Clayton K. Nielsen
Professor of Forestry
My graduate students and I study wildlife ecology and management in a variety of landscapes, with a strong focus on habitat and populations. Primary field tools we use include wildlife capture, human dimensions surveys, population abundance surveys, radiotelemetry, remote cameras, and vegetation sampling. In the analytical laboratory, we work with GIS, multivariate statistics, and a variety of software programs useful for analyzing demographic and space-use data. I also frequently collaborate with behavioral ecologists, geneticists, and other wildlife ecologists who add a greater dimension to my work.
Education
Ph.D., Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Areas of interest
Wildlife Ecology and Management
Selected Recent Publications
Recent Publications
Smith, J. B., C. K. Nielsen, and E. C. Hellgren. 2015. Suitable habitat for recolonizing large carnivores in the midwestern United States. Oryx 49, DOI 10.1017/s0030605314001227.
Anderson, C. W., C. K. Nielsen, and E. M. Shauber. 2015. Survival and dispersal of white-tailed deer in an agricultural landscape. Wildlife Biology in Practice 11:26-41.
Meyer, N., H. J. Esser, R. Moreno, F. van Langevelde, Y. Liefting, D. R. Oller, C. B. F. Vogels, A. D. Carver, C. K. Nielsen, and P. A. Jansen. 2015. An assessment of the terrestrial mammal communities in forest of Central Panama, using camera-trap surveys. Journal for Nature Conservation 26:28-35.
Guiden, P. W., D. L. Gorchov, C. K. Nielsen, and E. M. Schauber. 2015. Seed dispersal of an invasive shrub by white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus. Plant Biology, DOI 10.1007/s11258-015-0480-x.
Urbanek, R. E., C. K. Nielsen, M. A. Davenport, and B. D. Woodson. 2015. Perceived and desired outcomes of suburban deer management methods. Journal of Wildlife Management 79:647-661.
Lesmeister, D. B., C. K. Nielsen, E. M. Schauber, and E. C. Hellgren. 2015. Spatial and temporal structure of a mesocarnivore guild in Midwestern North America. Wildlife Monographs 191.
Berkman, L. K., C. K. Nielsen, C. L. Roy, and E. J. Heist. 2015. Comparative genetic structure of sympatric leporids in southern Illinois. Journal of Mammalogy 96:552-563.
Tosa, M. I., E. M. Schauber, and C. K. Nielsen. 2015. Familiarity breeds contempt: Combining proximity loggers and GPS reveals female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) avoiding close contact with neighbors. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 51:79-88.
Schauber, E. M., C. K. Nielsen, L. J. Kjær, C. W. Anderson, and D. J. Storm. 2015. Social affiliation and contact patterns among white-tailed deer in disparate landscapes: implications for disease transmission. Journal of Mammalogy 96:16-28.
For more information on my research program, please see my lab webpage.