Wildlife Ecology and Epidemiology
Introduction
The Wildlife Ecology & Epidemiology Team comprises 25 staff with expertise in animal pest ecology, modelling, epidemiology, and control strategies. Our work on pests and diseases include, marsupials (possums and wallabies), mustelids (stoats and ferrets), rodents (rats and mice), ungulates (deer, pigs and thar), birds (starlings and mynas), lagomorphs (rabbits and hares), and diseases as problems (bovine tuberculosis and avian malaria) and as biocontrols (rabbit haemorrhagic disease).
Work focuses on protecting native ecosystems and primary industry through improved understanding of pest responses to management, and the role of pests as disease carriers. This understanding is then used to develop better pest management regimes.
Research has been undertaken for central government (e.g. Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, Department of Conservation), local government (e.g. Southland Regional Council, Environment Canterbury), national agencies (e.g. Animal Health Board, Foundation for Arable Research), international agencies (e.g. United Nations Development Programme, British Ecological Society, The Nature Conservancy), government agencies (Chile, Argentina, New Caledonia, Mauritius), and private companies and conservation initiatives.
Research themes
Primary contact: Wendy Ruscoe
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Primary contact: John Parkes
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Primary contact: Andrea Byrom
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Primary contact: Dan Tompkins
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Primary contact: Catriona MacLeod
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Ecology of multiple interacting mammal pests
International pest management 
Spatial Ecology
Wildlife diseases and disease threats to humans
Wildlife in production landscapes Tools & Services
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Animal distribution maps
Animal distributions provides you with a view of the national distribution of 7 species of deer, 5 species of wallaby, thar, chamois, goat and pig. -
Animal facility
An accredited animal facility, operating under strict ethical guidelines, for captive breeding, observation, and the assessment of pest control tools. -
Animal pest monitoring & control
A comprehensive service providing advice on, and assessment of, the design and implementation of animal pest monitoring and control programmes. -
Animal population modelling
Landcare Research has internationally recognised expertise in providing spatial and population modelling for a range of species at a range of scales. -
Baits and toxins
A comprehensive service providing advice on new and improved baits and toxins, and testing. -
DENSITY
Mark–recapture estimation of population density, implementing methods for estimating absolute population density from closed–population samples. -
ISI (Invasive Species International)
The ISI team provides and coordinates technical advice and research support to help organisations achieve their invasive species management goals. -
Mark–Recapture interface for programs CAPTURE and JOLLY
Allows the user to run data stored in an input file for the program MARK through programs CAPTURE and JOLLY. -
PestCalc
The pest control calculator – developed to make analysis of pest control monitoring data simpler and more accurate. -
Toxicology laboratory
An accredited laboratory providing vertebrate pesticide bait and residue analysis. -
Trap design and testing
Trap design and testing -
Vertebrate pest decision support system
This tool assisits users in the selection of the most appropriate options for controlling vertebrate pests in a particular locality. -
Wildlife population ecology
Advice on the design and implementation of large–scale ecological experiments, and statistical modelling of the resultant data.
Science leader
 | Andrea Byrom Email  |
Landcare Research | |
Phone: +64 3 321 9999 |