Henry Campa
Professor of Wildlife Ecology Michigan State University
- East Lansing MI
An expert in wildlife and wildlife habitat, especially Michigan species like white-tailed deer, moose and eastern massasauga rattlesnakes.
Media
Biography
Industry Expertise
Areas of Expertise
Education
Michigan State University
Ph.D.
Michigan State University
M.S.
University of Missouri Columbia
B.S.
Links
News
Fly-over states matter when understanding -- and saving -- migratory birds
Science Daily online
2017-03-07
Around the world, thousands of migratory animals travel hundreds or even thousands of miles each year. The journey of migratory animals is more important than their destination. Scientists use the endangered Kirtland's warblers to show how connecting all migration's points can chart a way to sustainability. [...]
Study examines life history of imperiled rattlesnake
Science Daily online
2017-02-17
Researchers examine the life history of the Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake, revealing important local climate impacts on the snake that should be carefully weighed when developing conservation strategies. The Eastern Massasauga is a small North American rattler with a distribution centered around the Great Lakes. In 2016, the snake was listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act. [...]
In Nepal, villagers' land uses help people and tigers
Science Daily online
2013-10-21
Hopeful signs that humans and critically endangered tigers can coexist are emerging in rural Nepal, where a new study shows that when Nepalese villagers are empowered to make local land management decisions, the results benefit both people and tigers. [...]
Journal Articles
Evaluation of a High-Engagement Teaching Programfor STEM Graduate Students: Outcomes of the FutureAcademic Scholars in Teaching (FAST)Fellowship Program
Innov Higher EducationHenry Campa et al.
2017
Higher education institutions prepare future faculty members for multiple roles,including teaching. However, teaching professional development programs for graduate stu-dents vary widely. We present evaluation data from a high engagement program for STEMdoctoral students. We analyzed the impact on three cohorts of participants over three academicyears and identified the components most influential upon their teaching professional devel-opment. Participants found the year-long teaching assessment project and the disciplinary and reflective focus instrumental for improving their knowledge of teaching and learning. Werecommend these components for the design of other such high-engagement programs.
Telecoupling framework for research on migratory species in the Anthropocene.
Elementa Science of the AnthropoceneHenry Campa et al.
2017
Migratory species are an important component of biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services for humans, but many are threatened and endangered. Numerous studies have been conducted on the biology of migratory species, and there is an increased recognition of the major role of human dimensions in conserving migratory species. However, there is a lack of systematic integration of socioeconomic and environmental factors. Because human activities affect migratory species in multiple places, integrating socioeconomic and environmental factors across space is essential, but challenging. The holistic framework of telecoupling (socioeconomic and environmental interactions over distances) has the potential to help meet this challenge because it enables researchers to integrate human and natural interactions across multiple distant places. The use of the telecoupling framework may also lead to new conservation strategies and actions. To demonstrate its potential, we apply the framework to Kirtland’s warblers (Setophaga kirtlandii ), a conservation-reliant migratory songbird. Results show accomplishments from long-term research and recovery efforts on the warbler in the context of the telecoupling framework. The results also show 24 research gaps even though the species has been relatively well-studied compared to many other species. An important gap is a lack of systematic studies on feedbacks among breeding, wintering, and stopover sites, as well as other “spillover” systems that may affect and be affected by migration (e.g., via tourism, land use, or climate change). The framework integrated scattered information and provided useful insights about new research topics and flow-centered management approaches that encapsulate the full annual cycle of migration. We also illustrate the similarities and differences between Kirtland’s warblers and several other migratory species, indicating the applicability of the telecoupling framework to understanding and managing common complexities associated with migratory species in a globalizing world.
Climatic and geographic predictors of life history variation in eastern massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus): a range-wide synthesis.
PLOS OneHenry Campa et al.
2017
Elucidating how life history traits vary geographically is important to understanding variation in population dynamics. Because many aspects of ectotherm life history are climate-dependent, geographic variation in climate is expected to have a large impact on population dynamics through effects on annual survival, body size, growth rate, age at first reproduction, size–fecundity relationship, and reproductive frequency. The Eastern Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus) is a small, imperiled North American rattlesnake with a distribution centered on the Great Lakes region, where lake effects strongly influence local conditions. To address Eastern Massasauga life history data gaps, we compiled data from 47 study sites representing 38 counties across the range. We used multimodel inference and general linear models with geographic coordinates and annual climate normals as explanatory variables to clarify patterns of variation in life history traits. We found strong evidence for geographic variation in six of nine life history variables. Adult female snout-vent length and neonate mass increased with increasing mean annual precipitation. Litter size decreased with increasing mean temperature, and the size–fecundity relationship and growth prior to first hibernation both increased with increasing latitude. The proportion of gravid females also increased with increasing latitude, but this relationship may be the result of geographically varying detection bias. Our results provide insights into ectotherm life history variation and fill critical data gaps, which will inform Eastern Massasauga conservation efforts by improving biological realism for models of population viability and climate change.
Regional assessment on influence of landscape configuration and connectivity on range size of white-tailed deer
Landscape EcologyHenry Campa et al.
2009
Variation in the size of home range of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) has broad implications for managing populations, agricultural damage, and disease spread and transmission. Size of home range of deer also varies seasonally because plant phenology dictates the vegetation types that are used as foraging or resting sites. Knowledge of the landscape configuration and connectivity that contributes to variation in size of home range of deer for the region is needed to fully understand differences and similarities of deer ecology throughout the Midwest. We developed a research team from four Midwestern states to investigate how size of home range of deer in agro-forested landscapes is influenced by variations in landscape characteristics that provide essential habitat components. We found that for resident female deer, annual size of home range in Illinois (mean = 0.99 km2), Michigan (mean = 1.34 km2), Nebraska (mean = 1.20 km2), and Wisconsin (mean = 1.47 km2) did not differ across the region (F 3,175 = 0.42, P = 0.737), but differences between agricultural growing and nongrowing periods were apparent. Variables influencing size of home range included: distance to forests, roads, and urban development from the centroid of deer home range, and percent of crop as well as four landscape pattern indices (contrast-weighted edge density, mean nearest neighbor, area-weighted mean shape index, and patch size coefficient of variation). We also identified differences in model selection for four landscapes created hierarchically to reflect levels of landscape connectivity determined from perceived ability of deer to traverse the landscape. Connectivity of selected forested regions within agro-forested ecosystems across the Midwest plays a greater role in understanding the size of home ranges than traditional definitions of deer habitat conditions and landscape configuration.
