Speaker: Dr. Scott Yanco, University of Michigan
Linking individual-level mechanisms to larger-scale ecological processes, particularly those that affect the regulation of populations and evolutionary fitness, is a central challenge in ecology - particularly in the context of global change. The volume and quality of bio-logging data collected from individual animals has exploded in recent years, revolutionizing the ways in which we study these processes. This talk will make a case for transformative potential of the ongoing advances in biologging technology (and individual-based ecology, more generally) to inform both basic and applied ecological problems. It will do so by highlighting Dr. Yanco’s work linking high-resolution observations of individual animals to higher order ecological outcomes, addressing pressing questions about the processes that underpin the persistence of animal populations in a rapidly changing world. Specifically, it will focus on three inter-related themes: 1) Unraveling the intersection between behavior, eco-physiology, and life history; 2) Revealing the mechanisms underpinning population trajectories by studying individual lives to understand how anthropogenic activities influence animal behavior and demography; and, 3) Catalyzing individual-based animal ecology by developing new methods, theories, and communities of practice.