In the 19th century, populations of giant tortoises in the Galapagos Islands were decimated by whalers and pirates, who kept and killed tortoises on their ships as a resilient source of fresh meat for long ocean voyages. Particularly hard-hit were “saddlebacked” species that inhabited the islands’ arid lowlands closer to the coasts. Of the five saddlebacked species, two have been declared extinct: Chelonoidis elephantopus from Floreana Island and C. abingdonii from Pinta…
Rangewide demography, genetics and habitat mapping
The A.P.E. lab is part of a larger team at UNR investigating the population genetics and demography of the pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) in the Great Basin.
Several published studies have already shown that temperature, precipitation and topography can affect the probability of a die-off event. However, a broader synthesis of datasets from across the BTPD range may enable more accurate prediction of when and where die-offs will occur. The APE lab is leading a large collaborative project to create predictive models of BTPD colony die-offs caused by the plague bacterium. We have acquired colony history data from across the BTPD range and are working…
The Applied Population Ecology lab at UNR focuses on supporting the conservation and management of wildlife populations in the Great Basin and beyond using state-of-the-art analytical and simulation tools
The current members of the A.P.E. lab are Kevin Shoemaker, Margarete Walden, Miranda Crowell, and Danielle Miles.
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