Current Research in Conservation Biology

Our lab is interested in developing new mathematical tools to help estimate extinction risks for at-risk populations and understanding what factors may have played the most critical roles in putting those populations at risk. We are also involved in academic outreach, working to involve managers and hands-on practitioners of conservation for declining populations and control efforts for invasive threats. Our goal is to produce practical tools for wildlife managers and conservationists.

Related Publications

The Impact of Host Metapopulation Structure on Short-term Evolutionary Rescue in the Face of a Novel Pathogenic Threat. Jiao, J., M. Gilchrist, and N.H. Fefferman. 2020. Global Ecology and Conservation. e01174.

A general structured model of a hermaphrodite population. Kebir, A., N.H. Fefferman, and S.B. Miled. 2018. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 449:53-59.

High Survival of Some Infected Bat Populations Veils a Persistent Extinction Risk from White-nose Syndrome. Maslo, B., O. Stringham, A. Bevan, A. Brumbaugh, C. Sanders, M. Hall, and N.H. Fefferman. 2017. Ecosphere.

ChiroSurveillance: The Use of Native Bats to Detect Invasive Agricultural Pests. Maslo, B., R. Valentin, K Leu, K Kerwin, A Bevan, G.C. Hamilton, N.H. Fefferman, and D.M. Fonseca. 2017. PLoS One. 12(3), e0173321.

Evaluating the vulnerability of sex-changing fish to harvest: A game-theoretic approach. Robinson, O.J., O.P. Jensen, M.M. Provost, S. Huang, N.H. Fefferman, A. Kebir and J.L. Lockwood. 2017. ICES Journal of Marine Science. 74(3):652-659.

Success of Wildlife Disease Treatment Depends on Host Immune Response. Maslo, B., S. Gignoux-Wolfsohn, and N.H. Fefferman. 2017. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 5(28).

Evolutionary Rescue Affects Viability of Declining Populations: A General Model and Case Study Using Bats and White-Nose Syndrome. Maslo, B. and N.H. Fefferman. 2015. Conservation Biology. 29(4)1176-1185.

The impact of personality on the success of prospecting behavior in changing landscapes. Burkhalter, J.C., N.H. Fefferman, and J.L. Lockwood. 2015. Current Zoology. 61:557-568.

Understanding hermaphrodite species through game theory. Kebir, A., N.H. Fefferman, and S. Ben Miled. 2015. Journal of mathematical biology. DOI 10.1007/s00285-015-0866-3.

A Novel Tool for Making Policy Recommendations Based on PVA:Helping Theory Become Practice Robinson, O., J. Lockwood, O. Stringham, and N.H. Fefferman. 2015. Conservation Letters. 8(3):190-198.

How to effectively manage invasive predators to protect their native prey. Robinson, O.J., N.H. Fefferman, and J.L. Lockwood. 2013. Biological Conservation 165: 146-153.

Can physiological stress alter population persistence? A model with conservation implications. Fefferman, N.H., and L.M. Romero. 2013. Conservation Physiology. 1(1): cot012. doi: 10.1093/conphys/cot012.

Vital Rate Sensitivity Analysis and Management Implications for Desert Tortoise Reed, J.M., N.H. Fefferman, and R.C. Averil-Murray. 2009. Biological Conservation. 14(12): 2813-3222.

A Vital Rate Sensitivity Analysis that is Valid for Non-Stable Age Distributions and for Short-Term Planning Fefferman, N.H. and J.M. Reed. 2006. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 70(3):649-656.