Welcome to the Young Lab

Research in our lab lies at the intersection of community ecology, ecosystem ecology, and conservation biology. Specifically, we focus on understanding the effects of wildlife loss and human disturbance on community structure and ecosystem function. Recent work has focused mainly on the effects of wildlife loss on human health and well-being. We work at local and global scales and use a range of observational, experimental, and meta-analytical approaches. For opportunities in our lab, please look under the Join Us tab.

Lab meetings

Lab meetings this Fall Quarter will be on Wednesdays from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m., with a writing hour to follow from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. All are welcome to attend.

News

Click on images below for more information or go to our News tab for more Young Lab related news.

Recent Publications

View recent publications of Young Lab Members here or go to our Publications tabs for more.

Giraffes at watering hole. Image by ejakob from Pixabay

Interacting effects of surface water and temperature on wild and domestic large herbivore aggregations and contact rates

How will dwindling water availability likely impact animal behavior and water foraging? Dr. Young and team studies interspecific wildlife and cattle contacts using two years of camera trap data at an experimental water manipulation site at a conservancy in central Kenya to answer this question.

Resting albatrosses. Image by PublicDomainImages from Pixabay

Atolls are globally important sites for tropical seabirds

PI Hillary Young and team analyze the importance of atolls for seabird populations. Findings demonstrate that ~25% of tropical seabirds rely on atolls as nesting grounds, and that seabirds act as a vital nutrient pump within the tropical Indo-Pacific.

Fishing pressure, even when modest, appears to dramatically change trophic structure and food chain length, especially impacting top predators such as these gray reef sharks.

Shortened food chain length in a fished versus unfished coral reef

It is vital to understand the impacts of fishing pressure on population structure in delicate ecosystems like coral reefs which are often heavily fished and facing multiple stressors. In this study, Professor Young analyzes the effects of fishing on whole system trophic architecture, finding that human harvest does cause significant compressions in food chain length.

A male common eland (Taurotragus oryx) traversing the sparse vegetation of Mt Kenya's Afro-alpine habitat at an elevation of 4164 m.

Shifting mammal communities and declining species richness along an elevational gradient on Mount Kenya

PI Hillary Young examines the impact of elevation, habitat type, and gross primary productivity on community structure through a field study of medium and large mammals on Mt. Kenya. Findings show that the lower the elevation, the higher the species richness and relative abundance of the Mt. Kenyan natural habitats.

Rethinking atoll futures: local resilience to global challenges

Sea level rise poses a risk to atolls due to their loss of island building capacity. In this study, PI Hillary Young examines ways to mitigate long-term climate change effects on atolls.