Dr Antonio Uzal

👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

Academia keeps evolving faster than my ability to pretend I understand it....wtf

Group of collaborators in BlueSky @richardyarnell.bsky.social @robdavis1104.bsky.social @conniegitau.bsky.social

Tourist sightings improve the precision of camera trap‐derived density estimates using spatial capture‐recapture models In this study, we combine tourist-contributed images with camera trap-based monitoring data to estimate leopard (Panthera pardus) population densities using multi-session spatial capture–recapture mo...

Combining #cameratrap data with tourist sightings improves leopards monitoring. Wow!🤩

@rsecjournal.bsky.social @antoniouzal.bsky.social

zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

🐆 Tourist sightings improve the precision of camera trap‐derived density estimates (Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation) – Rachael Leeman’s first PhD output.
lnkd.in/g-Xnr726

🦔 Habitat and predator heterogeneity influence the density of a declining mammal (Oikos) – Hongli Yu’s second PhD output.
(accepted – link coming soon!)

🐕 Direct interactions between livestock guarding dogs and wildlife in a transhumance grazing system (Conservation Science and Practice) – Bethany Smith’s second PhD output.
lnkd.in/g_uCjYpZ

🔊 The Role of Ecoacoustics in Monitoring Ecosystem Degradation and Restoration (Restoration Ecology) – Consolata Gathoni’s first PhD output.
lnkd.in/gbw7v_fw

Who said nothing happens in August in the academic world? In just two weeks, four papers from our group have been published (or accepted) 🎉. Supporting PhD candidates throughout their journeys is the most rewarding part of my job as an Associate Professor. Very proud of all their hard work!
Thread:

Our critique, based on decades of research, highlights how the study’s narrow 19-month windo fails to reflect the long-term ecological consequences of rising livestock presence in the Reserve.

As a group of 33 researchers with deep, long-term involvement in the Mara, we have published a response to a recent study by Xu and Butt (2024, PNAS) that claims livestock grazing has little effect on wildlife in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve.

Seeds of Hope: Restoring Savanna Grasslands in Enarau Wildlife Conservancy, Kenya This February, Earthwatch Program Manager Sarah Wishart returned from Kenya’s Maasai Mara, sharing her experience restoring savanna habitats in this iconic landscape.

Inspiring description of our first Earthwatch expedition
earthwatch.org/stories/seed...

A thriving natural world is the foundation of economic growth and vital for health and wellbeing. Language that pits these against each other is unhelpful and deeply concerning.

Nature is not a blocker to growth.

The UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has claimed that 'The balance has gone too far in the direction of always protecting every bat and every newt.' But how can this statement be true when the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world?🌍

Habitat quality, food availability & human presence shape these species' interactions.1️⃣ Hedgehogs are vulnerable in simplified rural landscapes. 2️⃣ Urban & mixed landscapes may support coexistence. 3️⃣ Future studies should explore hedgehog-only areas to test the "landscape of fear" hypothesis further.

Hedgehog proximity to buildings suggests these aren’t just "fear refuges"—they may offer food & safety. Badgers, on the other hand, avoid human proximity, showing preferences for arable/woodland, even with lower prey biomass.

Badgers and hedgehogs often share landscapes, but their interactions can limit hedgehog populations. Our study highlights how differences in habitat selection might allow these species to coexist. Badgers may push hedgehogs into suboptimal habitats with less food.

Does Differential Habitat Selection Facilitate Coexistence Between Badgers and Hedgehogs? Eurasian badgers (Meles meles) are intraguild predators of European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) and are implicated in their population decline via both direct predation and competition for shared....

Hot off the press🚨🚨!! Our study looks at densities and distribution of #hedgehogs & #badgers in England & Wales, exploring how food, habitat, & badger density shape hedgehog distributions.
@britishecolsoc.bsky.social @richardyarnell.bsky.social @robdavis1104.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1002/ece3...

Two more lynx spotted on loose in the Highlands The sighting follows the capture of two lynx in the same area on Thursday.

Something is deeply concerning in the UK if someone can release 4 lynx innjust a few days without fear of being caught. No records of import or breeding? What's going on?

www.bbc.com/news/article...

@conniegitau.bsky.social

Eastern Africa Centre NTU Eastern Africa Centre (EAC) Fully Funded PhD at Distance studentship Consolata Gitau Gathoni is a Postgraduate Researcher with NTU, through the Eastern Africa Centre (EAC) Fully Funded PhD at Distance studentship - 'The role of soundscapes in monitoring ecological rest...

Consolata Gitau, one of the authors, is a PhD candidate at Nottingham Trent University
www.ntu.ac.uk/internationa...

An African perspective to biodiversity conservation in the twenty-first century | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Africa boasts high biodiversity while also being home to some of the largest and fastest-growing human populations. Although the current environmental footprint of Africa is low compared to other cont...

"The journey is long and will take time. However, with Africa’s abundance of ambitious, young, tech-savvy individuals, the future holds great promise." 🙌💪💪
doi.org/10.1098/rstb...

Winner–loser plant trait replacements in human-modified tropical forests - Nature Ecology & Evolution Tropical forest landscapes are increasingly being modified by human activities. Here the authors apply a causal inference approach to Neotropical forest data to disentangle the role of landscape-level...

In this paper, we elucidate the mechanism of “winner-loser replacement” that occurs in tropical landscapes when they become fragmented and subjected to other human-caused disturbances and disentangle the effects of landscape structure and local degradation.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Through the eyes of the Andean bear: Camera collar insights into the life of a threatened South American Ursid This study used a camera-equipped GPS collar on a male Andean bear in southeastern Peru, revealing rare behaviors like courtship, novel diets, and geophagy. These findings from the Kosñipata Valley p....

Very exciting novel insights into the lives of Andean bears. Ruthmery PH will be joining NTU in January to work alongside @richardyarnell.bsky.social, Andrew Whitworth and me on her PhD project, focused on the ecology of the Andean #bear. Can't wait to start the journey!
shorturl.at/pQCHW