Why Do Species Decline?

On Thursday, March 27 @ 11am ET, join Cary Institute for a virtual scientific seminar by Dr. Scott Yanco, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

Linking individual-level mechanisms to larger-scale ecological processes, particularly those that affect the regulation of populations and evolutionary fitness, is a central challenge in ecology - particularly in the context of global change. The volume and quality of bio-logging data collected from individual animals has exploded in recent years, revolutionizing how we study these processes.

This talk will make a case for the transformative potential of ongoing advances in biologging technology (and individual-based ecology, more generally) to inform basic and applied ecological problems. It will do so by highlighting Dr. Yanco’s work linking high-resolution observations of individual animals to higher-order ecological outcomes, addressing pressing questions about the processes that underpin the persistence of animal populations in a rapidly changing world.

Specifically, it will focus on three inter-related themes: 1) Unraveling the intersection between behavior, eco-physiology, and life history; 2) Revealing the mechanisms underpinning population trajectories by studying individual lives to understand how anthropogenic activities influence animal behavior and demography; and, 3) Catalyzing individual-based animal ecology by developing new methods, theories, and communities of practice.

Free and open to all. Registration required via Eventbrite.

Host or Publisher Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies