Research Question
Animal movements through exurban developmentDo wild animal move towards or away from people when traveling through neighborhoods? We’ve shown that bears living in neighborhoods with lots of houses avoid houses less than bears living in rural places. Female bears avoid roads more when with cubs and when traffic volume is high. These females & cubs are willing to cross roads more often in the fall when the need to obtain food is high just before settling into a winter den.
We currently have GPS collars on more than 100 bobcats and thus will soon have descriptions of how bobcats move throughout exurbia. Evans, M.J., J.E. Hawley, P.W. Rego, and T.A.G. Rittenhouse. 2019. Hourly movement decisions indicate how a large carnivore inhabits developed landscapes. Oecologia. 2019:11–23.
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Ranavirus epidemics in tadpole populations
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Occupancy and density within a mosaic of housing densitiesWhat housing density is best for people and wildlife? Exurban development ranges from 6 to 100 houses per km2. Some species benefit by living in close proximity to people. Black bear density is greater in exurban than in rural areas, presumably because bears eat bird food and garage near houses. Exurban neighborhoods are dynamic with trees regrowing between the houses and two-lined salamanders rebounding as neighborhoods age. Yet abundance levels of many species are low in exurbia. For example, we could not find enough box turtles to estimate density. There is much to learn about co-existence of both people and wildlife in exurbia.
Macklem, D.C., J.M. Dickson, and TAG Rittenhouse. 2022. Reproduction of Eurycea bislineata within watersheds with exurban development. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 17(2): 229-248.
Macklem, D.C., A.M. Helton, M.W. Tingley, J.M. Dickson, and T.A.G. Rittenhouse. 2019. Stream salamander persistence influenced by interaction between exurban housing age and development. Urban Ecosystems. Evans, M.J., T.A.G. Rittenhouse, J.E. Hawley, and P.W. Rego. 2017. Black bear recolonization patterns on human-dominated landscapes vary based on housing: New insights from spatially explicit density models. Landscape and Urban Planning 162:13–24. |
Evans, M.J., T.A.G. Rittenhouse, J.E. Hawley, P. Rego, and L. Eggert. 2018. Spatial genetic patterns indicate mechanism and consequences of large carnivore cohabitation within development. Ecology and Evolution. 8: 4815 – 4829.
Miller, D.A.W., Grant, E.H.C., Muths, E., Amburgey, S.M., Adams, M.J., Joseph, M.B., Hardin Waddle, J., Johnson, P.T.J., Ryan, M.E., Schmidt, B.R., Calhoun, D.L., Davis, C.L., Fisher, R.N. , Green, D.M., Hossack, B.R., Rittenhouse, T.A.G., Walls, S.C., Bailey, L.L., Cruickshank, S.S., Fellers, G.M., Gorman, T.A., Haas, C.A., Hughson, W., Pilliod, D.S., Price, S.J., Ray, A.M., Sadinski, W., Saenz, D., Barichivich, W.J., Brand, A., Brehme, C.S., Dagit, R., Delaney, K.S., Glorioso, B.M., Kats, L.B., Kleeman, P.M., Pearl, C.A., Rochester, C.J., Riley, S.P.D., Roth, M., Sigafus, B.H. 2018. Quantifying climate sensitivity and climate-driven change in North American amphibian communities. Nature Communications. 9:3926
O’Connor, K.M., L.R. Nathan, M.R. Liberati, M.W. Tingley, J.C. Vokoun, T.A.G. Rittenhouse. 2017. Camera trap arrays improve detection probability of wildlife: Investigating study design considerations using an empirical dataset. PLOS One 12:e0175684.
Earl, J.E., E.B. Harper, D.J. Hocking, M.S. Osbourn, T.A.G. Rittenhouse, M. Glennie, and R.D. Semlitsch. 2017. Relative importance of timber harvest and habitat for reptiles in experimental forestry plots. Forest Ecology and Management. 402: 21–28.
O'Connor, J.H., and T.A.G. Rittenhouse. 2016. Snow cover and late fall movement influence wood frog survival during an unusually cold winter. Oecologia 181:635–644.
Miller, D.A.W., Grant, E.H.C., Muths, E., Amburgey, S.M., Adams, M.J., Joseph, M.B., Hardin Waddle, J., Johnson, P.T.J., Ryan, M.E., Schmidt, B.R., Calhoun, D.L., Davis, C.L., Fisher, R.N. , Green, D.M., Hossack, B.R., Rittenhouse, T.A.G., Walls, S.C., Bailey, L.L., Cruickshank, S.S., Fellers, G.M., Gorman, T.A., Haas, C.A., Hughson, W., Pilliod, D.S., Price, S.J., Ray, A.M., Sadinski, W., Saenz, D., Barichivich, W.J., Brand, A., Brehme, C.S., Dagit, R., Delaney, K.S., Glorioso, B.M., Kats, L.B., Kleeman, P.M., Pearl, C.A., Rochester, C.J., Riley, S.P.D., Roth, M., Sigafus, B.H. 2018. Quantifying climate sensitivity and climate-driven change in North American amphibian communities. Nature Communications. 9:3926
O’Connor, K.M., L.R. Nathan, M.R. Liberati, M.W. Tingley, J.C. Vokoun, T.A.G. Rittenhouse. 2017. Camera trap arrays improve detection probability of wildlife: Investigating study design considerations using an empirical dataset. PLOS One 12:e0175684.
Earl, J.E., E.B. Harper, D.J. Hocking, M.S. Osbourn, T.A.G. Rittenhouse, M. Glennie, and R.D. Semlitsch. 2017. Relative importance of timber harvest and habitat for reptiles in experimental forestry plots. Forest Ecology and Management. 402: 21–28.
O'Connor, J.H., and T.A.G. Rittenhouse. 2016. Snow cover and late fall movement influence wood frog survival during an unusually cold winter. Oecologia 181:635–644.