Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

My research team studies the evolution of behaviour, how it interacts with changes in wildlife populations, and how it determines their use of habitat. We conduct controlled experiments in a unique field laboratory where native small mammals can choose to move among large 1/4 ha enclosures. Each enclosure contains a different natural habitat. We control the identity of species making the decisions, their population densities, and the set of enclosures that they can move through. We will use this grant to purchase new, emerging radio-frequency technologies. Pilot studies confirm the suitability of the technology under our field conditions. The system works as follows: Each experimental animal is identified with a small transponder. The transponder's unique barcode is recorded by pairs of antennae placed on opposing sides of open gates between enclosures. Data on each individual's weight and movement are recorded and stored automatically in field data loggers. We download the remotely collected field data into a laptop computer and merge those data with computer models to evaluate competing theories on dispersal and habitat selection. We thus obtain a continuous and unparalleled record of growth rates, pregnancies, and dispersal of these secretive nocturnal animals without disturbing them. We combine that knowledge to infer habitat quality. Computer software organizes the vast amounts of incoming data, and incorporates them into simulated experiments running in the computer's geographic information system (GIS). The novel combination of field and computer experiments running in an experimental landscape through GIS will maximize our ability to understand how habitat and climate change influence animal populations. Though our work is focused on using model species to test theory, the results, and the techniques we are developing, are crucial to conserving and managing wildlife in real landscapes.