Research
- Effects of deforestation and climate change on carbon & water cycling in Amazonia
- Improving the predictive ability of terrestrial biosphere models
- Mechanistic models of animal movement
- Enhancing vegetation structure for terrestrial biosphere modeling using Lidar and Radar techniques
- Development of the AIRMOSS Level 4 Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) products using the ED2 terrestrial biosphere model
- HyspIRI: Linking Terrestrial Biosphere Models with Imaging Spectrometry Measurements of Ecosystem Composition, Structure, and Function
- Integrated assessment of land-use and hydrology for sustainable development of the Amazon under changing climate (SSP)
- Previous research projects
Mechanistic models of animal movement
Mechanistic Home Range Analysis
James Forester
The objective of this research is to use mechanistic home range models to develop a predictive, reductionist theory of animal home range patterns from an understanding of the ecological and evolutionary forces that govern the movement behavior of individuals. In contrast to traditional home range models where arbitrary statistical distributions are used to characterize spatial patterns of animal relocations, mechanistic home range models formally derive expected patterns of space-use from underlying correlated random walk descriptions of individual movement and interaction behavior.By developing a series of mechanistic home range models for carnivore populations, this research has shown how mechanistic home range model models can be used to:
Test hypotheses regarding the underlying ecological determinants of home range patterns observed in populations
Predict how spatial distributions of home ranges will change following perturbation
Examine the functional (adaptive) significance of movement strategies, and resulting patterns of space-use
