Individual-based research int animal ecology and evolution

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My research focuses on the individual-based study of animal populations. I am particularly interested in explaining variation in single-generational proxies of fitness (e.g., lifetime reproductive success) from additive and interactive effects of behaviour, morphology, and an animal's unique experience of the biotic and abiotic environment. By considering the underlying basis of individual contributions to population growth, I hope to bridge ecological and evolutionary dynamics. My work is primarily based on the long-term study of ungulate populations (e.g., red deer, roe deer, caribou, feral horses) using ecology and genetics to answer questions. Recent empirical analyses ask how an animal's fitness might be affected by its use of available resources while taking into consideration unique experiences of important processes such as competition, predation, ecological succession, and cross-generational effects. A key component of this proposal is my plan to establish a long-term (30+ yrs), individual-based study of the population of feral horses on Sable Island, Nova Scotia. Short-term goals providing a foundation for future research are directed at developing a better understanding of: (1) dynamics of the horse population; (2) phenotypic and environmental factors affecting life history; (3) density-dependent resource selection and links with fitness; (4) band dynamics and sociobiology; and (5) population genetics and micro-evolution. In addition to pursuing my goal of linking ecological and evolution- ary dynamics, I am motivated by the many opportunities that detailed population studies (like that on Sable) allow us to ask of fundamental ecology and evolution. For example, using this system I will also study (6) the potential for the irrupting seal population (which pups on Sable) to transfer from the ocean onto land substant- ial amounts of nitrogen and other nutrients, affecting vegetation and thus life histories and dynamics of the horses. The importance of this work is wide ranging, from asking 'blue sky' questions (e.g., why do some line- ages flourish while others decline or go extinct, why might some strategies or traits be selected for at one time but not another) to the applied (e.g., methods to identify critical habitat important for species conservation).