Department of Biology
University of Victoria
P.O. Box 3020,
Station CSC
Victoria, B.C., V8W 3N5
CANADA
Phone: (250) 658-3325
| Adjunct
Assistant
Professor
Department of Biology Phone: (250) 658-3325 |
|
NSERC PDF, University of Toronto, 2003-2005
Ph.D., University of British Columbia, 1999
M.Sc., Queen's University, 1990
B.Sc., University of Toronto, 1988
| |
Mammalian predators and prey on islands.
That prey should fear predators seems like such a basic biological fact that a world without
My work focuses on a model species of mammalian
prey, the
deer mouse (Peromyscus
maniculatus), on B.C.’s
islands has long been hypothesized to be due to the
paucity of predators. There may now
be
more medium-sized mammalian predators, or ‘mesopredators’, such as
raccoons
(Procyon lotor) and weasels (Mustela erminea), on these islands, than
there
were 50-100
years ago, in part because these mesopredators were introduced on many
previously
predator-free islands, and because the predators that preyed on
them, such as wolves
(Canis lupus), cougars (Puma concolor) and black bears
(Ursus americanus), have been
extirpated from most of the Gulf Islands. My
research also addresses:
these changes in
the abundance of mesopredators; whether they have begun to
‘forget’ about their
predators; and what effect this has had on their
physiology, growth and health. In
addition
to answering fundamental ecological questions, the results from this
research will provide
the cornerstone for a planned introduced predator mitigation program
for the new
Gulf Islands National Park Reserve.
At work near Saltspring Island
I am looking for M.Sc. students to work on a variety
of projects within the
context of my
current
major research program.
If you find
the kinds of questions my
research addresses
compelling, please fill in my Potential
Grad Student Questionnaire
and forward it to me
(via e-mail) together with a brief (up to 2 page)
outline of the kind
of research you envisage
conducting in my lab.
Funding for graduate studies is of course available from NSERC
and this will look best on your future C.V. There are a wide
variety of other
external
funding sources, as well as University
of Victoria Fellowships ($13,000 M.Sc.).
Zanette,
L.,
Clinchy, M., and Smith, J.
N.
M. 2006. Combined food and predator
effects on songbird nest survival and annual
reproductive success: results from a
bi-factorial experiment. Oecologia,
147: 632-640.
Zanette,
L., MacDougall-Shakleton, E., Clinchy,
M., and Smith,
J.
N.
M. 2005.
Brown-headed cowbirds skew host offspring sex
ratios. Ecology, 86: 815-820.
Clinchy,
M., Zanette, L., Boonstra, R., Wingfield, J. C., and Smith, J.
N.
M. 2004.
Balancing food and predator pressure induces
chronic
stress in songbirds. Proceedings
of the Royal Society of
London, Biological
Sciences, 271: 2473-2479.
Clinchy, M.,
Taylor, A. C., Zanette, L., Krebs, C. J., & Jarman, P. J. 2004. Body
size,
age and paternity in common
brushtail possums. Molecular
Ecology, 13: 195-202.
Zanette,
L., Smith, J. N. M., van Oort, H., and Clinchy,
M. 2003. Synergistic effects
of food and predators on annual reproductive
success in song sparrows. Proceedings
of the Royal Society of London, Biological
Sciences, 270: 799-803.
Clinchy, M.,
Haydon, D. T., & Smith, A. T. 2002. Pattern does not equal process:
what does
patch occupancy really tell us about metapopulation dynamics? The
American Naturalist, 159:
351-362.
interpreting the role of immigration in common
brushtail possum
populations.
Journal of
Animal Ecology,
70:
515-526.
Johnson,
C. N., Clinchy, M., Taylor, A. C., Krebs, C. J.,
Jarman, et al. 2001.
Adjustment of offspring sex ratios in relation
to the availability of
resources for
philopatric offspring in the common brushtail
possum. Proceedings
of the
Royal Society of