Heather N. Abernathy

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Wildlife Research Lead at Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation

Predation risk and prey responses exhibit fluctuations in space and time. Seasonal ecological disturbances can alter landscape structure and permeability to influence predator activity and efficacy, creating predictable patterns of risk for prey (seasonal risk landscapes). This may create corresponding seasonal shifts in antipredator behaviour, med...

Prey species adjust their behavior along human‐use gradients by balancing risks from predators and humans. During hunting seasons, prey often exhibit strong antipredator responses to humans but may develop tolerance in suburban areas to exploit human‐mediated resources. Additionally, areas with high human activity may offer reduced predation risk i...

Context Thermal conditions can influence animal behavior and predator–prey dynamics. Understanding the effects of temperature on animals and their interactions is of increasing importance given predictions for global warming. Objectives We determined how temperature influenced avoidance of risky areas and habitat selection in a climate generalist,...

Behavioural consistency and plasticity can both benefit fitness. Repeatability in behaviour within a specific context, termed temperament or trait-like behavioural responses, fosters adaptive responses to stimuli. Behavioural plasticity, on the other hand, enables state-like responses, aligning behaviour with internal and external conditions. The n...

We document the presence of bobcats ( Lynx rufus ) that demonstrate melanism in the Greater Everglades. The South Florida landscape is driven by a myriad of disturbance regimes particularly that of short fire intervals. We monitored 180 camera traps for 3 years and obtained 9503 photographs of bobcats 25 (<0.5%) of these detections included melanis...

Understanding spatiotemporal variation in habitat quality is essential for guiding wildlife reintroduction and restoration programs. The habitat productivity hypothesis posits that home range size is inversely related to habitat quality. Thus, home range size may be used as a proxy for habitat quality and can identify important land cover features...

Large carnivore restoration programs are often promoted as capable of providing ecosystem services. However, these programs rarely measure effects of successful restoration on other economically and ecologically important species. In South Florida, while the endangered Florida panther Puma concolor coryi population has increased in recent years due...

Background Wildlife conservation often focuses on establishing protected areas. However, these conservation zones are frequently established without adequate knowledge of the movement patterns of the species they are designed to protect. Understanding movement and foraging patterns of species in dynamic and diverse habitats can allow managers to de...

Nutrition underpins survival and reproduction in animal populations; reliable nutritional biomarkers are therefore requisites to understanding environmental drivers of population dynamics. Biomarkers vary in scope of inference and sensitivity, making it important to know what and when to measure to properly quantify biological responses. We evaluat...

Background Wildlife conservation often focuses on establishing protected areas, however, these conservation zones are frequently developed without adequate knowledge of the movement patterns of the species they are designed to protect. Understanding movement and foraging patterns of species in dynamic and diverse habitats can allow managers to deve...

Context Predation-risk and ecological disturbance regimes can both influence behavioral decisions by prey, yet few studies have simultaneously considered responses to these ecological pressures. Elucidating relationships between predation risk and the costs and benefits associated with multiple natural disturbances can contribute to a better unders...

Wildlife strongly alter behaviour in response to human disturbance; however, fundamental questions remain regarding the influence of human infrastructure and activity on animal movement. The Covid‐19 pandemic created a natural experiment providing an opportunity to evaluate wildlife movement during a period of greatly reduced human activity. Specul...

Extreme climatic events (ECEs) are increasing in frequency and intensity and this necessitates understanding their influence on organisms. Animal behaviour may mitigate the effects of ECEs, but field studies are rare because ECEs are infrequent and unpredictable. Hurricane Irma made landfall in southwestern Florida where we were monitoring white-ta...

Efforts to understand population dynamics and identify high-quality habitat require information about spatial variation in demographic parameters. However, estimating demographic parameters typically requires labor-intensive capture-recapture methods that are difficult to implement over large spatial extents. Spatially explicit integrated populatio...

Examining the drivers of habitat selection in Neotropical migrant songbirds over a gradient of hydroclimate, in particular focusing on how variables such as habitat structure, microclimate, and food resources play a role in occupancy and abundance of songbirds.

In the last 30 years the southeastern US has undergone precipitation variability changes with an increase in extreme precipitation events and an increased instance of droughts. Precipitation patterns bring about ecosystem changes which manifest differently at various trophic levels. Forest trophic dynamics are altered first by shifting plant commun...

In the last 25 years the southeastern US has undergone precipitation variability changes with an increase in extreme precipitation events and an increased instance of droughts. Precipitation patterns bring about ecosystem changes which manifest differently at various trophic levels. Forest trophic dynamics are altered first by shifting plant commun...