Aaron is currently a Research Scientist with Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute and the East Foundation. He has a PhD in Wildlife Science from Texas A&M University – Kingsville. His interests include wildlife ecology and management, population dynamics, movement patterns, and individual variation in life-history characteristics..
One of Aaron’s interests is to quantify environmental influences on life-history characteristics of wildlife. Reproduction is an important aspect in population dynamics and understanding factors influencing fecundity and recruitment of offspring is critical. Previously, he quantified the role of supplemental feed on elk productivity. Currently, he is collaborating with Dave Christianson and Samuel Chambers to assess the role of vegetation greenness and snow cover in habitat use of elk and examining how habitat use affects elk productivity.
Data from GPS radio-collared elk were collected from 8 elk herds across portions of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Habitat and environmental attributes will be collected from each elk location to assess how habitat selection changes temporally and spatially. Measuring habitat use of elk will ultimately improve our understanding about how elk recruitment rates are influenced by fine-scale movement patterns.
A combination of first-passage time and step selection functions will be used to quantify fine-scale movement patterns. Effects of snow over and vegetation greenness on elk space-use patterns will be analyzed with mixed effects models.
Elk are a keystone species in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. There is a trend of shorter and milder winters in conjunction with longer and drier summers. Understanding how elk behave in an environment with a changing phenology will improve both basic and applied science.
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