Tracking Animal Migration with Stable Isotopes

Dr. Keith Hobson is Full Professor of Biology at the University of Western Ontario. He obtained his MSc in Zoology at the University of Manitoba and his PhD in Biology at the University of Saskatchewan. He has published widely in the realm of avian ecology and migration studies, focusing on the intricacies of avian migratory patterns, stable isotopes in ecology, and the effects of environmental changes on bird populations. Dr. Hobson specializes in using stable isotope approaches with an emphasis on migratory connectivity birds. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and serves as editor of Avian Conservation and Ecology. Dr. Len Wassenaar was a senior Research Scientist with Environment Canada for 23 years, specializing isotope analytical measurements and applications in hydrology and ecology. He and Dr. Hobson worked closely together to develop many of the foundational analytical tools to assign animals to origins using isotope approaches. Currently, Dr. Wassenaar serves as a Team Leader in Nuclear Applications Division of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria.

1. Why study animal Movements? 2. An Introduction to the Light Stable Isotopes for use in Terrestrial Animal Migration Studies 3. Isoscapes: the basis for inferring animal origins and movements using stable isotopes 4. Applying Isotopic Methods to Tracking animal Movements 5. Tracking Bats and other Terrestrial mammals: Considerations of Physiology 6. Isotopic Tracking of Marine and Aquatic Animals 7. Applying Compound-Specific Methods: The Next frontier in Isotopic Tracking of Animals 8. Analysis and design for Isotope based Studies of Migratory Animals 9. Tools for the User: Assigning Animals to Origins using Mixed Models in R: the IsoriX package 10. Future Directions and Challenges for Using Stable Isotopes in Advancing Animal Migration research