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Mark Ditmer

@mditmer.bsky.social
403 followers 150 following 1 posts

Research ecologist, USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station | studying animal movement, human disturbance, and ecophysiology.

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Reposted by Mark Ditmer
kzeller.bsky.social @kzeller.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
In this #FurriendlyFriday, we have a black bear responding to recreation noises. In one of our studies, we found that black bears were second to elk in their sensitivity to hearing recreation noises. They tended to flee or turn around to avoid going closer to the sound, like the bear in this video.
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Zack Steel 🪶🦇🌲🔥 @zacksteel.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
New paper from our lab, led by Leah McTigue We reviewed 40+ years of research on drought affects on wildlife: 66% of single-species responses were negative, only 2% positive. As droughts intensify under climate change, wildlife are in trouble. 🌍🌐🧪 📄 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Global Trends in Drought Impacts on Wildlife—A Review
We reviewed peer reviewed literature pertaining to instances of anomalous drought (any drought event that deviates from standard conditions (e.g., dry season) when compared to a long term average) an...
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kzeller.bsky.social @kzeller.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
With the increase of recreation on public lands, there is an increasing need for data on how recreation affects wildlife. We ask whether wildlife responses to recreation depended on previous exposure to recreation Paper, led by @markdittmer.bsky.social here www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
The landscape of no worries? Increased recreation exposure decreases the landscape of human fear in wildlife
Recreation's expanding footprint increasingly overlaps habitats once considered refuges from human disturbance. Yet our ability to predict wildlife re…
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Julie K. Young @drjuliekyoung.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Fun to be a small part of a big 🔥🐆🦌🐻 paper published in @ecography.bsky.social doi.org/10.1002/ecog...
doi.org
Long‐term benefits of burns for large mammal habitat undermined by large, severe fires in the American West
Escalating wildfire frequency and severity are altering wildland habitats worldwide. Yet investigations into fire impacts on wildlife habitat rarely extend to the macroecological scales relevant to s...
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kzeller.bsky.social @kzeller.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
We all need a little more levity. So, let's start a Furriendly Friday. I'll be using photos and videos from wildlife studies I have done throughout the years. Here's a #grizzly from one of our #RecreationEcology surveys. #FurriendlyFriday
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Chase Cain @chasecain.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
‘NOT FOR SALE’ It turns out that not many Americans wanted to see our country’s public land sold — with polls showing 75-80% opposed — even 65% of Republicans Late Monday, that proposal got the axe 🪓 news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...
news.bloomberglaw.com
Public Land Sales Blocked From Inclusion in Trump’s Tax Bill
A Senate proposal to sell millions of acres of public land to help pay for President Donald Trump’s massive package of tax cuts and spending has been blocked by the Senate’s rule keeper.
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Zack Steel 🪶🦇🌲🔥 @zacksteel.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Vertebrate hotspots are expected to see increased climate extremes in the coming decades; often in places where animals may be most naive to such events. New research out of my lab led by Dr. van den Bosch in @globalchangebio.bsky.social 🧪🌐🌏 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Projected Increases in Climate Extremes Across Global Vertebrate Diversity Hotspots
We identified overlap between areas of high vertebrate diversity and regions predicted to be exposed to increases in extreme drought, heat, and precipitation. Tropical regions, which host the highest...
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kzeller.bsky.social @kzeller.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
Very excited to be a part of this work led by @mditmer.bsky.social and Heather Abernathy
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Journal of Applied Ecology @jappliedecology.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
New research demonstrates how anonymised mobile phone location data can transform our understanding of human recreation behavior, human wildlife interactions, & wildlife habitat 📲🧪 It also offers pathways to improve habitat connectivity mapping 📍🌍 🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1365...
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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
Let's dive into this a bit. A short and very incomplete thread on US Forest Service research. 1/
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kzeller.bsky.social @kzeller.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
A well-connected Earth: The science and conservation of organismal movement www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... I never thought I'd see my name in Science and I'm over the moon! Many thanks to Jedediah Brodie @fletcherecology.bsky.social and team. It is an honor to be a part of this!
science.org
A well-connected Earth: The science and conservation of organismal movement
Global biodiversity targets focus on landscape and seascape connectivity as a foundational component of biodiversity conservation, including networks of connected protected areas. Recent advances allo...
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Christine Wilkinson, PhD 🌈 @scrappynaturalist.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Super excited to share this new pub led by @wilsonsherm.bsky.social! We used Nextdoor posts to explore human-carnivore interactions in Los Angeles. Nextdoor offers a useful data source for understanding urban human-wildlife interactions, if human biases are accounted for. Check it out! 🧪🌎
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Phil Manlick @pmanlick.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
We made the cover of TREE!
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Zack Steel 🪶🦇🌲🔥 @zacksteel.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
