Communities of Change:
Advancing mammal ecology while empowering STEM learners
My research program is broadly designed to support environmental stewardship through novel understandings of biotic responses and advancement of scientific literacy. I investigate patterns of mammal responses to climatic and environmental changes by integrating ecology, biogeography, and paleontology to generate a more complete temporal and spatial understanding of ecosystems, their evolution, their functions, and the services they provide and to support informed predictions about the future of biodiversity. Much of my work focuses on large mammals (e.g., ungulates and carnivores), which are being affected by climate change and habitat loss at a startling rate. My goal is to contribute to the capacity of management and conservation efforts; yet the communication of scientific knowledge to the public has been inadequate. Therefore, I also explore the role of informal STEM learning institutions in public understanding of science by merging quantitative and qualitative data to facilitate place-based learning opportunities designed around ongoing research.
Research Framework
My research exists in three foci:
Leveraging mammalian functional traits as indicators of ecosystem disruption - Functional traits, such as skeletal or dental morphologies, can be used as a measure of ecosystem function when traits are aligned with or diverged from what is expected based on the environmental conditions. Ecometrics is the study of these trait-environment relationships across temporal and spatial scales, and the approach can be used to identify where disruption has occurred, or may occur, on the landscape. My ecometrics work relies on innovative quantitative models constructed from large datasets from museum collections, climate records, and faunal occurrence records. I expanded my previous work to integrate the Orders Artiodactyla (split-hoofed animals) and Carnivora (meat-eating predators) and, by doing so, generated a stronger locomotor trait-based model of vegetation cover, increasing accuracy of vegetation estimates from 58-65% when taxonomic orders are used independently to 81% when they are combined (Short et al., 2023, PNAS). My global models of trait-environment relationships can easily downscale to more localized studies. A NSF-funded project is aimed at informing anticipatory management strategies by uncovering past relationships between mammal species and traits, community structure, and environmental variables. By combining past records with our knowledge of modern temperature and precipitation data and with environmental projections of the future, we aim to construct expected future relationships between faunal communities and suitable habitats. Specifically, my team is exploring this trajectory of trait-environment relationships using records from four fossil sites that span the last 200,000 years in Wind Cave National Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Enhancing resiliency of biodiversity in conjunction with management decision - Recent research from my lab has pivoted to focus on responses of modern fauna to land management and conservation strategies. Long-term records are a powerful way to strengthen models of habitat suitability whereas short-term studies enable local research on applied decision making. With funding from INDIGENOUS LED (non-profit organization), the Center of Excellence for Bison Studies, and AES, a postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Alex Shupinski, is leveraging a large dataset (Martin, et al., 2023, Ecology) to model future resiliency of those who manage and rely on bison. Our aim is to support proactive decision-making by managers in areas expected to experience a loss of resiliency; approaches may include developing or adapting drought management plans and preparing for emergent diseases. With bison records for the last 20,000 years and temperature and precipitation data in 1,000-year increments, we are investigating habitat preference by bison prior to and through the appearance of anthropogenic pressures. We expect northward shifts in bison habitat suitability associated with increase in temperatures; though now, they are not able to naturally track environmental change because of anthropogenic barriers, such as fencing.
Enabling environmental stewardship through public understanding of science - I am enthusiastic about ensuring that research is accessible to the people who can make it actionable. A project funded by the US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)’s Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program includes a component in which my role is to collaborate with stakeholder groups, such as the National Bison Association, to enhance the capacity of NRCS and land-grant university Extension agents to better align with the needs of bison producers. We are conducting surveys and interviews of bison producers and the NRCS agents who are geographically relevant to bison producers. We will develop common resources and train-the-trainer workshops to elevate these underdeveloped relationships and encourage more informed decision-making on working lands.
Leveraging mammalian functional traits as indicators of ecosystem disruption - Functional traits, such as skeletal or dental morphologies, can be used as a measure of ecosystem function when traits are aligned with or diverged from what is expected based on the environmental conditions. Ecometrics is the study of these trait-environment relationships across temporal and spatial scales, and the approach can be used to identify where disruption has occurred, or may occur, on the landscape. My ecometrics work relies on innovative quantitative models constructed from large datasets from museum collections, climate records, and faunal occurrence records. I expanded my previous work to integrate the Orders Artiodactyla (split-hoofed animals) and Carnivora (meat-eating predators) and, by doing so, generated a stronger locomotor trait-based model of vegetation cover, increasing accuracy of vegetation estimates from 58-65% when taxonomic orders are used independently to 81% when they are combined (Short et al., 2023, PNAS). My global models of trait-environment relationships can easily downscale to more localized studies. A NSF-funded project is aimed at informing anticipatory management strategies by uncovering past relationships between mammal species and traits, community structure, and environmental variables. By combining past records with our knowledge of modern temperature and precipitation data and with environmental projections of the future, we aim to construct expected future relationships between faunal communities and suitable habitats. Specifically, my team is exploring this trajectory of trait-environment relationships using records from four fossil sites that span the last 200,000 years in Wind Cave National Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Enhancing resiliency of biodiversity in conjunction with management decision - Recent research from my lab has pivoted to focus on responses of modern fauna to land management and conservation strategies. Long-term records are a powerful way to strengthen models of habitat suitability whereas short-term studies enable local research on applied decision making. With funding from INDIGENOUS LED (non-profit organization), the Center of Excellence for Bison Studies, and AES, a postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Alex Shupinski, is leveraging a large dataset (Martin, et al., 2023, Ecology) to model future resiliency of those who manage and rely on bison. Our aim is to support proactive decision-making by managers in areas expected to experience a loss of resiliency; approaches may include developing or adapting drought management plans and preparing for emergent diseases. With bison records for the last 20,000 years and temperature and precipitation data in 1,000-year increments, we are investigating habitat preference by bison prior to and through the appearance of anthropogenic pressures. We expect northward shifts in bison habitat suitability associated with increase in temperatures; though now, they are not able to naturally track environmental change because of anthropogenic barriers, such as fencing.
Enabling environmental stewardship through public understanding of science - I am enthusiastic about ensuring that research is accessible to the people who can make it actionable. A project funded by the US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)’s Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program includes a component in which my role is to collaborate with stakeholder groups, such as the National Bison Association, to enhance the capacity of NRCS and land-grant university Extension agents to better align with the needs of bison producers. We are conducting surveys and interviews of bison producers and the NRCS agents who are geographically relevant to bison producers. We will develop common resources and train-the-trainer workshops to elevate these underdeveloped relationships and encourage more informed decision-making on working lands.
