Causes, consequences and maintenance of niche variation in systems with humans and other predators

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All living organisms, including humans, are united by their use of resources from a common environment. As a result of competition with other species, however, each species occupies its own niche (or specific set of resources). Whereas understanding how and why niches vary among species has dominated related research for decades, emerging work is now showing variation in niche at levels of organization within species. Different populations, and even different individuals within population, can carve out their own set of resources. This has enormous implications to the evolutionary environments these organisms face, and consequently how they look, behave and interact with other living things. What is less certain is what processes can shape, re-shape and maintain this variation in niche, which is a critical component of biodiversity.Our lab is interested in how large and naturally fragmented landscapes influence variation in food niches from the species to individual levels in large mammalian predators. Additionally, we study the niche of the most influential mammalian predator of all - human beings - and the effects hunters and fishers have on their competitors and prey in the natural world.Our research program is comprised of a wildlife field system and several database-focused projects. In the field we study how wolves, black bears and grizzly bears compete with one another - and ultimately with salmon fisheries - for salmon, which is a critical central resource. We expect to learn that the niches occupied by each participant will be a function of where competition takes place across our mainland and archipelago study area, as well as the harvest levels of fisheries. Our database projects examine the global influence of not only fisheries but also subsistence and recreational hunting. We expect to reveal just how unique the niche of the "human predator" is, and how it might shape the ecology and evolution of many other organisms.