The Ganges River dolphin, Platanista gangetica gangetic, is the only cetacean species recorded in Nepal. Large structures like dams, flood-control structures, and embankments for irrigation projects, agriculture and hydroelectric power have impacts on the river dolphins that have led to the loss of longitudinal and lateral connectivity of habitats. As a consequence, clear effects on distribution, gene flow, movement patterns, and behavior have been noticed.

Extreme natural disturbance events, human population growth, and climate change are causing rapid shifts in vegetation composition and structure with broad implications for wildlife conservation. In both southeastern forested wetlands and montane spruce-fir forests, these threats are particularly urgent.

As one of the most abundant infrastructure types, roads can be a direct cause for habitat fragmentation, which is a major threat to biodiversity. Many studies in the field of road ecology show that traffic noise can be far-reaching, with negative consequences on species presence. The Mt. Graham red squirrel is an endangered subspecies of red squirrel isolated to the highest elevations of a single mountain. Mt. Graham is an important biological, cultural, astronomical, and recreational site in SE Arizona, resulting in a large amount of road traffic throughout much of the year.

Despite more than fifteen years of legal protection, the Mt Graham Red Squirrel, a subspecies of red squirrel in North America, is critically endangered at approximately 100 individuals and continues to face a myriad of challenges, including wildfire, insect infestations, and invasive species. The species is found only in the highest elevations of a single mountaintop, and available habitat is rapidly dwindling as climate change causes ecotones to shift higher and wildfires increase in frequency, intensity, and size. Managers are now considering translocating Mt.

Translocation is a valuable management strategy that can be used to augment and reestablish populations or increase the range of a species by establishing new populations. Gambel’s quail (Callipepla gambelii) are a popular game species and are the only native upland game bird in many desert areas of the American Southwest, making them an important species for management by state wildlife agencies.

The Chingaza Massif is one priority area for the maintenance of Andean Bear population in the east range of Colombia. This massif provides drinking water for Bogotá D.C., the biggest city of Colombia and maintains a large area of paramo and Andean Cloud forest ecosystems. Given the human density of the Chingaza massif there is low connectivity and a high density of Andean bear populations that generates negative interactions with human communities.

Currently, the marula tree (Sclerocarya birrea) is undergoing population declines in the bushveld savanna ecosystems of Southern Africa. This decline is often blamed on elephants, as marula is one of their favorite food sources and elephants have a significant impact on woody vegetation. That said, much of this decline is driven by lack of recruitment of marula trees into the populations rather than adult mortality. Elephants do not target small trees and are primary seed dispersers for marula, so would not cause a lack of recruitment.

The borderlands ecology and applied research project aims to understand the movements of mammals between Mexico and the United States. In this arid and mountainous landscape, we are interested in the role of water, but also in how human activities and infrastructure affects diversity patterns and how animals move across the landscape. The project is focused on the Sonoran and Arizonan borderlands in the Sky Islands, including desertic grasslands, oak and pine forests, and riparian areas.

Gathering ecological base knowledge, collaboration, and stakeholder engagement can guide effective wildlife conservation management decisions. Zoological institutions offer invaluable conservation benefits including public education and awareness, species reintroduction programs, and ex situ (i.e., offsite) studies that can inform in situ (i.e., in nature) efforts. Our research bridges zoo conservation with field ecology.

Invasive species are among the leading global threats to native wildlife and are a factor in the decline of 42 percent of threatened and endangered species. Invasive species can influence the ecosystem health through parasite loads that they introduce during establishment in new areas. There is little understanding of parasite loads between invaders and imperiled endemic species, including Abert's and Mt Graham Red Squirrels; we will identify and quantify parasites in this important system.