Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Biology

The research objectives in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Biology are varied and include:

• understanding the role and impact of "mesopredators" (e.g., raccoons and opossums) in their ecosystem and their impact on nesting northern bobwhites,
  
  
• improving management practices to provide more food resources for migratory waterfowl and shorebirds
  
  
• investigating the feasibility of restoring canebrake habitat, which was once a major feature of the Mid-South landscape,
  
  
• evaluating the role of macrophyes in cycling of nutrients and contaminants in aquatic systems,
  
  
• monitoring deer populations in collaboration with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
  
  
• identification and distribution of mammalian biodiversity in Tennessee,
  
  
• understanding landscape-level effects on biodiversity, and
  
  
• evaluating the effects of urbanization on ecosystems..