Peter Waser
Professor of Biological Sciences (dispersal, mating systems, sociality, and population structure in mammals)
A virtually universal trait in the animal kingdom is dispersal: young
animals leave home around reproductive maturity and seek their
fortunes elsewhere. The Ross Reserve has played a central role in
our attempts to understand the causes and consequences of this
phenomenon in mammals. Early work by graduate student Brian Keane
(now at Miami University of Ohio) used a network of nest boxes in
the reserve to document rates of dispersal in male and female
white-footed mice and compare them with those predicted by a model of
dispersal based on parent-offspring competition (Keane ). The
Reserve was also the source of wild mice that Keane used to establish
a laboratory colony, in which he was able to show that females
recognize and avoid breeding with brothers, even those that they have
never encountered, and that there is good reason in terms of
decreased offspring viability for this preference (Keane
1990a,b). More recently, the reserve was used as one of a number of
local study areas by Forestry & Natural Resources graduate students
(Tom Gehring, Tom Nupp, Jeff Moore, Kristen Page, Carol Rizkalla)
interested in the impact of habitat patch isolation on the
distribution of small mammals (including mice, chipmunks,
red/gray/fox/and flying squirrels). These studies contributed
considerably to the current understanding that dispersal abilities
are an important contributor to species success in a fragmented
landscape. Graduate student Cathy Mossman, along with undergraduate
honors student Nancy Srivastava, used the Ross Reserve in their
studies of the population genetics of white-footed mouse populations,
and the degree to which genetic variation is impacted by the nature
of the "matrix" within which patches of suitable habitat are embedded
(Mossman and Srivastava 1999, Mossman and Waser 2001). Along the
way, Mossman collected the data needed to document a powerful new
genetic approach to documenting the degree of sex bias in dispersal
tendencies (Mossman and Waser 1999).
1. Keane, B. 1990a. Dispersal and inbreeding avoidance in the
white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus. Animal Behaviour 40:143-152.
2. Keane, B. 1990b. the effect of relatedness on reproductive
success and mate choice in the white-footed mouse, Peromyscus
leucopus. Animal Behaviour 39:264-273.
3. Mossman, CA and NP Srivastava. 1999. Does aggression modify
isolation of habitat islands? American Midland Naturalist 141:366-372.
4. Mossman, CA and PM Waser. 1999. Genetic detection of
sex-biased dispersal. Molecular Ecology 8:1063-1067
5. Mossman, CA and PM Waser. 2001. Effects of habitat
fragmentation on population genetic structure in the white-footed
mouse (Peromyscus leucopus). Canadian Journal of Zoology 79:285-295.
Visit Peter Waser's homepage for more detailed information about his research.