The overwhelming majority of research on wild bumble bees has focused on the social colony stage. Nest-founding queens in the early season are difficult to study because incipient nests are challenging to find in the wild, and the foundress queen's flight period is very short relative to the entire

Abstract This data release includes a list of high-priority hazardous faults and associated spatial data (regional polygons and buffered fault traces) for the Intermountain West (IMW) region of the United States. These are the top five faults or regions of concern per IMW state, based on the 2025 (v

The distance at which animals move away from threats, flight initiation distance (FID), is often used to study antipredator behavior and risk assessment. Variation in FID is explained by a variety of internal and external biotic and physical factors, including anthropogenic activities. Most prior st

This study investigated inconstancy in the sex-expression of male flowers across populations of Edible Valerian (Valeriana edulis) as well as potential drivers of its variation. Though Valeriana edulis is dioecious (individuals typically have separate sexes), plants showing dominant male sex-express

The microbiome has a well-documented relationship with host behavior. Greater microbial diversity and specific microbes have been associated with improved fitness, though these associations have been studied almost exclusively in captive animals with implications for human health. In wild population

Most living organic material goes through the detrital pathway. Detritovores are incredibly important in ecosystems for the recycling of nutrients and energy. This project explores the inter- and intraspecies relationships between two co-dominant detritovores that inhabit the high-elevation rocky mo

The golden-mantled ground squirrel (Callospermophilus lateralis) was first classified as an asocial sciurid in 1983, and little follow-up research has effectively challenged this notion since the early literature. The only recognized social behavior in the species has been documented between young l

Golden-mantled ground squirrels (Spermophilus lateralis) and yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) can both be found in abundance at high elevation meadows in the Rocky Mountains. Though different in behavior, both species inhabit and utilize the open meadows of Gothic in very similar ways.

Predator prey interactions are essential components of ecosystems, especially in lower trophic levels as they fuel many other organisms. Many prey organisms have developed tactics to decrease the rate of predation. For example, larval caddisflies build cases out of sedge and other detritus in their

Owing to sex-specific reproductive strategies, the mean and variance in annual offspring production may differ between the sexes. In addition, there may be sex-specific changes in reproductive performance with age (e.g. senescence). We used 20 and 50 years of longitudinal data on male and female yel

Golden-mantled ground squirrels (GMGS) at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) spend the majority of the year, from October to May, hibernating in order to save energy during the winter seasons in Gothic, Colorado. Once the winter season is over, the squirrels emerge from their burrows an

Nestlings have evolved to communicate their status of need through visual and vocal begging displays. These behaviors allow nestlings to obtain resources, aiding in their chance of reproductive success. I predicted that increased intensity of nestling begging behavior would lead to increased rates o

Behavioral syndromes are widespread and can have important ecological consequences, since correlations between distinct behaviors shape how animals can respond to changing pressures and can limit behavioral plasticity. Various antipredator behaviors have been identified within behavioral syndromes i

Ecotourism promotes conservation efforts while also allowing for low impact observation of

Escape theory has been exceptionally successful in conceptualizing and accurately predicting effects of numerous factors that affect predation risk and explaining variation in flight initiation distance (FID, predator-prey distance when escape begins). Less explored is the relative orientation of an

The benefits of dominance may not come without costs, particularly for males. For example, the “immunocompetence handicap hypothesis” states that males with enhanced mating success allocate resources to enhance reproductive output at a cost to their current health, whereas the “resource quality hypo