Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology

Mapping busy bees

University of Maine researchers have developed a tool called “BeeMapper” that will allow blueberry growers to assess the predicted wild bee abundance in the landscape surrounding their crop fields. “Having a better understanding of the predicted wild bee abundance in the landscape surrounding crop fields is important when making pollination management decisions,” says UMaine doctoral […]

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Big roles of small natural features

Ecologists and conservationists have long recognized that keystone species have major ecological importance disproportionate to their abundance or size. Think beavers, sea stars and prairie dogs — species that keep an ecosystem balanced. Similarly across landscapes, the keystone concept of disproportionate importance extends to other ecological elements, such as salt marshes in estuaries. Now an […]

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Earth Touch News Network quotes Harrison in report on Canada lynx in Maine

Daniel Harrison, a professor of wildlife at the University of Maine, was quoted in a Earth Touch News Networkreport about two Canada lynx that were caught fighting on video in the middle of a road near Kokadjo. Harrison, who has researched lynx habitat ecology, said he suspects the scene represents a “territorial stare-down.” The noisy standoff […]

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Grad student researching interactions among bass, other fish as waters warm

In July, University of Maine graduate student Nicole Ramberg-Pihl went to the Kenduskeag Stream in Exeter and Garland in search of smallmouth bass. Accompanying her in the field were Stephen Coghlan, an associate professor in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology; and undergraduate students Spencer Kelley and Tyson Porter. They collected small young-of-the-year […]

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Ph.D. candidate presents thesis to China Lake Association, Town Line reports

The Town Line reported Betsy Barber, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Maine, was a keynote speaker at the China Lake Association’s annual meeting on July 22. The meeting marked the group’s 30th anniversary and attracted more than 75 people, according to the article. Barber, who is a graduate student in the Department of Wildlife, […]

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Washington Post interviews Calhoun, Hunter about small natural features

The Washington Post spoke with University of Maine professors Aram Calhoun and Malcolm Hunter for an article about the latest issue of the journal Biological Conservation, which focuses on the big ecological roles of  small natural features. The issue was organized by Hunter, a professor of wildlife resources and Libra Professor of Conservation Biology, who calls […]

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old tree forest

The big ecological roles of small natural features

Ecologists and conservationists have long recognized that keystone species have major ecological importance disproportionate to their abundance or size. Think beavers, sea stars and prairie dogs — species that keep a ecosystem balanced. Similarly across landscapes, the keystone concept of disproportionate importance extends to other ecological elements, such as salt marshes in estuaries. Now an […]

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red-backed vole rodent wildlife

Long-term study links tree seeds, rodent population fluctuations

Using data from a 33-year population study, University of Maine researchers have found evidence that various tree species can affect rodent populations in different ways. The results advance the understanding of interactions between seeds and rodents, as well as complex population fluctuations, according to the researchers. The study was led by then-master of wildlife conservation […]

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