Wildlife Ecology - Conservation - Wild Mammals - Behavior
We research the ecology, behavior, and conservation of mammals, ecological approaches for managing human-wildlife conflict, and exotic species management, among other areas of focus.
Our lab has worked in Baja California Sur, Mexico, California, Colorado, Hawaii, and Santa Cruz Island, and on species such as the yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris), golden-mantled ground squirrel (Callospermophilus lateralis), Koloa maoli (Hawaiian duck, Anas wyvilliana), mountain lion (Puma concolor), and pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus), among many others.
Our lab has worked in Baja California Sur, Mexico, California, Colorado, Hawaii, and Santa Cruz Island, and on species such as the yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris), golden-mantled ground squirrel (Callospermophilus lateralis), Koloa maoli (Hawaiian duck, Anas wyvilliana), mountain lion (Puma concolor), and pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus), among many others.
Lab News
Ellie and Dirk published a paper in the Journal of Mammalogy that investigates how island spotted skunks make fine-scale adjustments in microhabitat use and timing of activity that may help them avoid competitive interactions with island foxes. December 2021.
Caitlin and Dirk were featured in an article about the 30-year golden-mantled ground squirrel project at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. This is a project Dirk started; Caitlin, Jackie, and Summer have conducted research on these squirrels.
Ellie's research on island spotted skunks was highlighted in an article by The Wildlife Society.
Ellie and Dirk published a paper in the Wildlife Society Bulletin investigating methods for detecting island spotted skunks on the Channel Islands. April 2020.
Amy published a paper in Biological Conservation on considering shifting baselines in conservation for both rare and common species. January 2020.
Jackie gave an oral presentation on personality-dependent spatial ecology at the UC Davis Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology Seminar Series. December 2019.
Jackie, Aviva, and Dirk published a paper on ground squirrel relocation behavior in Ethology. November 2019.
Jackie and Dirk attended The Wildlife Society & American Fisheries Society 2019 Joint Annual Conference in Reno, Nevada. Jackie gave an oral presentation on bridging animal personality and space-use. September 2019.
Welcome new lab member, Summer Schlageter! Summer studies golden-mantled ground squirrel ecology at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory.
Jackie gave an oral presentation on the effects of personality on ground squirrel spatial ecology at the UC Davis Animal Behavior Seminar Series. May 2019.
Ellie attended the 25th Annual Conference of The Wildlife Society in Cleveland, Ohio. Ellie gave an oral presentation on her research comparing detection methods for monitoring island spotted skunks. October 2018.
Amy and Ellie were co-authors on a paper published in the African Journal of Ecology detailing camera trapping trends across Africa. September 2018.
Jackie and Dirk attended the 98th Meeting of The American Society of Mammalogists in Manhattan, Kansas. Jackie presented a poster that quantified habitat selection in golden-mantled ground squirrels. June 2018.
Congratulations to Ellie, who won a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. April 2018.
Jackie traveled to Missoula, MT as a Distinguished Fellow of IWFF Filmmaker Labs, a cross-disciplinary science filmmaking workshop led by the International Wildlife Film Festival and Days Edge Productions. April 2018.
The lab attended the 65th Annual Meeting of The Western Section of The Wildlife Society in Santa Rosa, California. Aviva presented a poster that compared the niches of three sympatric montane squirrel species, and Jackie presented a poster on litter translocations by yellow-bellied marmots. February 2018.
Archived Lab News
Recent Publications
(lab members in bold)
Bolas, E. C., R. Sollmann, K. R. Crooks, L. Shaskey, C. L. Boser, V. J. Bakker, A. Dillon, and D. H. Van Vuren. 2020. Assessing Methods for Detecting Island Spotted Skunks. Wildlife Society Bulletin 44:309–313. DOI: 10.1002/wsb.1085
Collins, A. C., Böhm, M. & Collen. B. 2020. Choice of baseline affects historical population trends in hunted mammals of North America. Biological Conservation. 242. DOI:/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108421
Aliperti, Van Vuren, Rossi, and Armitage. 2019. Litter relocation behavior in two species of ground-dwelling squirrels. Ethology (early view online). DOI: 10.1111/eth.12979.
