Overall, I am interested in a variety of questions pertaining to the different themes below. Mostly, I am emphasize small mammal ecology and associated aspects of population dynamics, community structure, and their parasites. Generally, graduate students have approached questions of their interest that I can support financially and analytically, rather than following a dictated set of questions. For links to completed theses, check out the People page.
Spatial Patterns and Environmental Constraints of Populations and Communities
Changes in the environment influence populations in both abundance and occupancy, altering community composition. Predictable changes in temperature and precipitation occur along geographical gradients, both with latitude and elevation, allowing investigation into how communities respond to changing stressors. I am interested in building and testing models that investigate such relationships, particularly with respect to host-parasite and host-pathogen dynamics, particularly how such dynamics can become uncoupled. Tracking sites through time also can yield important observations and measures of environmental fluctuations on communities; my lab and I are beginning long term survey to address such questions. Longer term changes (over decades and centuries), particularly those of anthropogenic origin, can yield alterations of climate and habitat. Comparisons of historical occupancy with modern occupancy through resurveys can identify whether species have shifted their range (either altitudinally or latitudinally) and correlates of such shifts.
Examples include Maher and Timm (2014); Green et al. (2016); Morelli, Maher, et al. (2017); Schmidt et al. (2019); Beasley and Maher (2019); Maher and Beissinger (feel free to request); Adkins and Maher (in review; feel free to request).
Geographic Patterns of Distributions
The geography of species represents the sum of environmental, biotic, and historic constraints; disentangling such patterns dominates the discipline of biogeography. The advent and expansion of Geographic Information Systems in concert with the increasing availability of biodiversity and remotely sensed data (e.g. landcover, climate) has spurred innovative methods that can test for the relative roles of limiting factors and estimate the distribution of species. My interests lie in understanding potential biotic interactions and shifts in distribution at large spatial extents and across broad time intervals, as well as using different approaches to provide a broader suite of expectations. Often this work is in collaboration to combine geographic predictions with genetic information of populations and lineages.
Examples include Maher et al. (2010); Esselstyn, Maher & Brown (2011); Chavez, Maher, et al. (2014); Maher et al. (2014), Giarla et al. (2018).
Connectivity and Spread
In natural systems, populations and communities exist as sub-units, connected by dispersing individuals. Using models to estimate dispersal limitations between patches, we can better demonstrate how populations can shift and spread. This is particularly important with respect to expansion and maintenance of a pathogen over a landscape, and estimating isolation of habitats within a network.
Examples include Maher et al. (2012); Maher et al. (2017); Kramer et al. (preprint)
Species Inventory and Monitoring
Tracking and monitoring species occurrence is important approach to better understand dynamics of populations and changes in occupancy. This process involves the development of long-term monitoring, whereby we regularly sample and survey areas to assess occurrence and abundance, as well as documentation of species. This work includes participation in SnapShotUSA and consistent camera arrays at Bull Shoals Field Station.
Examples include Cove et al. (2021); Kays et al. (2022)
Maher Lab - Computational Wildlife Ecology 