Publications by authors named "Samantha E S Kreling"

In the context of evolutionary time, cities are an extremely recent development. Although our understanding of how urbanization alters ecosystems is well-developed, empirical work examining the consequences of urbanization on adaptive evolution remains limited. To facilitate future work, we offer candidate genes for one of the most prominent urban carnivores across North America.

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Background: Movement plays a key role in allowing animal species to adapt to sudden environmental shifts. Anthropogenic climate and land use change have accelerated the frequency of some of these extreme disturbances, including megafire. These megafires dramatically alter ecosystems and challenge the capacity of several species to adjust to a rapidly changing landscape.

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Linear barriers pose significant challenges for wildlife gene flow, impacting species persistence, adaptation, and evolution. While numerous studies have examined the effects of linear barriers (e.g.

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Overlap between wildlife and human activity is key to causing wildlife-vehicle collisions, a globally pervasive and growing source of wildlife mortality. Policies regarding clock time often involve abrupt seasonal shifts in human activity, potentially influencing rates of human-wildlife conflict. Here, we harness the biannual shift between standard and daylight saving time as a natural experiment to reveal how the timing of human activity influences deer-vehicle collisions.

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Article Synopsis
  • Animal populations are facing increased challenges from extreme disturbances like megafires, and understanding their behavioral responses is crucial for survival.
  • In the study of black-tailed deer impacted by the 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire, researchers used GPS data and camera traps to analyze changes in movement, home range size, and body condition.
  • Despite severe habitat loss and reduced body condition due to forage scarcity, deer demonstrated remarkable site fidelity, returning to pre-fire ranges and adapting by selecting for remaining vegetation patches, highlighting their resilience in changing environments.
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