Mitch D. Weegman, PhD

Adjunct Assistant Professor

School of Natural Resources

Contact Information

Email weegmanm@missouri.edu
Phone 573-882-3537
Address 203I Anheuser-Busch Natural Resources Building
Contact

Education

  • Ph.D., 2014, University of Exeter

Research Summary

  • Weegman’s research interests are primarily focused on understanding how individual and population processes drive variation in the abundance of animals, whereby individual-level data form the basis for understanding animal behavior and decision-making as well as population dynamics, through compilation of capture histories and population survey information. Researchers in Weegman’s lab utilize novel methods, including Bayesian integrated population models and hybrid GPS/acceleration tracking devices, to address fundamental and applied questions in animal ecology. Current projects include 1) better understanding the causes and consequences of variation in life histories of long-distance migrant birds in North America and Europe, 2) study of environmental drivers of population change in migratory and resident birds in North America, and 3) metapopulation modeling of overabundant birds in the Canadian Arctic.

Teaching

  • Animal Population Dynamics and Management
  • Ornithology
  • Quantitative Ecology

Selected Publications

  • Hooten, M. B., H. R. Scharf, T. J. Hefley, A. T. Pearse, and M. D. Weegman. 2018. Animal movement models for migratory individuals and groups. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 00:1-14.
  • Weegman, M. D. 2018. Improving population-level inference through study of avian life histories with integrated population models. Auk.
  • Specht, H. M., H. T. Reich, F. Iannarilli, M. R. Edwards, S. P. Stapleton, M. D. Weegman, M. K. Johnson, B. J. Yohannes, and T. W. Arnold. 2017. Occupancy surveys with conditional replicates: an alternative sampling design for rare species. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 8:1725-1734.
  • Weegman, M. D., A. D. Fox, G. M. Hilton, D. J. Hodgson, A. J. Walsh, L. R. Griffin, and S. Bearhop. 2017. Diagnosing the decline of the Greenland white-fronted goose Anser albifrons flavirostris using population and individual level techniques. Wildfowl 67:3-18.
  • Weegman, M. D., S. Bearhop, G. M. Hilton, A. J. Walsh, L. Griffin, H. Resheff, R. Nathan, and A. D. Fox. 2017. Using accelerometry to compare costs of extended migration in an Arctic herbivore. Current Zoology 63:667-674.
  • Weegman, M. D., T. W. Arnold, R. D. Dawson, D. W. Winkler, and R. G. Clark. 2017. Integrated population models reveal local weather conditions are the key drivers of population dynamics in an aerial insectivore. Oecologia 185:119-130.
  • Weegman, M. D., S. Bearhop, G. M. Hilton, A. J. Walsh, and A. D. Fox. 2016. Conditions during adulthood affect cohort-specific reproductive success in an Arctic-nesting goose population. PeerJ 4:e2044.
  • Weegman, M. D., S. Bearhop, G. M. Hilton, A. J. Walsh, K. M. Weegman, and A. D. Fox. 2016. Should I stay or should I go? Fitness costs and benefits of prolonged parent-offspring and sibling-sibling associations in an Arctic-nesting goose population. Oecologia 181:809-817.
  • Weegman, M. D., S. Bearhop, A. D. Fox, G. M. Hilton, A. J. Walsh, J. L. McDonald, and D. J. Hodgson. 2016. Integrated population modelling reveals a perceived source to be a cryptic sink. Journal of Animal Ecology 85:467-475.
  • Weegman, M. D., A. D. Fox, S. Bearhop, G. M. Hilton, A. J. Walsh, I. R. Cleasby, and D. J. Hodgson. 2015. No evidence for sex bias in winter inter-site movement in an Arctic-nesting goose population. Ibis 157:401-405.
  • Fox, A. D., A. J. Walsh, M. D. Weegman, S. Bearhop, G. Hilton, and C. Mitchell. 2014. Spring ice formation on goose neck collars: effects on body condition and survival in Greenland white-fronted geese Anser albifrons flavirostris. European Journal of Wildlife Research 60:831-834.
  • Fox, A. D., M. D. Weegman, S. Bearhop, G. Hilton, L. Griffin, D. Stroud, and A. Walsh. 2014. Climate change and contrasting plasticity in timing of a two-step migration episode of an Arctic-nesting avian herbivore. Current Zoology 60:233-242.
  • Fox, A. D., C. Mitchell, M. D. Weegman, L. R. Griffin, H. Thomas, D. A. Stroud, and I. S. Francis. 2011. Potential factors influencing increasing numbers of Canada geese Branta canadensis in west Greenland. Wildfowl 61:30-44.
  • Weegman, M. D., R. M. Kaminski, G. Wang, M. L. Schummer, A. W. Ezell, and T. Leininger. 2010. Sweep-net sampling acorns in forested wetlands. Journal of Wildlife Management 74:1931-1933.
  • Weegman, M. D., and M. M. Weegman. 2007. Chromium and selenium in invertebrate prey of lesser scaup. Journal of Wildlife Management 71:778-782.