Imperial College London
Silwood Park
Buckhurst Road
Ascot
Berkshire, SL5 7PY
n.bunnefeld06 @ imperial.ac.uk
My main research interests encompass conservation, management and dynamics of exploited species and systems, using the combination of empirical data collection and modelling to investigate the interaction between humans and natural resources. I have a strong interest in developing novel methods and applying methods from different disciplines to develop unified frameworks for the sustainable use of natural resources under uncertainty. My research focuses on the interaction between humans and wildlife and the spatial-temporal scale of ecological, social and economic processes.
Research themes
HUNTing for sustainability: HUNT is an interdisciplinary international research project, financed by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme, looking into the wider meaning of hunting in the 21st century. Using hunting as a lens, HUNT aims to explore general aspects of the relationship between humans and nature, seeking ways to reconcile conflicts between people over hunting practices. In order to be able to understand the complex interactions between people and their prey, we aim to develop a framework that explicitly incorporates human decision making and the hunting process. We will particularly focus on the following case-studies: mountain nyala in Ethiopia, bushmeat hunting in the Serengeti, Tanzania and brown bear hunting in Croatia and Slovenia. This work is carried out together with E.J. Milner-Gulland and Ana Nuno.
Spatial ecology: This research focuses on the effects of biotic and abiotic factors affecting ungulate migratory behaviour. While most ungulates show rather clear patterns either of establishing a home range or of migrating long-range distances, the moose in Scandinavia exhibits an unusual mixed strategy, with some individuals migrating long distances and others remaining being almost stationary. The aim of this project is to disentangle the relative roles of climate, human infrastructure and natural landscapes in shaping movement behaviour. This work is carried out using spatial statistical analysis and GIS in collaboration with Goran Ericsson, Johan Mansson, Wiebke Neumann (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences), Luca Borger (CNRS, Chize, France) and Bram van Moorter (University of Trondheim, Norway).
Publications
email me for PDFs
Singh N, Borger L, Dettki H, Bunnefeld N, Ericsson G. From migration to nomadism: movement variability in a northern ungulate across its latitudinal range. Ecological Applications (preprint online)
Kinahan A, Bunnefeld N. Effectiveness and cost efficiency of monitoring mountain nyala in the Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia. Endangered Species Research (in press)
Mansson J, Bunnefeld N, Andren H, Ericsson G. Spatial and temporal predictions of moose winter distribution. Oecologia (Online first)
Papworth S, Bunnefeld N, Slocombe K, Milner-Gulland EJ. Movement ecology of human resource users: using net squared displacement, biased random bridges and resource utilisation functions to quantify hunter and gatherer behaviour. Methods in Ecology and Evolution (Early View, podcast)
Neumann W, Ericsson G, Dettki H, Bunnefeld N, Keuler NS, Helmers DP, Radeloff VC (2012) Difference in spatiotemporal patterns of moose road-crossings and moose-vehicle collisions. Biological Conservation 145: 70-78.
Bunnefeld N, Phillimore AB (2012) Island, archipelago and taxon effects: mixed models as a means of dealing with the imperfect design of nature’s experiments. Ecography 35: 15-22. (Editor’s choice, free online)
Schluter M, McAllister RRJ, Holker F, Quaas M, Arlinghaus R, Bunnefeld N, Eisenack N, Milner-Gulland EJ, Muller B, Nicholson E, Stoven M (2012) New horizons for managing the environment: A review of coupled social-ecological systems modeling. Natural Resource Modelling 25(1): 219-272.
Majic A, Marino A, Huber D, Bunnefeld N (2011) Dynamics of public attitudes toward bears and the role of bear hunting in Croatia. Biological Conservation 144 (12): 3018-3027.
Bunnefeld N, Reuman DC, Baines D, Milner-Gulland EJ (2011) Impact of unintentional selective harvesting on the population dynamics of red grouse. Journal of Animal Ecology 80 (6):1258-1268.
Bunnefeld N, Hoshino E, Milner-Gulland EJ (2011) Management strategy evaluation: A powerful tool for conservation? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 26 (9): 441-447.
