Greater Yellowstone Region

The Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology is partnering with the Draper Natural History Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming to study the spatial ecology of wildlife species of conservation concern in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. We are currently working on two projects, detailed below.

The Pinyon Jay Project, started in 2024, aims to explore potential drivers of the dramatic 85% decline in Pinyon Jays over the past 50 years by studying their habitat use and movement. The research focuses on the Bighorn Basin in Wyoming, where Pinyon Jays are suspected to rely on the seeds of limber pines, despite the absence of piñon pines. The project seeks to understand how habitat management practices that benefit Greater Sage-Grouse (another species of conservation concern) may negatively impact Pinyon Jays, and vice versa, aiming to create conservation strategies that support both species. By deploying GPS-based tracking devices on Pinyon Jays, we are gathering data on habitat selection, home range, and seasonal movement, integrating these findings with existing datasets on Sage-Grouse. The study aims to provide actionable recommendations for natural resource managers to support the recovery and viability of both bird species amidst their declining populations and changing habitats.

The Absaroka Bat Census project aims to study bat diversity, activity, and distribution in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Fieldwork for this project ran from 2022-2024. We deployed passive acoustic sensors to provide baseline data on bat presence in high-elevation habitats, informing wildlife managers about bat occupancy and habitat use patterns. The project employed two methods: short-term sampling along an elevational gradient to determine species presence and habitat preferences, and continuous monitoring of the same sites over several months to observe bat community changes over time. Eleven of Wyoming's nineteen bat species are of greatest conservation need, yet basic information on their distribution and habitat requirements is lacking. This study, the most comprehensive of its kind in the Absaroka Range, aims to fill these gaps and inform conservation plans for bats in northwestern Wyoming and southern Montana. Bats face threats such as habitat loss, wind energy development, and white-nose syndrome, and they are crucial indicators of wildlife diversity and health. Despite comprising 15% of Wyoming's mammal species, little is known about their diversity and distribution in the state.