Alexej Siren

Looking beyond wildlife: using remote cameras to evaluate accuracy of gridded snow data The objective of this study was to use a novel camera trap method to evaluate the accuracy of gridded snow data. We were interested in assessing (1) how snow depth observations from remote cameras co...

The #AI model used data from a variety of camera setups, including the SiMPL magnet (to be published shortly) and snow stake design zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10..... The classification approach had very high accuracy for species in New England and beyond! Please try it out!

DeepFaune New England: A Species Classification Model for Trail Camera Images in Northeastern North America The DeepFaune New England model classifies wildlife species in trail camera images, identifying 24 taxa from northeastern North America with high (97%) accuracy. The model was adapted from the DeepFa....

Check out our new paper published from @britishecologicalsociety.org journal Ecology and Evolution led by Dr. Larry Clarfeld. We developed a highly accurate animal classification model using remote #camera data from multiple networks and designs: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Quantifying microhabitat selection of snowshoe hares using forest metrics from UAS‐based LiDAR Identifying the spatial and temporal scale at which animals select resources is critical for predicting how populations respond to changes in the environment. The spatial distribution of fine-scale r....

Can we predict microhabitat selection of animals using drones? We did in our new article from @wildlifebiology.bsky.social and found that traditional and 3D metrics (derived from drones) do an good job at explaining and predicting microhabitats. nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Oops! Sorry Jeff. :)

Nice work @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social! I look forward to checking it out.

A map of Canada showing animal icons where 46 GPS datasets were used from 17 different species

New research using 46 GPS datasets from 17 wildlife species to validate our pan-Canadian connectivity model rdcu.be/eMWN5

Estimating the ecological drivers of insect abundance when detection is imperfect Using a field-based mark–recapture approach, the authors demonstrate that habitat quality can simultaneously influence insect abundance and detection. Simulation also showed that prioritizing increas...

Great new article in @animalecology.bsky.social highlighting how to properly account for detection while estimating insect abundance. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1.... We showed using a review how this is also a problem for ticks: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

1 week left to apply to our Postdoc job with our lab using AI to analyze camera trap images at the NC Museum of Natural sciences and NCSU and in collaboration with Wildlife Insights https:/​/​jobs.ncsu.edu/​postings/​223025

new pub out — Yosemite is a perfect (and picturesque) place to show how heterogeneity can shape species distributions and foraging patterns. Grateful to Yosemite NP, Levi & Sacks labs & @roguedogs.bsky.social for their collaboration 💗

The link is not working

Using spatial capture–recapture methods to estimate long-term spatiotemporal variation of a wide-ranging marine species vist.ly/32t84 #BlueWhale #CaptureRecapture #Distribution

They will reopen it. No worries! Congrats on getting it done Gabby!

Measuring Personality in Wild Small Mammals: A Review of Methods and Proposal for a Standardised Approach We provide a systematic review of methodologies used to study personality in small mammals. We propose adopting ‘Standardised Experimental Design’ and ‘Behavioural Measurements’ to effectively compar...

Our review led by S. Savazza "Measuring Personality in Wild Small Mammals: A Review of Methods and Proposal for a Standardised Approach" is out, free open access, in mammal review
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Snow refugia: Managing temperate forest canopies to maintain winter conditions Climate change is reducing snowpack across temperate regions with negative consequences for human and natural systems. Because forest canopies create microclimates that preserve snowpack, managing fo...

How do #forests influence #snowpack dynamics in the northeastern US? Check out our new paper led by @lispastore.bsky.social and Dr. Nelson (@appmtnclub.bsky.social) published in @esajournals.bsky.social: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/.... Hint: mixedwood forests = snow refugia.

The WildCo Lab @wildco.bsky.social is recruiting 2 postdocs in quantitative ecology to work on mammal population estimation and monitoring from camera trap data. 🐺🐻🦌📷📈
Please share the word or apply to join us at UBC in lovely Vancouver, Canada!
wildlife.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2025/0...

Nexus Notes – Land sparing vs. land sharing, the pulse of rivers, ocean summits, and peer review is broken Nexus Notes #8

My latest "Nexus Notes" – Land sparing vs. land sharing, the pulse of rivers, ocean summits, and peer review is broken

Check out our new paper in Current Biology on how well Chinese protected areas have preserved mammal and bird communities #cameratrap includes work-of-art figures by lead author Junjie Liu www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Thanks to Nathan Bieber and Kyle Ravana (current and former deer biologists for the state of Maine, respectively) for all their expert knowledge on deer and support from Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. As always, thanks to the reviewers and editors for improving this paper!

Deep snow and human influence affect survival of an ungulate at the northern part of its range Context Winter is generally considered the limiting season for wildlife populations living in high-latitude/altitude regions. Logically, managers have used temperature and snow variables or indices to...

Check out our new article in @wildliferesearchj.bsky.social evaluating the influence of snow, winter severity indices (WSI), and human influence on🦌survival. Deep ❄️ = low survival, human influence = higher survival, WSI = overpredicted survival. www.publish.csiro.au/WR/WR25008

📢New paper 📢

MS student Clara Dawson's 1st chapter is out!

Does increased habitat connectivity always increase wildlife-vehicle collision rates?

No!

We found nonlinear effects of connectivity on wildlife-vehicle collisions

Free access: rdcu.be/emUU3

What if you could look up exactly where a species has been found and where it’s likely to be found in the future? What if land stewards could use that information when creating conservation plans?

VCE's Brian Kron and Mike Hallworth are helping them do just that in Vermont. tinyurl.com/bdh99th3

Two Promethea moth caterpillars

New paper! If trees are closely related, does it matter where they are from to plant-eating insects? We raised >950 Promethea moth caterpillars on 14 Prunus species to answer that question. Turns out, it matters a lot! Non-native trees = Lower performance

OA paper here: doi.org/10.1002/ecs2...

📖Published📖

Moeller et al. developed Survival and Habitat Quality model (SHQ), a novel modelling approach to connect survival to the cumulative effects of resources, risks, and environmental conditions experienced over an individual's lifetime 🌎 🧪 Read more here 👇

buff.ly/sry3vap

a kid in a knight costume is asking who will join us ALT: a kid in a knight costume is asking who will join us

We are hiring a chair/professor in our Ecology and Environmental Modelling group at @uniofstandrews.bsky.social. Scotland is a lovely place to work, and my colleagues are fantastic! Reach out if you are interested in joining the CREEM family ☺️

vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/Vacancies/I/...

Scientists have been publishing climate models since ~1970.

A good way to evaluate their skill is to compare what they expected to happen in the years after the model was published to observed climate changes.

It turns out most models were pretty spot-on:

Trump’s ‘liquidation plans’ could wipe out Wyoming research group renowned for migration work - WyoFile Fate of the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit’s science faculty — Matt Kauffman, Anna Chalfoun and Annika Walters — unclear as president orders deep cuts.

Fate of Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit staffers — Matt Kauffman, Anna Chalfoun and Annika Walters — remains unclear, but Trump administration cuts have led to widespread suspicion that their days on the job are numbered.

Last week, our team was in rural Maine, talking to counselors and students at Mill Stream Elementary about the value of mental health services in schools. Then, last Wednesday night, as we were on the road home the Trump administration announced cuts...
www.npr.org/2025/05/07/n...

News re the Can Soc Ecol Evol meeting in Sherbrooke in July:
You may now register for workshops through our website:
🔗 event.fourwaves.com/fr/scee2025/...
This registration does not include access to the rest of the conference.

That was probably the best five minutes of hockey I never saw. Happy to see the results the next morning though!

This is an awesome position with stellar PIs!
Please retreat and share with your networks.