We are recruiting a postdoctoral ORISE fellow to join an interdisciplinary team focused on issues of ecosystem type conversion, directional biodiversity change, and what to do about it. Please spread the word! 🌎🌐🧪 Details here: www.zintellect.com/Opportunity/...
A fire-killed forest in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Recently after fire with only snags remaining
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Nick Clark 💹 @njclark.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Another video in my series on applied time series and forecasting with the {mvgam} #rstats 📦. This one introduces State Space hierarchical GAMs and GPs for tackling multivariate series youtu.be/2POK_FVwCHk?...
youtu.be
Time series in R and Stan using the mvgam package: hierarchical GAMs
YouTube video by Nicholas Clark
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Journal of Applied Ecology @jappliedecology.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Grizzly bears & wolves avoid busy hiking trails more than previously thought 🏞️ Explains how, combining camera traps & modelling, researchers found that the strongest disturbance effects take place within 300m for Grizzly Bears & 600m for Grey Wolves 🐺🌎🧪 🔗 appliedecologistsblog.com/2025/01/23/g...
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Journal of Applied Ecology @jappliedecology.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
Integrating human trail use in montane landscapes reveals larger zones of human influence for wary carnivores 🐻 👉Shows how human activity can alter wildlife detection rates 🌏 👉Results identify target buffer distances for protected areas near trails 🧪 🔗
buff.ly
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Erin Buchholtz @erinbuchholtz.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Fuel breaks –strips of land managed for reduced flammability– are designed to aid wildfire suppression and management. 🔥However, fuel break construction may reduce wildlife habitat & introduce invasive species. New study investigating these potential trade-offs: www.usgs.gov/centers/fort... 🌎
Figure from the publication, a chart and map illustrating range of tradeoffs across different fuel break locations
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Zack Steel 🪶🦇🌲🔥 @zacksteel.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
A nice summary of this recent research about that other ecological disturbance in the west and its rising impact on wildlife phys.org/news/2024-12...
phys.org
Rising drought frequency poses new threats to US wildlife, study finds
People around the world are dealing with drought, so it's not shocking that it affects wildlife, too: lack of moisture contributes to habitat loss, affects how animals compete for resources, and leads...
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Ecography @ecography.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
Predicting fine-scale distributions and emergent spatiotemporal patterns from temporally dynamic step selection simulations nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com… #Buffalo #Movement #Management
Predicting fine-scale distributions and emergent spatiotemporal patterns from temporally dynamic step selection simulations https://nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecog.07421 #Buffalo #Movement #Management
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Ben Goldfarb @bengoldfarb.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Absolutely incredible headline/image pairing from the NYT. No notes.
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Fabiola Iannarilli @fa-bio-la.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
📣Another paper out📣 This one is a fun collaboration with @emanzo.bsky.social and the Fondazione Ethoikos team. Using #cameratraps, we explored whether European pine marten’s occurrence and activity were associated with the presence of humans and domestic cats on Elba Island. 🏃🚵🐈‍⬛
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Julie K. Young @drjuliekyoung.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Our new paper was just published on the survival of feral pigs 🐖in the presence of cougars 🦁. Juvenile mortality was mostly due to predation & road kill, not so for adults. This is part of Mitch's PhD work with CDFW, NWRC, & DoD. We should have more soon! 🧪 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Camera trap image of 3 baby feral pigs, all are brown and foraging.
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Mark Ditmer @mditmer.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
I’d love an add, please. I work with physiological biologgers and audio playback systems. Thanks!
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Bill Severud @billseverud.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Please share widely! Apply to come join us at South Dakota State University!
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Jeffery Cannon, Landscape Ecology Lab @jefferybcannon.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Ready to learn how to use LiDAR for research in #forestry and natural resources using #R? This week I am releasing a 7-part series to help you get started! Share with anyone you know who wants to get started. Part 1 covers acquiring, & viewing LiDAR data! bit.ly/lidR-module1
bit.ly
Module 1: Getting started with LiDAR processing for forestry and natural resources - The Jones Center at Ichauway Research Labs
If you are interested in learning to use LiDAR for forestry and natural resources, this tutorial can help you get started. You will learn to view large datasets, create raster products, map trees, and...
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Mason Fidino, PhD @masonfidino.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Interested in quantifying animal diel activity with hierarchical models? Check out this amazing how-to guide from @fa-bio-la.bsky.social , @science-action.bsky.social , and John Fieberg! 🧪 besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
A ‘how‐to’ guide for estimating animal diel activity using hierarchical models
We illustrate how hierarchical models can be used to estimate animal diel activity whilst accounting for variability in activity levels and sampling effort. These models also allow researchers to mor....
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Zack Steel 🪶🦇🌲🔥 @zacksteel.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
New paper out on climate change, drought and consequences for wildlife! 🌎 🧪 Led by the tenacious Dr. van den Bosch (new to blue sky; give him a follow)
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