Paul Cross' Research Projects

Impacts of Climate Change on Wildlife in the Northern Rocky Mountains.

The ecology of hoofed big-game species in the northern Rocky Mountains, known as ungulates, is strongly influenced by climate. Climate change impacts summer precipitation, winter snow pack, and the timing of spring green-up, all of which control animal physiology, demography, diet, habitat selection, and predator prey interactions. However, the degree of response to these impacts from animals such as elk, moose, mule deer, and pronghorn antelope is uncertain. I will be working with fellow NOROCK scientists and collaborating scientists from the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit at the University of Wyoming, the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Data Center, Penn State University, and Humboldt State University, will study how global climate change may impact ungulate species. l Information Sheet l

Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

I am working with researchers and managers at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and Yellowstone National Park to understand the dynamics of brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Our past work included a historical analysis of how the seroprevalence of brucellosis in elk around the feedgrounds of Wyoming is affected by population size, density, snowpack and the artificial feeding regime [PDF, Appendices]. Our current projects include:
1. Interactions of stress, disease, and artificial feeding in elk--Vicki Patrek (MSU student)
2. GPS tracking of elk around the Wyoming feedgrounds
3. Modeling elk brucellosis in the Northern Range of Yellowstone National Park.
4. Modeling brucellosis in the bison of Yellowstone National Park.
These project are currently being funded by the USGS, WGFD, and YNP.

Viral tracking of host movement

Mary Poss (Penn State), Stephan Schuster (Penn State) and I are working on using viral genetics to identify corridors of mule deer and elk movement and population structure. This project began in 2007 with some pilot study work to identify appropriate pathogens. We are using hunter samples to apply this approach across the Rocky Mountain region and assess how habitat and anthropogenic factors may be affecting disease transmission and host connectivity. These data will provide the foundation for broad scale epidemiological models. This project is currently funded by the USGS. l Information Sheet l

Bovine tuberculosis in African buffalo

For my PhD research I collected data on the ecological, epidemiological, and demographic processes influencing the spread and impact of bovine tuberculosis in the African buffalo of the Kruger National Park in South Africa. During this time I also worked on developing general theories about how the spread and maintenance of diseases in metapopulations is influenced by host movement and social structure. This project was initiated by Dr. Wayne Getz (UC Berkeley) and myself and funded by the Ecology of Infectious Disease program at the U.S. National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health. I was primarily responsible for supervising the field research component. Jamie Lloyd-Smith (Penn State) conducted theoretical analyses, and Sadie Ryan (Stanford University) conducted spatial analyses. Our excellent field team was Craig Hay, Justin Bowers, Julie Wolhuter, Robert Dugtig, Stephan Ferreria, Augusta Mabunda, and Kutani Bulunga. This project began in October 2000 and the field work ended in 2006, but the analyses are still ongoing.