Vanesa Bejarano Alegre

’m excited to share that I’ll be presenting at the International Small Cats Symposium 🐆
smallcatsymposium.org
Small cats are often overlooked in conservation, yet they are key components of ecosystems. Looking forward to a meaningful symposium. 🌎✨

📢 New paper out! 🐢🌧️

Seasonal rainfall in the Amazon reshapes parasite communities in the scorpion mud turtle, with a ~71% drop in parasite load during the dry season and clear temporal niche partitioning.

🔗 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

#Ecology #Parasitology #Amazon #OneHealth

Quando faltam matas para os felinos Nem todos os felinos silvestres do Brasil respondem da mesma forma às mudanças ambientais causadas pelas atividades humanas, como desmatamento e abertura de estradas. A partir de mais de 14 mil regist...

More about my work… in a short article in the Pesquisa FAPESP Journal. Thanks to the various Brazilian media outlets for their interest in my work and for sharing it! 🥹🤩
#jaguar #oncapintada #wildcats #brazil #Leopardus #jaguarundi #puma
revistapesquisa.fapesp.br/quando-falta...

Merry Christmas 2025 🎅🦌🎄

Estudo revela como felinos brasileiros reagem às mudanças humanas no meio ambiente - ((o))eco Pesquisa da UNESP mostra que espécies de felinos selvagens respondem de formas distintas à presença de estradas e áreas agrícolas no Brasil

🌿 Our research is now featured in @oeco.org.br
We reveal how Brazil’s wild cats react to human-driven changes 🐆
📊 Key facts:
L. geoffroyi: 35.8% of records <10 m from roads
L. guttulus: only 0.001% — a 3,500× difference!
🔗 Read: oeco.org.br/noticias/est...

#Conservation #WildCats #Ecology #Brazil

Brazil's Wild Felids Face Change New study reveals how Brazil's 9 wild felid species respond to human-modified landscapes. Open-data approach supports conservation plans.

📝 Fresh blog post is live!
Since we just published our research on Brazil's wild felids, I wrote a detailed blog breaking down what we found and why it matters for conservation.
Much more digestible than reading through GLM outputs 😅
Check it out: www.vanwildlife.com/brazil-wild-...

Brazil’s wild cats 🐆🐾
Our new study shows how 9 species respond to habitat change & roads using an open-data framework.
Free access until Oct 23!
👉 authors.elsevier.com/a/1liqO1R%7E...

📢 Please share with your network!
#Conservation #Ecology #BrazilianCats

Fork-tailed Flycatcher: Migration, Breeding, and Conservation of a Neotropical Icon - Van Wildlife The Fork-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus savana) is one of the most fascinating birds of South America’s grasslands.

🚨 New blog post!
Fork-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus savana): key for Neotropical migration & conservation.
Read more about this fantastic species 👇
www.vanwildlife.com/flycatcher-m...

#BirdMigration #Flycatcher #NeotropicalBirds #Conservation

Understanding Ecological Thresholds: Limits or Leverage Points? - Van Wildlife Ecological thresholds are critical points where a small change in an environmental variable can trigger an abrupt transformation in the system.

Small changes in ecosystems can trigger major shifts if thresholds are crossed.
In my new blog, I explain:
1) What ecological thresholds are
2) Why do they matter in conservation
3) How to identify them
Read: www.vanwildlife.com/thresholds/
#Ecology #Conservation

How do jaguars move across human-modified landscapes? I wrote about it on my blog, and the topic was also featured on Brazilian TV!
👉 www.vanwildlife.com/jaguarmoveme...

#JaguarConservation #MovementEcology

Spatial Cross-Validation: Concepts, Importance, and Key Steps - Van Wildlife Learn what spatial cross-validation is, why it matters for predictive models using geospatial data, and how to implement it in R.

Still relevant! 🐾
I wrote a piece on cross-validation for ecological models some time ago, and many of you still ask about it. Take a look:
👉 www.vanwildlife.com/cross-valida...
Feedback is always welcome!
#ecology #rstats #spatialecology #conservation

Co-Authoring with Clarity: Respectful and Effective Collaboration Learn about co-authoring with clarity and respect. Explore: roles, author order, inclusion, and collaborating effectively in academia.

📢 New blog post!
Ever struggled with authorship in science?
Here are key reflections & questions to ask before saying “yes” to co-authorship. For early-career researchers, mentors & collaborators.
🔗 www.vanwildlife.com/co-authorship/
#SciComm #AuthorshipMatters #ResearchEthics

Jaguar Habitat Selection in the Anthropocene - Van Wildlife Explore jaguar habitat selection in human-modified landscapes, revealing adaptive behaviors and implications for conservation strategies.

New on VanWildlife:
What happens when jaguars live in landscapes shaped by humans?
Forests, water, croplands and even roads play key roles.
Sex and circadian rhythms make a difference.
Is this a story of coexistence?

📖 www.vanwildlife.com/jaguarhabita...

