Goals: To understand 1) how spatially explicit climate,
topography, and vegetation interact with ectotherm and
endotherm morphology, physiology and behavior, disease.
2) how low level contaminant/pesticide mixtures affect potential for survival,
growth, reproduction and how that affects population dynamics, community structure
and food web structure in time and space.
3) how low-level contaminant/pesticide mixtures at environmentally relevant concentrations
affect/alter developmental processes, neurological function (learning abilities
and aggression levels), immune function, and endocrine function.
4) the process of infection and the biochemical responses to bacterial and viral
infections.
This past year has been an exceptional one for our lab in all three
areas of our research.
Modeling Animal Landscapes: We have 2 major
papers published and 1 in review in this area of our
research in 2006. The first paper shows that
we can use our newly patented mechanistic landscape
scale energetics and behavior programs to calculate
present and past bird distributions, food, water, and
activity constraints for the rare (extinct?) Po’ouli
on the island of Maui. This is part of a larger
collaborative effort to understand the dynamics of
rare and endangered birds on Hawaii. Our second
paper examines distribution limits of the endangered
serow deer on the island of Honshu, Japan. There
was an exceptional observation database that we were
able to use to test predictions of habitat utilization. Our
distribution prediction calculations agreed with more
than 99% of the observed 1 km2 grid cells occupied
by the serow on Honshu. The third paper, in review,
expands our model capabilities to environmental contaminant
loading at landscape scales. We calculated diving cormorant
requisite fish consumption and consequent rates of
toxic loading of environmental contaminants in their
food for the south end of Green Bay, WI. Another paper
nearly ready to submit demonstrates our ability to
predict double crested cormorant migration times between
Wisconsin and Louisiana and to assess their impact
on fish populations in those locations. In other
work to be presented this summer in the Netherlands
we are using the microclimate and animal models to
model endangered amphibians in the Targee National
Forest in Idaho and Yellowstone National Park. That
amphibian work is in collaboration with Dr. Paul Bartelt. Thanks
to Paul’s physiological and radio telemetry data,
we have been able to confirm that calculated amphibian
habitat utilization and movement patterns are exceptionally
consistent with radio telemetry data from free ranging
toads. The programs have demonstrated the ability
to accurately calculate energetics and behavior at
landscape scales for representatives of amphibians,
reptiles, birds, mammals, pollinating insects, a species
of disease carrying mosquito and butterflies.
Subtle Biological Effects of Environmental Contaminants:
We have serious concerns about children exposed to
low level pesticide mixtures from lawns and in the
food, water, and air that passes through their bodies. Children
do not have defensive enzymes at levels present in
sexually mature adults. Our 2002 paper showed that
a common lawn chemical pesticide mixture can induce
abortions and resorptions of fetuses at very low parts
per billion concentrations. The greatest effect was
at the lowest dose. Thanks to Richard Dwelle
and Dr. James Jaeger, we have an extraordinarily sensitive
new means of measuring mouse learning abilities at
many levels. We are currently conducting long
term studies to explore the effects of subtle low level
pesticide mixture exposures on learning abilities,
immune function, hormone levels, and developmental
disorders.
Early detection of infectious disease: We
have new state-of-the-art technologies that can detect
isotopic ratio changes in breath due to catabolic events
on a continuous, noninvasive flow-through basis. We
have been able to confirm all of our prior data using
mass spectrometry and are now observing in 24 hour
a day experiments the process of infection in real-time. Our
early data indicate that we can detect such changes
within approximately two hours of the time of administration
of an infection. This would have immense benefits
in intensive care units and many other applications. We
have one patent and three new applications pending
or in process covering our research discoveries. We
have founded an off-campus company, Isomark, LLC, that
may license and develop commercial applications as
it sees fit. However, all fundamental research will
be done exclusively through our research group and
patented through WARF.
I look for high intelligence, independence, creativity, and
imagination in my students. I also look for broad interests,
someone who likes personal challenges, and a synthetic
capacity. Opportunities in my lab are largely limited by time and the
student's capacity to learn. We do interdisciplinary research
and collaborate with faculty in engineering sciences, global climate
and vegetation modeling, medical and veterinary sciences, and the
physical sciences.
