The ecological and demographic causes of dispersal, and the consequences of this phenomenon for social behavior and population structure, constitute the central themes of our research.
Most research has a field component, often in conjunction with laboratory work.
One such parameter is interpopulation dispersal rate, whose value is important both in conservation biology and in population ecology. Graduate student Brad Swanson is also using kangaroo rat demographic and genetic data to investigate how well the estimators of effective population size commonly used by conservation biologists predict the observed loss of genetic variation. Similarly, Maureen McColgin is using genetic data from Arizona coatimundis to investigate the relationship of the mating system and inbreeding avoidance to dispersal and the maintenance of female groups in this gregarious carnivore. Natal dispersal distances of 172 female and 159 male kangaroo rats that bred on the study site, 1980-90. A diagonal across the study site measures approximately 850 m. Selected Publications Waser, P. M. 1996.