South Dakota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Staff Member
Dr. Ellen Aikens
Assistant Unit Leader
Phone: (605) 688 - 6717
Email: eaikens@usgs.gov
Faculty Email: Ellen.Aikens@sdstate.edu
Faculty Website
Education
- Ph D University of Wyoming 2019
- BS Ursinus College 2011
Biography
In April 2022, Dr. Aikens joined the South Dakota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit as the Assistant Unit Leader. Before coming to South Dakota, she received postdoctoral training at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz Germany and graduate training at the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Wyoming where she completed her PhD. Ellen is a quantitative ecologist who leads research on wildlife management issues related to animal movement, habitat change and spatial ecology. A primary goal of Ellen’s research is to produce knowledge that advances both ecological understanding and wildlife management. Her research merges animal tracking, remote sensing, and field research to gain insights into the resource and habitat requirements of wildlife. This approach helps to define critical habitat for wildlife, understand wildlife responses to environmental change, and plan large landscape conservation efforts. Ellen’s research focuses on ungulates and other highly mobile taxa. Ellen has taught courses in R for Wildlife Ecology, Data Visualization, and Spatial Ecology. She will develop graduate-level coursework at SDSU depending upon departmental needs.
Areas of Expertise
Anthropogenic Impacts, Behavioral Ecology, Climate Change, Energy: Development/Alternative, GIS/Spatial Analysis, Habitat Management, Landscape Ecology, Movement Ecology, Nutritional Ecology, Remote Sensing, Species Management, Wildlife Management
Taxon Groups Studied
Ungulates
Research Publications | Publication Date |
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Straub, C. S., Simasek, N. P., Gapinski, M. R., Dohm, R., Aikens, E. O., & Muscella, S. (2013). Influence of nonhost plant diversity and natural enemies on the potato leafhopper, Empoasca fabae, and pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, in alfalfa. Journal of Pest Science, 86(2), 235-244. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-012-0465-7. | Abstract | June 2013 |
Straub, C. S., Simasek, N. P., Dohm, R., Gapinski, M. R., Aikens, E. O., and Nagy, C. (2014). Plant diversity increases herbivore movement and vulnerability to predation. Basic and Applied Ecology, 15(1), 50-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2013.12.004. | Abstract | January 2014 |
Ortega, A.C., Dwinnell, S.P.H., LaSharr, T.N., Jakopak, R.P., Denryter, K., Huggler, K., Hayes, M., Aikens, E.O., Verzuh, T., May, A., Kauffman, M.J., and Monteith, K.L. (2020). Effectiveness of Partial Sedation to Reduce Stress in Captured Mule Deer. Journal of Wildlife Management, 84: 1445–1456. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21929. | Abstract | July 2020 |
Morrison, T. A., Merkle, J. A., Hopcraft, J. G. C., Aikens, E. O., Beck, J. L., Boone, R. B., Courtemanch, A. B., Dwinnell, S. P., Fairbanks, W. S., Griffith, B., Middleton, A.D., Monteith, K.L., Oates, B., Riotte‐Lambert, L., Sawyer, H., Smith, K. T., Stabach, J. A., Taylor, K. T., and Kauffman, M. J. (2021). Drivers of site fidelity in ungulates. Journal of animal ecology, 90(4), 955-966. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13425. | Abstract | April 2021 |
Merkle, J.A., Monteith, K.L., Aikens, E.O., Hayes, M.M., Hersey, K.R., Middleton, A.D., Oates, B.A., Sawyer, H., Scurlock, B.M. and Kauffman, M.J. (2016). Large herbivores surf waves of green-up in spring. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 283:20160456. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.0456. | Abstract | December 2016 |
LaCava, M. E., Aikens, E. O., Megna, L. C., Randolph, G., Hubbard, C., & Buerkle, C. A. (2020). Accuracy of de novo assembly of DNA sequences from double‐digest libraries varies substantially among software. Molecular ecology resources, 20(2), 360-370. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13108. | Abstract | March 2020 |
Kauffman, M. J., Cagnacci, F., Chamaillé-Jammes, S., Hebblewhite, M., Hopcraft, J. G. C., Merkle, J. A., et. al. (2021). Mapping out a future for ungulate migrations. Science, 372(6542), 566-569. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abf0998. | May 2021 |