Graduate students currently supervised:
Lucas
Moyer-Horner, lrmoyerh@wisc.edu
Present and past landscape ecology, energetics, behavior
and distribution limits of yellow bellied marmots in
western United States.
Jeremiah Yahn, jyahn@wisc.edu
Ecology, energetics and nesting behavior of rare and
endangered turtles in the Amazon basin
Angela Dassow, amdassow@wisc.edu
Ecology, energetics and nesting behavior of rare and
endangered turtles in the Amazon basin.
Julia A. Haviland (jahaviland@wisc.edu)
Impacts of pesticide mixtures in food and water on development,
neurological, immune, and endocrine function.
Students
supervised who've recently earned graduate degrees:
Mark Jankowski, Ph.D.
2007
Environmental toxicology, immune suppression and infectious disease.
Joe Meisel, Ph.D. 2004
How habitat fragmentation interacts with climate to
affect distribution of insects and their avian predators in the tropics of
Central America.
(Abstract)
Auston M. Kilpatrick, Ph.D.
Aspects of community ecology, including: mechanisms
generating patterns of mammalian diversity, spatial and temporal variation
in competitive interactions, and the coevolution of avian malaria and native
and introduced Hawaiian birds. (Abstract)
Maria Fernanda Cavieres Fernandez, Ph.D.
Reproductive and developmental toxicity of a commercial
herbicide formulation in mice, (Abstract)
Christopher R. Tracy, PhD
Pattern and theory of geographic variation in physiology
and body size in Sauromalus obesus. (Abstract)
Elizabeth Sutherland, MS
Dispersion of Timber wolves in north central Wisconsin
Natori, Y. and
W.P. Porter. 2006. Habitat Evaluation for the
Japanese Serow (Capricornis crispus) by Energetics
Landscape Modeling. Ecol. Applications. Ecological Applications,
17(5), 2007, pp. 1441–1459.
Kilpatrick, A.M, W.A. Mitchell, W.P. Porter, and D.J. Currie.
2006. Testing a mechanistic explanation for the latitudinal gradient
in mammalian species diversity. Evol. Ecol. Res. 8(2):333-344.
Porter, W.P., N.P.
Vakharia, W.D. Klousie and D. Duffy.
2006. Po’ouli landscape bioinformatics models predict energetics,
behavior, diets and distribution on Maui. Int. Comp. Biol. 1-16.
on line doi:10.1093/icb/icl051
Kearney,
M. and W.P. Porter. 2004. Mapping the Fundamental
Niche: Physiology, Climate, and the Distribution
of a Nocturnal Lizard. Ecology. 85(11): 3119-3131.
Cavieres
M.F., J. Jaeger, W. P. Porter. 2002. Developmental
toxicity of a commercial herbicide mixture in mice. I.
Effects on embryo implantation and litter size. Environmental
Health Perspectives 110:1081-1085
Mitchell, W. A. and W. P. Porter. 2001. Foraging
games and species diversity. Annales Zoologici. 38
(1): 89-98.
Porter, W.P., S. Budaraju,
W.E. Stewart and N. Ramankutty. 2000. Calculating Climate
Effects on Birds and Mammals: Impacts on Biodiversity,
Conservation, Population Parameters, and Global Community
Structure. Am.
Zool. 40(4): 597-630.
Porter, W.P., J. Jaeger and I. Carlson. 1999. (Part
1) (Part 2)
Endocrine, immune and behavioral effects of aldicarb (carbamate),
atrazine (triazine) and nitrate (fertilizer) mixtures at groundwater
concentrations. Toxicology and Industrial Health.
15 (1-2): 133-150.
Porter, W.P.
and K. Paris. 1998. Creating a strategic plan and implementing
quality management techniques in an academic department.
Office of Quality Improvement publication U. Wis., Madison.
Budaraju, S., W.
E. Stewart and W. P. Porter. 1997. Mixed Convective
Heat and Moisture Transfer from a Horizontal Furry Cylinder
in Transverse Flow. Int. J. Heat & Mass Transfer
40:2273-2281.
Budaraju, S., Stewart,
W.E. and W.P. Porter. 1994. Prediction of forced
ventilation in animal fur from a measured pressure distribution.
Proc. Roy. Soc. London B 256: 41-46.