#Conservation #Jaguars #MovementEcology

🚨New preprint out!
“Ecological traits explain wild felid responses to human-modified landscapes in Brazil” is now available on EcoEvoRxiv
Check it out & share if you work on carnivores, roads, or conservation planning 🐆🌎
📄 doi.org/10.32942/X25...

Hace unas semanas, una colega del departamento @laranavesalegre.bsky.social y otros investigadores sacaron un monográfico sobre fototrampeo en la revista @ecosistemas-aeet.bsky.social. Los artículos están en español. Podéis echarle un vistazo aquí:
www.revistaecosistemas.net/index.php/ec...

New review out in J Anim Ecol!
We explore how to predict animal movements in human-modified environments, highlighting the need for mechanistic models to guide conservation.
📄 doi.org/10.1111/1365...
#MovementEcology #Anthropocene

Hello, Could I be added? I work with jaguar movement. Thanks

Nuestro próximo monográfico sobre fototrampeo se publicará dentro de muy poco. ¡En nuestra página web ya podéis leer 4 de los artículos que se incluirán en el monográfico! 🦡🦆🐈
revistaecosistemas.net/index.php/ec...

🚨 Shrew paper alert! 🚨

Our latest study found that brain size changes stayed on track, but behavior? 🤔 Not so much❗
Captivity makes shrews hyperactive and less motivated to learn, hinting at chronic stress.
🐾 Curious? Full paper here: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...
#Shrews
@mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social

Reviewing masterclass: how to review a manuscript for a journal If you are interested in publishing scientific articles or getting involved in publishing, this insightful workshop about reviewing articles

Are you interested in learning more about the publishing process?
I am running two workshops with
@mammalsocietyyouth.bsky.social in April and May on reviewing articles and how to publish a literature review. Sign up here:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reviewing-...

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-an...

✨ Nature SPAM Filter, launched this week, is an easy and fun reading-based project to help wildlife globally. Look at real newspaper article titles from archives and complete a simple yes-or-no task to identify animals and wildlife in the news.

Try it here: www.zooniverse.org/projects/dve...

Do interactions between hyaenas and lions impact how they select habitat?

GPS-collar data reveals hyaenas don't avoid areas used by lions and may even be attracted to lions because of scavenging opportunities.

Study by Andrew Loveridge and David Macdonald 👉 bit.ly/41hn02a

@biology.ox.ac.uk

GitHub - benjamin-rosenbaum/bayesian-intro: Introduction to Bayesian statistics Introduction to Bayesian statistics. Contribute to benjamin-rosenbaum/bayesian-intro development by creating an account on GitHub.

I completely re-worked my course "Introduction to Bayesian statistics with brms" and taught it for the 1st time this week. It is meant as a tutorial for ecologists, but should be general enough for other sciences as well
github.com/benjamin-ros...
#stats #Rstats #brms #Stan #Bayesian

three polar bears in the snow

Look for the bear necessities 🐻

Polar bears are found across the arctic, however limited movement data has been collected on males as their necks are wider than their heads, and cannot be radio collared. 🤖

Explore >9.3k polar bear records: 🔗www.gbif.org/species...

#InternationalPolarBearDay

Thanks so much to Lila for this LA Times article about our new publication about social-ecological influences on coyote movement in Los Angeles! 🧪🌎🏙️

Check out the publication here:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

To all Animovers out there: Our next workshop will take place from the 30th of November until the 13th of December 2025. More information about location, price and how to apply will follow soon....🤗🐒🦥🌎🐸🐊🕷️🪱

A supervised model to identify wolf behavior from tri-axial acceleration - Animal Biotelemetry Background In wildlife studies, animal behavior serves as a key indicator of the impact of environmental changes and anthropogenic disturbances. However, wild animals are elusive and traditional GPS s...

Excited to share a new publication, just off the press!! This time back to the terrestrial ecosystem, 📣 led by PhD student Charlie, @thecharlieroger.bsky.social , on using machine learning 🤖〽️ to identify wolf behaviours from accelerometer data #biologging, #movementecology. Congrats!! 👏

"New research reveals how predators and prey adjust their behaviours in space and time! 📷 Using camera-trap data from Brazil and Suriname, we found that red-rumped agoutis adjust their activity patterns in response to ocelots' presence."
buff.ly/40QU0hz

👋 ¿Te interesa la ecología del movimiento 🛰️ y la selección de hábitat 🗺️?

Hemos publicado un artículo de divulgación sobre ello en la revista AmbioCiencias de la Universidad de León.

¡No te lo pierdas!
👉 shorturl.at/AkSHj

@zaiortega.bsky.social

Post‐migratory nonbreeding movements of birds: A review and case study While many migratory birds are conceptualized as using a single wintering site, technological advances that enable detailed tracking of individual birds are uncovering more examples of post-migratory....

Post-migratory movements in the nonbreeding season are in fact displayed by a surprising number of birds around the world, with diverse resource- or weather-based cues. Two former students in the lab wrote a paper documenting examples of this: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....