats across most of North America, and is a conservation symbol across most of its range. It is used as an indicator species, a keystone species, an umbrella species, and an example of conserv…
The Carolina Heelsplitter (Lasmigona decorata) is a federally endangered freshwater mussel endemic to North and South Carolina, USA. The species has experienced dramatic range-wide declines as a result of habitat fragmentation and water quality deterioration, and the remaining p…
Genetics at the population level can illuminate important information about the evolutionary health and history of a population, which can be especially important for threatened or endangered species. The Alabama sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus suttkusi) is the rarest and most endanger…