Dr. Robert Garrott: Graduate Research

Dr. Garrott's primary research interests include the population ecology, management, and conservation of mammals; predator-prey interactions; noninvasive physiological indices, and climate and geochemical effects in ecological communities. The majority of his recent graduate projects have been involved with investigating ecological processes in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Claire Gower radio-tracking wolves

Claire Gower radio-tracking the Nez Perce wolf pack

Over the past decade the Madison, Firehole, and Gibbon drainages within Yellowstone National Park have been the location of winter studies on the resident elk herd, the migratory bison herd that winters there, and the reintroduced wolves that now play a key role as a top predator within this system. In particular, some recent thesis topics include:

--Identifying large herbivore distribution mechanisms via application of fine-scale snow modeling.

--Spatial dynamics of recolonizing wolves in the Madison-Firehole region.

--Ecological effects of winter road grooming on bison in Yellowstone National Park.

--Bison and elk responses to winter recreation in Yellowstone National Park.

--Winter wolf predation in an elk-bison system in Yellowstone National Park.

--Sampling and analysis methods for snow-urine nutritional assays.

--Bison and Elk: Brucellosis seroprevalence on a shared winter range.

Some of Dr. Garrott's current graduate students are continuing this ongoing research in the Madison-Firehole region as these studies become integrated into a long-term Central Yellowstone Ecology Project. The purpose of this long-term research program is to understand the ecological and human linkages and processes that affect the landscape and the group of resident large mammals that commonly are the focus of wildlife management controversies. A couple of current graduate project topics include:

--Spatial dynamics of the central Yellowstone bison herd.

--Applying Predator-Prey Theory to Large Mammal Systems: Predation Rates and Prey Selection of Wolves in Greater Yellowstone.

--A demographic analysis of the Yellowstone National Park bison herds from 1902 to 2000.

Beyond the Madison-Firehole study area, but still within Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, research on large mammals continues. A managed region of the lower Madison Valley provides a different type of insight into wolf-ungulate dynamics, while the habitat requirements of the grizzly bear are investigated in innovative fashion as daily bear movements are studied. Other recent and current studies within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem include:

--Effects of winter range on a pronghorn population in Yellowstone National Park.

--Aerial survey methodology for bison population estimation in Yellowstone N.P.

--Evaluation of Montana’s Block Management Program.

Additionally, as part of a Long Term Ecological Research program in Antarctica, current graduate students are investigating the dynamics of the Erebus Bay Weddell seal population using novel mass measurement techniques, by exploring variation in pup production and recruitment, and investigating body mass dynamics.

Funding for graduate projects and Dr. Garrott's research comes from a variety of sources including the National Science Foundation, National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, NASA, and Montana State University. Without the support from these and other agencies this research would not be possible.