Agha, M.*, T. Batter*; E. C. Bolas*; A. C. Collins*; D. Gomes da Rocha*; C. M. Monteza-Moreno*; S. Preckler-Quisquarter*; R. Sollmann*. 2018. A Review of Wildlife Camera Trapping Trends Across Africa. African Journal of Ecology 56:694–701. https://doi.org/10.1111/aje.12565. *Authors contributed equally
Wells and Van Vuren. 2018. Developmental and social constraints on early reproduction in an asocial mammal. Journal of Zoology 306: 28-35.
Wells and Van Vuren. 2017. Female kin density affects offspring sex ratio in an asocial mammal, the golden-mantled ground squirrel. Animal Behaviour 134:71-77.
Aliperti, Kelt, Heady III, and Frick. 2017. Using behavioral and stable isotope data to quantify rare dietary plasticity in a temperate bat. Journal of Mammalogy, 98(2): 340-349. DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyw196.
Wells, Tomalty, Floyd, McElreath, May, and Van Vuren. 2017. Determinants of multiple paternity in a fluctuating population of ground squirrels. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 71(2): 1-13. doi:10.1007/s00265-017-2270-z
Moore, Wells, Van Vuren, Oli. 2016. Who pays? Intra- versus inter-generational costs of reproduction. Ecosphere 7: e01236.
Meek, Wells, Tomalty, Ashander, Cole, Gille., ... & May. 2015. Fear of failure in conservation: The problem and potential solutions to aid conservation of extremely small populations. Biological Conservation, 184, 209-217.
Miles, Van Vuren, Tsao, and Yee. 2015. Experimental enhancement of pickleweed, Suisun Bay, California
Fifield, Rossi, and Boydston. 2015. Documentation of mountain lions in Marin County, California, 2010–2013
Kelt, Aliperti, Meserve, Milstead, Previtali, and Gutiérrez. 2015. Energetic compensation is historically contingent and not supported for small mammals in South American or Asian deserts. Ecology, 96, 1702-1712.
Van Vuren. 2014. Shrub regeneration after removal of feral sheep from Santa Cruz Island, California
Ellie and Dirk published a paper in the Journal of Mammalogy that investigates how island spotted skunks make fine-scale adjustments in microhabitat use and timing of activity that may help them avoid competitive interactions with island foxes. December 2021.
Caitlin and Dirk were featured in an article about the 30-year golden-mantled ground squirrel project at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. This is a project Dirk started; Caitlin, Jackie, and Summer have conducted research on these squirrels.
Ellie's research on island spotted skunks was highlighted in an article by The Wildlife Society.
Ellie and Dirk published a paper in the Wildlife Society Bulletin investigating methods for detecting island spotted skunks on the Channel Islands. April 2020.
Amy published a paper in Biological Conservation on considering shifting baselines in conservation for both rare and common species. January 2020.
Jackie gave an oral presentation on personality-dependent spatial ecology at the UC Davis Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology Seminar Series. December 2019.
Jackie, Aviva, and Dirk published a paper on ground squirrel relocation behavior in Ethology. November 2019.
Jackie and Dirk attended The Wildlife Society & American Fisheries Society 2019 Joint Annual Conference in Reno, Nevada. Jackie gave an oral presentation on bridging animal personality and space-use. September 2019.
Welcome new lab member, Summer Schlageter! Summer studies golden-mantled ground squirrel ecology at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory.
Jackie gave an oral presentation on the effects of personality on ground squirrel spatial ecology at the UC Davis Animal Behavior Seminar Series. May 2019.
