Abstract

A major goal in population ecology is to predict how wildlife populations will respond to environmental change. Recent studies have highlighted rapid changes in individual traits (such as body size) accompanying and often preceding changes in population dynamics, indicating that studying this link may improve our ability to predict population responses to environmental change. Furthermore, these studies show that some species can adapt to change more easily than others through a range of evolutionary and ecological mechanisms. Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for identifying species that are more susceptible to environmental change. In this talk, I will demonstrate the link between individual traits and population dynamics by showcasing the application of analytical methods to long-term data from two mammalian systems: shrinking sheep on a Scottish island and growing marmots at a Colorado mountain top.