Research Objective: I want to understand climate-driven changes to forests and the effect this will have on mammal communities by investigating how seed production affects abundance of mammals in all forest types across the continent.
Seeds of Change: Exploring Relationships Between Mast, Climate, and Mammal Abundance in North American Forests
Chapter 1: Synthesizing and optimizing density models for unmarked animals from camera traps
This chapter reviews and synthesizes existing density estimation models for unmarked animals from camera trap data. It introduces an AI-enhanced unified framework that combines an AI-based distance estimation tool with a conceptual framework synthesizing existing density models. The chapter presents two case studies demonstrating the framework's practical application and proposes two innovative "quilted" models that integrate elements from both movement-based and plot resampling models.
Chapter 2: From Forests to Fauna: Understanding Mast's Influence on Wildlife Distribution Across Forest Types
This chapter explores the relationship between mast (fruit and seeds of forest trees) and the distribution and abundance of animals that consume it. It investigates how factors such as specific tree species, temporal variation, environmental conditions, and human activities modify or decouple these relationships. The research uses various statistical models to analyze the importance of mast in determining herbivore abundance and distribution over space and time.
Chapter 3: Mast-Mediated Trophic Cascades: The Bottom-Up Effects of Forest Productivity on Predator Populations
This chapter investigates the influence of mast availability on predator populations within forest ecosystems. It focuses on understanding the bottom-up effects of forest productivity on predator dynamics and interactions with prey. The study uses path analysis and other statistical modeling approaches to reveal how variations in mast availability impact predator densities and prey-predator abundance.
Chapter 4: Forecasting the Future: Climate Change Impacts on Mast Production and Ecosystem Dynamics
This final chapter explores how climate change will impact regional mast production and subsequently influence predator and prey densities in the ecosystem. It uses predictive mast models to forecast changes in forest types, seed production, and mammal abundance and distribution. The chapter aims to provide insights into the potential cascading effects of climate-induced alterations in mast production on predator-prey relationships and ecosystem functioning.