Bunnefeld N, Borger L, van Moorter B, Rolandsen C, Dettki H, Solberg EJ, Ericsson G (2011) A model-driven approach to quantify migration patterns: individual, regional and yearly differences. Journal of Animal Ecology 80: 466-476.
Pettorelli N, Ryan S, Mueller T, Bunnefeld N, Jedrzejewska B, Lima M, Kausrud K (2011) The unforeseen successes of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in animal ecology. Climate Research 46:15-27.
Milner-Gulland EJ, Arroyo B, Bellard C, Blanchard J, Bunnefeld N, Delibes-Mateos M, Edwards C, Nuno A, Palazy L, Reljic S, Riera P, Skrbinsek T. (2010) New directions in Management Strategy Evaluation through cross-fertilisation between fisheries science and terrestrial conservation. Biology Letters 6: 719-722.
Struve J, Lorenzen K, Blanchard J, Borger L, Bunnefeld N, Edwards C, Hortal J, MacCall A, Matthiopoulos J, van Moorter B, Ozgul A, Royer F, Singh N, Yesson C, Bernard R (2010) Lost in space? Searching for directions in the spatial modeling of individuals, populations and species ranges. Biology Letters 6: 575-578.
Sahlsten J, Bunnefeld N, Mansson J, Ericsson G, Bergstrom R, Dettki H (2010). Can supplementary feeding be used to redistribute moose? Wildlife Biology 16: 85-92.
Magnhagen C, Bunnefeld N (2009) Express your personality or go along with the group: what determines the behaviour of shoaling perch? Proceedings of the Royal Society B 276: 3369-3375.
Bunnefeld N, Baines D, Newborn D, Milner-Gulland EJ (2009) Factors affecting unintentional harvesting selectivity in a monomorphic species. Journal of Animal Ecology 78: 485-492.
Bunnefeld N, Linnell JDC, Odden J, van Duijn MAJ, Andersen R (2006): Risk-taking by Eurasian lynx in a human-dominated landscape: effects of sex and reproductive status. Journal of Zoology, London 270(1): 31-39.
Book chapter
Milner-Gulland EJ, Bunnefeld N, Proaktor G (2009) The science of sustainable hunting. In Recreational Hunting, Conservation and Rural Livelihoods: Science and Practice (Dickson, B., Hutton, J., Adams, B., eds). Blackwell Science.
Meeting reports (not peer reviewed)
Bunnefeld N, Borger L, Nilsen EB, Basille M, Hall R, Ezard THG, Trierweiler C, Minderman J, Mangel M, Gaillard JM, Milner-Gulland EJ and Attendees of the Populations under Pressure symposium. (2007) Coming out of the ivory tower: how to ensure that ecological modelling research remains practical and applied. British Ecological Society Bulletin 38 (4): 64-66.
Phd students
Ana Nuno (2009-ongoing) Bushmeat in the Serengeti: understanding multiple components of a hunting system (with Prof E.J. Milner-Gulland)
Lovisa Nilsson (2011- ongoing) Spatiotemporal foraging and movement patterns of a large grazing bird in agricultural areas (with Dr Jens Persson, Dr Johan Månsson, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences)
MSc students
Alice Daish (2011), Uncertainty in models for decision making for conservation (with Prof E.J. Milner-Gulland, Dr Emily Nicholson)
Emma Knott (2011), A bioeconomic model for hunting brown bears in Croatia (with Prof E.J. Milner-Gulland)
George Swan (2011), Spatial variation in Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) abundance and diet in relation to habitat type and prey abundance (with Prof Steve Redpath, University of Aberdeen)
Arash Ghoddousi (2010) Movement ecology of GPS-collared Brown bears in Croatia and Slovenia (with Dr K. Jerina, University of Ljubljana & Prof D. Huber, University of Zagreb)
Agnese Marino (2010) Public attitudes toward the brown bear in Croatia: a change over time. (with A. Majic, University of Ljubljana)
Bronwen Daniel (2010) Effects of sporting estate management practices on biodiversity in Scotland (with Dr R. Bryce & Prof S. Redpath, University of Aberdeen)