Ellie attended the 25th Annual Conference of The Wildlife Society in Cleveland, Ohio. Ellie gave an oral presentation on her research comparing detection methods for monitoring island spotted skunks. October 2018.
Amy and Ellie were co-authors on a paper published in the African Journal of Ecology detailing camera trapping trends across Africa. September 2018.
Jackie and Dirk attended the 98th Meeting of The American Society of Mammalogists in Manhattan, Kansas. Jackie presented a poster that quantified habitat selection in golden-mantled ground squirrels. June 2018.
Congratulations to Ellie, who won a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. April 2018.
Jackie traveled to Missoula, MT as a Distinguished Fellow of IWFF Filmmaker Labs, a cross-disciplinary science filmmaking workshop led by the International Wildlife Film Festival and Days Edge Productions. April 2018.
The lab attended the 65th Annual Meeting of The Western Section of The Wildlife Society in Santa Rosa, California. Aviva presented a poster that compared the niches of three sympatric montane squirrel species, and Jackie presented a poster on litter translocations by yellow-bellied marmots. February 2018.
Archived Lab News
Recent Publications
(lab members in bold)
Bolas, E. C., R. Sollmann, K. R. Crooks, L. Shaskey, C. L. Boser, V. J. Bakker, A. Dillon, and D. H. Van Vuren. 2020. Assessing Methods for Detecting Island Spotted Skunks. Wildlife Society Bulletin 44:309–313. DOI: 10.1002/wsb.1085
Collins, A. C., Böhm, M. & Collen. B. 2020. Choice of baseline affects historical population trends in hunted mammals of North America. Biological Conservation. 242. DOI:/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108421
Aliperti, Van Vuren, Rossi, and Armitage. 2019. Litter relocation behavior in two species of ground-dwelling squirrels. Ethology (early view online). DOI: 10.1111/eth.12979.
Agha, M.*, T. Batter*; E. C. Bolas*; A. C. Collins*; D. Gomes da Rocha*; C. M. Monteza-Moreno*; S. Preckler-Quisquarter*; R. Sollmann*. 2018. A Review of Wildlife Camera Trapping Trends Across Africa. African Journal of Ecology 56:694–701. https://doi.org/10.1111/aje.12565. *Authors contributed equally
Wells and Van Vuren. 2018. Developmental and social constraints on early reproduction in an asocial mammal. Journal of Zoology 306: 28-35.
Wells and Van Vuren. 2017. Female kin density affects offspring sex ratio in an asocial mammal, the golden-mantled ground squirrel. Animal Behaviour 134:71-77.
Aliperti, Kelt, Heady III, and Frick. 2017. Using behavioral and stable isotope data to quantify rare dietary plasticity in a temperate bat. Journal of Mammalogy, 98(2): 340-349. DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyw196.
Wells, Tomalty, Floyd, McElreath, May, and Van Vuren. 2017. Determinants of multiple paternity in a fluctuating population of ground squirrels. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 71(2): 1-13. doi:10.1007/s00265-017-2270-z
Moore, Wells, Van Vuren, Oli. 2016. Who pays? Intra- versus inter-generational costs of reproduction. Ecosphere 7: e01236.
Meek, Wells, Tomalty, Ashander, Cole, Gille., ... & May. 2015. Fear of failure in conservation: The problem and potential solutions to aid conservation of extremely small populations. Biological Conservation, 184, 209-217.
Miles, Van Vuren, Tsao, and Yee. 2015. Experimental enhancement of pickleweed, Suisun Bay, California
Fifield, Rossi, and Boydston. 2015. Documentation of mountain lions in Marin County, California, 2010–2013
Kelt, Aliperti, Meserve, Milstead, Previtali, and Gutiérrez. 2015. Energetic compensation is historically contingent and not supported for small mammals in South American or Asian deserts. Ecology, 96, 1702-1712.
Van Vuren. 2014. Shrub regeneration after removal of feral sheep from Santa Cruz Island, California