Kauffman, M. J., Aikens, E. O., Esmaeili, S., Kaczensky, P., Middleton, A., Monteith, K. L., Morrison, T., Mueller, T., Sawyer, H., and Goheen, J. R. (2021). Causes, consequences, and conservation of ungulate migration. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 52, 453-78. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-012021011516. | Abstract | October 2021 |
Jesmer, B. R., Merkle, J. A., Goheen, J. R., Aikens, E. O., Beck, J. L., Courtemanch, A. B., Hurley, M.A., McWhirter, D.E., Miyasaki, H.M., Monteith, K.L., and Kauffman, M. J. (2018). Is ungulate migration culturally transmitted? Evidence of social learning from translocated animals. Science, 361(6406), 1023-1025. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat0985. | Abstract | October 2018 |
Flack, A., Aikens, E. O., Kölzsch, A., Nourani, E., Snell, K. R. S., Fiedler, W., Linek, N., Bauer, H., Thorup, K., Partecke, K., Wikelski, M., and Williams, H. J. (2022). New frontiers in bird migration research. Current Biology, 32(20): R11787-R1199. | Abstract | October 2022 |
Esmaeili, S., Jesmer, B.R., Albeke, S.E., Aikens, E.O., Schoenecker, K.A., King, S.R.B., et. al. (2021) Body size and digestive system shape resource selection by ungulates: A cross-taxa test of the forage maturation hypothesis. Ecology Letters, 24, 2178– 2191. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13848. | Abstract | October 2021 |
Aikens, E.O., Wyckoff, T.B., Sawyer, H., and Kauffman, M.J. (2022). Industrial energy development decouples ungulate migration from the green wave. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 6(11):1733-1741. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01887-9. | Abstract | November 2022 |
Aikens, E.O., Mysterud, A., Merkle, J.A., Cagnacci, F., Rivrud, I.M., Hebblewhite, M., et. al. (2020). Wave-like patterns of plant phenology determine ungulate movement tactics. Current Biology, 30(17): 3444–3449.e4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.06.032. | Abstract | September 2020 |
Aikens, E.O., Monteith, K.L., Merkle, J.A., Dwinnell, S.P., Fralick, G.L., and Kauffman, M. J. (2020). Drought reshuffles plant phenology and reduces the foraging benefit of green‐wave surfing for a migratory ungulate. Global Change Biology, 26(8), 4215-4225. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15169. | Abstract | June 2020 |
Aikens, E.O., Bontekoe, I., Blumenstiel, L., Schlicksupp, A., and Flack, A. (2022) Viewing animal migration through a social lens. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 37(11):985-996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2022.06.008. | Abstract | August 2022 |
Aikens, E. O., Dwinnell, S. P., LaSharr, T. N., Jakopak, R. P., Fralick, G. L., Randall, J., Kaiser, R., Thonhoff, M., Kauffman, M.J. and Monteith, K. L. (2021). Migration distance and maternal resource allocation determine timing of birth in a large herbivore. Ecology, 102(6), e03334. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3334. | Abstract | June 2021 |
Aikens E.O., Kauffman M.J., Merkle J.A., Dwinnell S.P.H., Fralick G.L., and Monteith K.L. (2017). The greenscape shapes surfing of resource waves in a large migratory herbivore. Ecology Letters, 20(6): 741-750. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ele.12772. | Abstract | June 2017 |
Abrahms, B., Hazen, E.L., Aikens, E.O., Savoca, M.S., Goldbogen, J.A., Bograd, S.J., Jacox, M.G., Irvine, L.M., Palacios, D.M. and Mate, B.R. (2019). Memory and resource tracking drive blue whale migrations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(12), pp.5582-5587. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1819031116. | Abstract | March 2019 |
Abrahms, B., Aikens, E. O., Armstrong, J. B., Deacy, W. W., Kauffman, M. J., and Merkle, J. A. (2021). Emerging perspectives on resource tracking and animal movement ecology. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 36(4), 308-320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2020.10.018. | Abstract | November 2020 |
Project | Completion Date |
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Phenology Tracking in Migratory Mule Deer | December 2018 |
Big game migration mapping - developing methods for atypical migrants | September 2027 |
Presentations | Presentation Date |
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Aikens EO, Kauffman MJ, Merkle JA, Dwinnell SP, Fralick GL, and Monteith KL. 2017. The greenscape shapes surfing of resource waves in a large migratory herbivore. Gordon Research Conference on the Movement Ecology of Animals, Ventura, CA, March 20th, 2017. | March 2017 |