News Archives - Fahrig Lab /fahriglab/category/news/ 杏吧原创 University Wed, 27 May 2026 01:18:30 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.1 杏吧原创’s latest LE hire put to the test /fahriglab/2026/carletons-latest-le-hire-put-to-the-test/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=carletons-latest-le-hire-put-to-the-test Wed, 27 May 2026 01:18:30 +0000 /fahriglab/?p=778 杏吧原创 just hired a new landscape ecologist, Federico Riva! Initiation included log-sawing, camping in the rain and the super-intense jiffy-pop competition. Welcome Federico!!

]]>
GLEL curling a 3-year tradition /fahriglab/2026/glel-curling-a-3-year-tradition/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=glel-curling-a-3-year-tradition Wed, 27 May 2026 01:04:50 +0000 /fahriglab/?p=772 Landscape ecologists go curling for three years in a row. It’s not a high-scoring situation and dignity is at a premium but it’s a great time both during and after.

]]>
Welcoming new postdoc from China /fahriglab/2025/welcoming-new-postdoc-from-china/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=welcoming-new-postdoc-from-china Thu, 26 Jun 2025 19:37:26 +0000 /fahriglab/?p=766 This spring we welcome new postdoc, Xiaohui Wang. Xiaohui is interested in how landscape heterogeneity鈥攑articularly mean field size and crop diversity鈥攁ffects crop productivity. Her research focuses on the 鈥渇ield size鈥揷rop diversity鈥損ractice鈥搚ield鈥 framework to understand their interactions and support the redesign of agricultural landscapes. During her time with us, Xiaohui looks forward to deepening her knowledge of landscape ecology and connecting with others working on related topics.

She began connecting with others immediately following her arrival from China, as she joined us on our spring canoe-camping trip, for a Canadian back-country experience!

]]>
Skate to pub returns! /fahriglab/2025/skate-to-pub-returns/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=skate-to-pub-returns Thu, 13 Feb 2025 19:22:10 +0000 /fahriglab/?p=759 After two years of no ice, this winter we are having a banner year for skating on the canal! We even did our formerly-annual skate to the pub, and conditions were the best they’ve ever been for this 30-year tradition :)

]]>
2024 research roundup – habitat fragmentation and so much more /fahriglab/2025/2024-research-roundup-habitat-fragmentation-and-so-much-more/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=2024-research-roundup-habitat-fragmentation-and-so-much-more Thu, 13 Feb 2025 19:02:31 +0000 /fahriglab/?p=741 In 2024 we published 12 papers.

In our habitat fragmentation research: we found positive effects of fragmentation on the iconic Glanville fritillary butterfly metapopulation (pdf); we showed that patch-scale edge effects are not evidence of landscape-scale fragmentation effects (pdf); we found no lag effects of fragmentation on lichens (pdf); and we discovered a disturbing lack of fragmentation research in the boreal forest (pdf). And, we made progress in reconciling the fragmentation debate (pdf, pdf).

In other research, we showed that there is little evidence that wildlife over-passes and under-passes mitigate the effects of roads on animal movement (pdf). We found huge uncertainty in predicting the effects of climate change on Arctic shorebird distributions (pdf). We found yet more reason for concern over the fate of the migratory monarch butterfly population (pdf), we identified habitat needs of songbirds during migration (pdf), and we found support for the common space-for-time substitution in landscape ecology studies (pdf).

]]>
Two new postdocs join the lab /fahriglab/2024/two-new-postdocs-join-the-lab/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=two-new-postdocs-join-the-lab Thu, 24 Oct 2024 19:37:06 +0000 /fahriglab/?p=730 At this year’s annual potluck we welcomed two new postdocs to the lab.

Sandara Brasil-Peixoto is an ecologist interested in how climate and anthropogenic changes, such as urban expansion and desertification, impact wild bee populations. Her current research aims to understand how urban environmental stressors impact bee morphological traits and how we can use this knowledge to integrate bee conservation efforts with urban planning.

Alison Ochs is an ecologist studying the effects of roads on wildlife. For her postdoctoral work, she aims to estimate the total number of vertebrate animals killed annually on roads worldwide. At the same time she is working on projects to examine the effects of roads on the movement and dispersal capability of terrestrial salamanders.

]]>
International student researchers visiting the lab /fahriglab/2024/international-student-researchers-visiting-the-lab/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=international-student-researchers-visiting-the-lab Thu, 24 Oct 2024 17:50:50 +0000 /fahriglab/?p=724 This fall-winter we welcome two visiting student researchers to the lab.

Marina de Souza is a PhD student from the Universidade Federal do Paran谩 in Brazil. While in the lab Marina will develop part of her thesis on road ecology using an extensive dataset to estimate the effect of paving on roadkill rate. She is excited for this period of learning and exchanging experiences.

Zilva van Rossum is a visiting master鈥檚 student from the University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands. During her time in the lab, she will study dispersal adaptations in the Glanville fritillary butterfly in response to fragmentation per se, landscape quality, and heterogeneity. She hopes to use this time to learn more about landscape ecology and integrate it with the landscape genetics theory she learned at her home university.

