Exploring the ecological feasibility of restoring Eurasian lynx to Great Britain using spatially explicit individual-based modelling.

Ecological restoration offers a multitude of benefits for the human-nature system, which has put it at the forefront of international initiatives opposing environmental degradation. In Great Britain, the reintroduction of Eurasian lynx has been proposed to help improve ecosystem health, raising the question; what is the ecological feasibility of lynx reintroduction in Great Britain? Combining a lynx-specific spatially explicit individual-based model and contemporary habitat suitability mapping would shed new light on this question. We hypothesised potential drivers of reintroduction success, including demographic parameters, behavioural responses in habitat selection, and management strategies.

Badgers prefer cattle pasture but avoid cattle: implications for bovine tuberculosis control.

Effective management of infectious disease relies upon understanding mechanisms of pathogen transmission. In particular, while models of disease dynamics usually assume transmission through direct contact, transmission through environmental contamination can cause different dynamics. We used Global Positioning System (GPS) collars and proximity-sensing contact-collars to explore opportunities for transmission of Mycobacterium bovis [causal agent of bovine tuberculosis] between cattle and badgers (Meles meles).

Agriculture modifies the seasonal decline of breeding success in a tropical wild bird population.

Habitat conversion for agriculture is a major driver of biodiversity loss, but our understanding of the demographic processes involved remains poor. We typically investigate the impacts of agriculture in isolation even though populations are likely to experience multiple, concurrent changes in the environment (e.g.

Anthropogenic natal environmental effects on life histories in a wild bird population.

Recent work suggests that the environment experienced in early life can alter life histories in wild populations, but our understanding of the processes involved remains limited. Since anthropogenic environmental change is currently having a major impact on wild populations, this raises the possibility that life histories may be influenced by human activities that alter environmental conditions in early life. Whether this is the case and the processes involved remain unexplored in wild populations.