Wildlife populations in human-dominated landscapes
Over 90% of the land in Iowa is privately owned, and there are numerous programs that seek to work with landowners to implement habitat restoration and wildlife conservation actions on their property. We are currently working with partners at the Iowa DNR to assess bird responses to habitat created under the Wetlands Reserve Program. We are also working with USDA NRCS to evaluate bird community use of habitat created under Working Lands for Wildlife and with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program to evaluate occupancy and habitat associations of rusty patched bumble bees in Iowa.
Example publications: Coming soon! |
Natural resource decision-making in the face of global change
Our ability to effectively manage wildlife is founded in in an understanding of how our actions and the environment influence populations and communities. Current practices use monitoring data from the past to determine key ecological relationships and make predictions about future status. However, climate change is influencing wildlife in many dynamic and uncertain ways, leading to a situation in which our observations of the past are poor predictors of the future. As part of a Powell Center Working Group, we are working to develop strategies to improve natural resource decision making in the face of uncertain global change.
Example publications: Tucker, A.M. and M.C. Runge. 2021. Optimal strategies for managing wildlife harvest under system change. Journal of Wildlife Management, 85 (5): 847-854. |
Modeling the future status of rare and endangered species
Conservation planning for rare and threatened species is often made more difficult by a lack of data. However, managers still need to make predictions (whether implicitly or explicitly) about the effects of management in order to make decisions. Relying on qualitative assessments of risk can be subjective and non-transparent. We have developed methods to conduct quantitative population viability assessments that account for all relevant sources of uncertainty, using all available knowledge and information. We have worked with partners in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Species Status Assessments for endangered or candidate species.
Example publications: Tucker, A.M., C.P. McGowan, E. Mulero, N.F. Angeli, J.P. Zegarra. 2020. A demographic projection model to support conservation decision making for an endangered snake with limited monitoring data. Animal Conservation, 24 (2): 291-301. Folt, B., J.M. Goessling, A.M. Tucker, C. Guyer, S. Hermann, E. Shelton-Nix, and C.P. McGowan. 2021. Contrasting Patterns of Demography and Population Viability among Six Populations of Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) at the Species’ Range Edge. Journal of Wildlife Management, 85 (4): 617-630. |
Demographic estimation and hierarchical modeling
Long-term monitoring provides the opportunity to understand demographic drivers of population growth and decline. Using methods such as mark-recapture models and integrated population models, we can estimate parameters related to survival probability, recruitment, site use, and movement. For example, we have used hierarchical modeling tools to better understanding the role of migratory stopover in the context of the annual cycle for migratory shorebirds in Delaware Bay, effects of climate change on an Arctic sea duck, and behavioral ecology of songbirds.
Example publications: Tucker, A.M., C.P. McGowan, J.E. Lyons, A. DeRose-Wilson, and N.A. Clark. 2021. Species-specific demographic and behavioral responses to food availability during migratory stopover. Population Ecology. Dunham, K., A.M. Tucker, D. Koons, A. Abebe, F.S. Dobson, and J.B. Grand. 2021. Demographic responses to climate change in a threatened Arctic species. Ecology and Evolution, 00: 1-17. Tucker, A.M., C.P. McGowan, M. Catalano, A.L. DeRose-Wilson, R.A. Robinson, and J. Zimmerman. 2019. Foraging ecology mediates response to ecological mismatch during migratory stopover. Ecosphere, 10 (10): e02898. |