Research

Current Research

My research group at the University of West Georgia focuses on wildlife ecology, conservation, and landscape management within the southeastern U.S. I primarily study species of conservation concern, such as bats, small mammals, mesopredators, and birds, across forested and developing landscapes. My work integrates field-based research, statistical modeling, and ecological synthesis to inform wildlife conservation and habitat management at both local and national scales.  I also contribute to long-term, large-scale camera trap studies (e.g., SNAPSHOT USA) that monitor mammal communities nationwide, helping to assess the impacts of climate, development, and food availability on species distributions. Through collaborations with state & federal agencies and other organizations, I aim to connect ecological research with real-world conservation and land management solutions.

Rare species research

I am collaborating with a variety of agencies (USFS, USFWS, & GADNR) to conduct projects to better understand the distribution of rare species throughout the southeast. This includes projects on red squirrels in north Georgia and northern long-eared bats in coastal Alabama.

Effect of prescribed fire management on bat communities

Since 2016, I have collaborated with the US Forest Service to examine how the bat community responds to prescribed fire management at the Talladega National Forest, Alabama. Our work has been funded by the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. We have captured and radio-tracked endangered bats across the forested landscape to document their space and roost use (Torrey et al. In prep.). Currently, we are using acoustic detectors to assess bat foraging activity in response to fire interval and time since last fire. These data have been very useful to the Forest Service for measuring the impact of forest management practices on endangered bats.

Response of animal communities to fire-based restoration of pine forests

Beyond bats, we are examining how fire-based restoration of open pine forests influences the diversity and demographics of terrestrial vertebrates. This broad project has included studies on small mammal and mesocarnivore communities. We use live-trapping and game camera surveys to measure occupancy and other parameters of these taxa across various prescribed fire regimes. In addition, we have studied how prescribed fire and thinning influence the availability and characteristics of snags, an important resource for many forest animals. Currently, we are studying the demography of a reintroduced population of red-cockaded woodpeckers. This collected research is funded by the U.S. Forest Service. 

White-nose syndrome in southeastern bats. 

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a devastating fungal disease that has caused severe declines in several bat species across North America. I have collaborated on several projects examining the prevalence of WNS in hibernating bats. This includes the recently published paper (Johnson et al. 2020) that documented little impact of WNS on southeastern myotis (Myotis austroriparius). Most recently, I collaborated with colleagues at Kennesaw State University, USFS, and Clemson University (funded by the USFWS) to understand the dynamics of WNS in tri-colored bat populations in caves and transportation structures across 4 southeastern states.

Ecology and conservation of eastern spotted skunks

Eastern spotted skunks have experienced range-wide declines over the last century. This small carnivore is now a rare species across much of its range. Between 2014 and 2021, my graduate students and I have examined the space use (Arts et al., 2022), den sites (Sprayberry & Edelman 2018), and behavior of eastern spotted skunks in Alabama (Benson et al. 2019). These studies utilized traditional wildlife techniques and remote monitoring with camera traps, GIS, VHF collars, and accelerometer-informed GPS collars. Our findings have helped improve the management of spotted skunks in the region and contributed to broader-scale collaborative studies (Butler et al. 2021, Dukes et al. 2022, Jachowski & Edelman 2021). This work was funded by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.