Research

Current Research

My research group at the University of West Georgia focuses on animal conservation and ecology within the southeastern U.S. and beyond. I have broad research interests in the conservation, management, and ecology of terrestrial animals. Our field-based research primarily focuses on wild mammals and has included rodents, carnivores, and bats. Our applied research addresses conservation and management issues for a variety of wildlife, including endangered, nongame, and small game species. This work is funded by the US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Visit my publications page to see past research projects. Currently, I am pursuing several research projects and have others in development. Please contact me, if you are interested in participating in my research activities.

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). Currently, I am collaborating 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.

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 (Pynne et al. 2020). 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 (Baldwin et al. In Revision). This collected research is funded by the U.S. Forest Service.

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. Since 2014, 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 has been funded by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.