Key to making good decisions about the management of wildlife is understanding the interface between wildlife and the landscape within which they live. Our interest in this area is to further understanding of this interface and the implications management actions may have. Data in this area inherently have spatial and temporal heterogeneity and in many cases are non - normal, multivariate or zero-inflated. We adopt a variety of innovative methods, including Bayesian Techniques, Neural Networks and Structural Equation Models, to investigate system processes and to help decision makers by incorporating uncertainty and scenario building into models.
Recent work areas have included management of invasive species, incorporating stakeholder knowledge into models and examining management implications on natural populations. We work with Government agencies, policy makers and environmental and wildlife managers such as The Environment Agency and Fera.
Current Projects
Assessing the impacts of the New Tyne Crossing by modelling the dynamics of fish populations and levels of exploitation of migratory salmonids in the river Tyne.
Spatial Temporal Analysis of the invasion and eradication of the Ruddy Duck in the UK.
Responding to fish extirpations in the global marine biodiversity epicentre
The spatial and social dynamics of the Natterer’s bat in an agricultural landscape.
Recent Projects
Sustainable Cultivation of Productive Environments (SCoPE)
Related Papers
- E Soto, K McGovern-Hopkins, R Klinger-Bowen, BK Fox, J Brock, N. Antonio, Z. van der Waal, S. Rushton, A. Mill, C.S. Tamaru. Prevalence of Francisella noatunensis subsp. orientalis in Cultured Tilapia on the Island of Oahu, Hawaii. Journal of Aquatic Animal Health 2013, 25 (2), 104-109.
- H.J. Bloomfield, C.J. Sweeting, A.C. Mill, S.M. Stead and N.V.C. Polunin. No-trawl area impacts: perceptions, compliance and fish abundances. Environmental Conservation. Published online: 01 May 2012
- Elmhagen B, Ludwig G, Rushton SP, Helle P, Linden H. Top predators, mesopredators and their prey: interference ecosystems along bioclimatic productivity gradients. Journal of Animal Ecology 2010, 79(4), 785-794.
- MacNeil MA, Graham NAJ, Polunin NVC, Kulbicki M, Galzin R, Harmelin-Vivien M, Rushton SP. Hierarchical drivers of reef-fish metacommunity structure. Ecology2009, 90(1), 252-264.
- Wilson SK, Fisher R, Pratchett MS, Graham NAJ, Dulvy NK, Turner RA, Cakacaka A, Polunin NVC, Rushton SP. Exploitation and habitat degradation as agents of change within coral reef fish communities. Global Change Biology 2008, 14(12), 2796-2809.
- Elmhagen B, Rushton SP. Trophic control of mesopredators in terrestrial ecosystems: Top-down or bottom-up?. Ecology Letters 2007, 10(3), 197-206.
- Girardello M, Griggio M, Whittingham MJ, Rushton SP. Models of climate associations and distributions of amphibians in Italy.Ecological Research 2010, 25(1), 103-111.
- Shirley MDF, Elmhagen B, Lurz PWW, Rushton SP, Angerbjorn A. Modelling the spatial population dynamics of arctic foxes: the effects of red foxes and microtine cycles.Canadian Journal of Zoology 2009, 87(12), 1170-1183.
- Firbank LG, Petit S, Smart S, Blain AP, Fuller RJ. Assessing the impacts of agricultural intensification on biodiversity: a British perspective.. Phil. Trans. R. Soc 2008, 363(1492), 777-787.
- MacNeill MA, Tyler EHM, Fonnesbeck CJ, Rushton SP, Polunin NVC, Conroy MJ. Accounting for detectability in reef-fish biodiversity estimates. Marine Ecology - Progress Series 2008,367, 249-260.
- Cook A, Rushton S, Allan J, Baxter A. An evaluation of techniques to control problem bird species on landfill sites.Environmental Management 2008, 41(6), 834-843.
- MacNeil MA, Graham NAJ, Conroy MJ, Fonnesbeck CJ, Polunin NVC, Rushton SP, Chabanet P, McClanahan TR. Detection heterogeneity in underwater visual-census data. Journal of Fish Biology 2008, 73(7), 1748-1763.
- Wood D, Drake S, Rushton SP, Rautenkranz D, Lurz PWW, Koprowski J. Fine-scale analysis of Mount Graham red squirrel habitat following disturbance. Journal of Wildlife Management2007, 71(7), 2357-2364.
- Angold PG, Sadler JP, Hill MO, Pullin A, Rushton S, Austin K, Small E, Wood B, Wadsworth R, Sanderson R, Thompson K.Biodiversity in urban habitat patches. Science of the Total Environment 2006, 360(1-3), 196-204.
- Rushton SP, Shirley MDF, Macdonald DW, Reynolds JC.Effects of culling fox populations at the landscape scale: A spatially explicit population modeling approach. Journal of Wildlife Management 2006, 70(4), 1102-1110.
- Rushton SP, Wood DJA, Lurz PWW, Koprowski JL. Modelling the population dynamics of the Mt. Graham red squirrel: Can we predict its future in a changing environment with multiple threats?. Biological Conservation 2006, 131(1), 121-131.
- Greaves RK, Sanderson RA, Rushton SP. Predicting species occurrence using information-theoretic approaches and significance testing: An example of dormouse distribution in Cumbria, UK. Biological Conservation 2006, 130(2), 239-250.
- Eyre MD, Foster GN, Luff ML, Rushton SP. The definition of British water beetle species pools (Coleoptera) and their relationship to altitude, temperature, precipitation and land cover variables. Hydrobiologia 2006, 560(1), 121-131.
- Sanderson RA, Eyre MD, Rushton SP. Distribution of selected macroinvertebrates in a mosaic of temporary and permanent freshwater ponds as explained by autologistic models.Ecography 2005, 28(3), 355-362.
- Eyre MD, Rushton SP, Luff ML, Telfer MG. Investigating the relationships between the distribution of British ground beetle species (Coleoptera, Carabidae) and temperature, precipitation and altitude. Journal of Biogeography 2005,32(6), 973-983.
- Eyre MD, Pilkington JG, McBlane RP, Rushton SP.Macroinvertebrate species and assemblages in the headwater streams of the River Tyne, northern England in relation to land cover and other environmental variables. Hydrobiologia2005, 544(1), 229-240.
- Rushton SP, Ormerod SJ, Kerby G. New paradigms for modelling species distributions?. Journal of Applied Ecology2004, 41(2), 193-200.