research

So what is it that you do?

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CAMERA TRAPPING, DNA, & STATISTICS
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​LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY AND RESTORATION
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MOUNTAIN BIODIVERSITY
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SPECIES RESTORATION
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UNGULATE MACROECOLOGY
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CARNIVORE MACROECOLOGY
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SPECIES' PERSISTENCE IN COMPLEX MULTI-USE LANDSCAPES​
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Where animals live, why they live there, and how humans change that.

​THE Landscape Ecology OF MAMMAL CONSERVATION

In the ecological theatre and evolutionary play, landscapes are the stage. All species must navigate time and space to find resources, avoid predators, outwit competitors, and find mates. How all of these pieces spatially connect is a primary driver influencing species' success. As we extract resources we change the settings on this stage, thus changing the play. 

ACME Lab's core research goal is to understand how and why landscape change affects species, and how we can conserve and restore landscapes to maintain ecological processes and landscape function.

Our research spans multiple landscapes across western Canada and beyond.

Species Restoration
and recolonization of former ranges


Centuries of anthropogenic impacts have lead to species extirpations from former ranges. Restoration and reintroduction have helped species recolonize some of these ranges, but we know very little about how species respond to their old, now new, environments. From sea otters (Enhydra lutris) on Canada’s Pacific coast, to fishers in the southern boreal forest, we examine how spatial attributes of landscape structure and community composition - including predators and competitors - influence species recolonization of old habitats.
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UNGULATE MACROECOLOGY

Ungulates are mass drivers of change in ecological systems. They have substantial impacts on vegetation communities, and limit (or bolster) carnivore populations: they are the fulcrum in the predator-prey 'trophic cascade' teeter-totter.

Ungulate populations have changed on continental scales over the last century, and these changes are manifesting in real-time in Canadian landscapes.

Some species such as white-tailed deer are doing very well: too well. Others, such as moose and alpine ungulates, are faring more poorly.

From arctic muskox and divvi, mountain moose and sheep, invading white-tailed deer in the boreal forest, to urban black-tailed deer, we examine how landscape and climate change affect populations and distributions.
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Carnivore Macroecology

Carnivores range vast distances, so they often suffer the greatest impacts from landscape development. Carnivores and development can coexist, but in most landscapes we lack the ecological knowledge to make good decisions to make coexistence a reality.

ACME Lab researches apex carnivores (wolves), meso-carnivores (marten, fishers, foxes), omnivores (black and brown bears), and the mighty wolverine.

We examine how these species share landscapes with each other and their prey, and respond to human-induced changes to landscape and climate. 
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Mountain Biodiversity
and effects of climate change

Mountain ecosystems are ecologically complex and changing rapidly due to climate and increasing human pressures from resource extraction and recreation.

We research mountain biodiversity in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and coastal ranges, spanning highly protected landscapes like the National Parks and  Willmore Wilderness to deeply developed, highly-used landscapes like the Bighorn Backcountry. 

We are using camera trapping, satellite data and oblique mountain images to quantify past and current change, and to forecast future biotic change under different climate and development regimes.

We partner with UVIC's Mountain Legacy Project.
See MLP's incredible catalogue of mountain imagery here.

Species' Persistence in Complex Multi-Use Landscapes​

Many landscapes are complex patchworks of natural  landscape features, forests, and anthropogenic development such as oil and gas extraction, roads, forest cut blocks, mining, and recreation. Yet mammal populations, with some exceptions, persist in these landscapes. How do they do it? How does landscape complexity relate to wildlife distribution?

​We research the population and distribution of species ranging from white-tailed deer to fishers, and relate to landscapes with complex hierarchical models. This allows us to pinpoint the best predictors of species occurrence, so we can test ecological mechanisms and identify priority features for management. Though applied, our research is embedded heavily in niche theory and competition theory and seeks to advance these fields.
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Camera Trapping, DNA, & Statistics
to improve macroecology wildlife research

Answers to the big questions in ecology and conservation require big data. Understanding how species are distributed over large landscapes has been historically difficult. The advent of camera traps has changed that. Cameras provide high resolution, large-scale data on animal behaviour, distribution, density, and communities over vast areas. 

However, images from a camera placed in the woods do not instantly translate into data. How can we interpret these images and use them reliably in statistical analysis to answer the tough questions?
ACME has been working on these issues for almost two decades, teaming up with statisticians to find ways to use cameras to inform wildlife and land-use management for effective conservation.

We are a proud member of the WILDCAM network - check out the resources for camera-trappers here.

How do cameras provide insights into animal ecology? Collaborator Dr. Cole Burton at UBC talks camera traps and wildlife coexistence. ​
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