Dr. Daniel MacNulty

Biography

My research goal is to advance understanding about the role of predators as forces that structure food webs and modify ecosystem function. I am particularly interested in how the effects of predators in large-scale terrestrial ecosystems are modified by anthropogenic impacts such as hunting and climate warming. The empirical focus of my research is a long-term, collaborative study of carnivores, ungulates, and woody-deciduous plants in northern Yellowstone National Park. I have studied this ecosystem since 1995, progressively increasing my scope of inference from the behavioral ecology of individual wolves to the community ecology of interacting wolf, elk, and aspen populations. I aim to leverage insights from this ecosystem to resolve broader debates about the forces the structure natural systems, determine species abundances, and deliver ecosystem services.

MacNulty Animal Ecology Lab

Students:
Brian Smith - PhD
Sam Robertson - MS
Bonnie McDonald - MS

Courses:
WILD/BIOL 5580 - Mammalogy
WILD 6400 - Ecology of Animal Populations

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