]]>
Welcoming visiting researcher Dr. Aino H盲m盲l盲inen /fahriglab/2023/welcoming-visiting-researcher-dr-aino-hamalainen/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=welcoming-visiting-researcher-dr-aino-hamalainen Wed, 07 Jun 2023 00:20:28 +0000 /fahriglab/?p=719 Dr. Aino H盲m盲l盲inen is spending a year in the lab to study how landscape structure affects the diversity of forest-dwelling lichens. Aino has conducted many lichen surveys across Swedish forests and during her time with us she will study the effects of habitat amount and fragmentation on lichen diversity and whether these effects differ for lichen species with different functional traits. She is hoping to use her time with us to learn more about landscape ecology and connect with people working on similar topics.

Welcome Aino!

]]>
2022 publications – fragmentation, connectivity, heterogeneity, and roads /fahriglab/2023/2022-publications-fragmentation-connectivity-heterogeneity-and-roads/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=2022-publications-fragmentation-connectivity-heterogeneity-and-roads Thu, 01 Jun 2023 19:20:48 +0000 /fahriglab/?p=715 In 2022 we published 9 papers on habitat loss and fragmentation, landscape connectivity, landscape heterogeneity, and road ecology.

Under the general heading of habitat loss and fragmentation: (1) we showed that a given amount of habitat is more likely to be lost from small patches than from large patches (Riva et al. 2022), despite the fact that small patches have disproportionately high conservation value on a per-area basis (Riva and Fahrig 2022); (2) we found support for the Habitat Amount Hypothesis for tropical plants, as well as evidence that habitat fragmentation shifts plant species composition (Herrero-J谩uregui et al. 2022); (3) we showed negative effects of habitat loss on seed dispersal at both patch and landscape scales (Cazetta and Fahrig 2022); and (4) we developed a new research agenda for the long-standing SLOSS (“single large or several small”) debate (Fahrig et al. 2022).

On landscape connectivity we found that a simple approach of maximizing habitat area for a given budget produces a prioritization for habitat protection that is similar to more complex algorithms e.g. based on focal species landscape resistance (Hanson et al. 2022). On landscape heterogeneity, we developed an approach to maximize biodiversity in managed forests by maximizing the spatial and temporal variability in management decisions (Duflot et al. 2022). And, on road ecology we showed that reduced predation on turtle nests along roads can compensate for the adult mortality from roadkill (Murphy et al. 2022).

The references are below, and you can find pdf copies of these papers here: /glel/publications/#p2022

  1. Cazetta E, Fahrig L. 2022. The effects of human-altered habitat spatial pattern on frugivory and seed dispersal: a global meta-analysis. Oikos: e08288.
  2. Cooke SJ, Michaels S, Nyboer EA, Schiller L, Littlechild DBR, Hanna D, Robichaud CD, Murdoch A, Roche D, Soroye P, Vermaire JC, Nguyen VM, Young N, Provencher JF, Smith PA, Mitchell GW, Avery-Gomm S, Davy CM, Buxton RT, Rytwinski T, Fahrig L, Bennett JR, Auld G. 2022. Reconceptualizing Conservation. PLoS Sustainability and Transformation 1: e0000016.
  3. Duflot R, Fahrig L, M枚nkk枚nen M. 2022. Management diversity begets biodiversity in production forest landscapes. Biological Conservation 268: 109514.
  4. Fahrig L, Watling JI, Arnillas CA, Arroyo-Rodr铆guez V, J枚rger-Hickfang T, M眉ller J, Pereira H, Riva F, R枚sch V, Seibold S, Tscharntke T, May F. 2022. Resolving the SLOSS dilemma for biodiversity conservation: a research agenda. Biological Reviews 97: 99鈥114.
  5. Hanson J, Vincent J, Schuster R, Fahrig L, Brennan A, Martin A, Hughes J, Pither R, Bennett J. 2022. A comparison of approaches for including connectivity in systematic conservation planning. Journal of Applied Ecology 59: 2507-2519.
  6. Herrero-J谩uregui C, Camba GH, Andries DM, Aguiar S, Mastrangelo M, Fahrig L. 2022. Past and present effects of habitat amount and fragmentation per se on plant species richness, composition and traits. Biological Conservation 276: 109815.
  7. Murphy RE, Martin AE, Fahrig L. 2022. Reduced predation on roadside nests can compensate for road mortality in road-adjacent turtle populations. Ecosphere 13: e3946.
  8. Riva F, Martin CJ, Millard K, Fahrig L. 2022. Loss of the world鈥檚 smallest forests. Global Change Biology 28: 7164-7166.
  9. Riva F, Fahrig L. 2022. The disproportionately high value of small patches for biodiversity conservation. Conservation Letters 15: e12881.
]]>
Welcoming a new postdoc to the lab /fahriglab/2022/welcoming-a-new-postdoc-to-the-lab/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=welcoming-a-new-postdoc-to-the-lab Fri, 22 Jul 2022 14:07:18 +0000 /fahriglab/?p=704 This month we welcome a new postdoc, Carmen Gal谩n, to the lab. Carmen is a tropical landscape ecologist with a particular focus on primates. She aims to understand species鈥 responses to human modified landscapes and how species traits influence those responses. For her postdoctoral work Carmen will use big global datasets to assess the extinction threshold hypothesis, and the effects of habitat fragmentation and landscape matrix on species occurrence and abundance.

]]>