Malcolm L. Hunter Jr.

Research Interests
Forest Ecosystems
Wildlife Ecology
Conservation Biology

Research Projects
Protecting Natural Resources at the Community Scale (Vernal Pools)

Degrees:

  • Oxford University, Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, D.Phil. (Zoology)
  • University of Maine, B.S. (Wildlife Science)

Courses

  • Conservation Biology
  • Conservation Planning

Profile

Dr. Hunter’s research experience covers a variety of ecosystems and organisms – birds, amphibians, insects, vascular plants, mammals, reptiles, lakes, peatlands, grasslands, and more – but his major focus is on forest ecosystems and the maintenance of their biological diversity. He is a member of two teams that study the interactions among vascular plants, amphibians, birds, and small mammals and their changes through time. He also works with forest ecosystems at a landscape scale studying the effects of forest management on amphibians, birds, and insects, and the implications of natural disturbance regimes, spatial distribution patterns, and other large-scale phenomena for forest management and reserve design. Dr. Hunter’s interests are geographically broad too: he has worked in 25 countries, mainly in Africa and the Himalayas. As a researcher and advisor he interacts with a broad spectrum of organizations such as the Society for Conservation Biology (serving as President from 2001-2003), the Nature Conservancy, and the U.S. Forest Service.

Dr. Hunter’s work with the Mitchell Center involved looking at how to maintain biodiversity and ecological integrity while using landscapes for human activities such as timber harvest and residential development. His research to date is creating a growing understanding of the habitat needs of certain sensitive species, that allows for creative thinking about how to accommodate those needs while still managing ecosystems for human welfare. Dr. Hunter expects this specific research to lead to the development of broader principles that have wide application to sustainable ecosystem management.

Selected Publications

Hoffmann, K., A. Calhoun, and M. Hunter. 2016. A deep-water funnel trap for salamanders. Herpetological Review 47:205-206.

Cline, B.B. and M.L. Hunter, Jr. 2016. Movement in the matrix: Substrates and distance-to-forest edge affect the post-metamorphic movements of a forest amphibian. Ecosphere 7(2):e01202. 10.1002/ecs2.1202

Wood, C.M., J.W. Witham, and M.L. Hunter Jr. 2016. Climate-driven range shifts are stochastic processes at a local level: two flying squirrel species in Maine. Ecosphere 7(2):e01240. 10.1002/ecs2.1240

Hunter, M., et 18 coauthors. 2016. Two roles for ecological surrogacy: indicator surrogates and management surrogates. Ecological Indicators 63:121-125.

Beier, P., M.L. Hunter, and M. Anderson. 2015. Conserving nature’s stage. Conservation Biology 29:613-617.

Hjort, J., J. Gordon, M. Gray, M. L. Hunter, Jr. 2015. Why geodiversity matters in valuing nature’s stage. Conservation Biology 29:630-639.

Capps, K.A., R. Rancatti, N.Tomczyk, T. Parr, A. Calhoun, and M.L. Hunter, Jr. 2014. Biogeochemical hotspots in forested landscapes: The role of vernal pools in denitrification and organic matter processing. Ecosystems 17:1455-1468.

M.L Hunter, Jr., K.H. Redford, and D.B. Lindenmayer, “The Complementary Niches of Anthropocentric and Biocentric Conservationists,” Conservation Biology 28 (2014): 641-645.

B.B. Cline and M.L. Hunter, “Juvenile Amphibians Discriminate Among Open-Canopy Habitats: An Experimental Investigation of Habitat Permeability,” Journal of Applied Ecology 51 (2014): 319-329.

C. Colgan, M.L. Hunter, B. McGill, and A. Weiskittel, “Managing the Middle Ground: Forests in the Transition Zone Between Cities and Remote Areas,” Landscape Ecology 29 (2014): 1133-1143.

A. Calhoun, J. Jansujwicz, M. Hunter, and K. Bell, “Improving Management of Small Natural Features on Private Lands by Negotiating the Science-Policy Boundary of Maine Vernal Pools,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (2014).

A.J.K. Calhoun, J. Arrigoni, R.P. Brooks, M.L. Hunter, and S.C. Richter, “Creating Successful Vernal Pools: A Literature Review and Advice for Practitioners,” Wetlands (2014).

N.Politi, L. Rivera, L. Lizárraga, M. Hunter, Jr., and G.E. DeFosse, “The Dichotomy Between Protection and Logging of an Endangered and Valuable Timber Species – Conservation of Amburana caerensis in Northwestern Argentina,” Oryx (2014).

G. Wang, N.T. Hobbs, N.A. Slade, J.F. Merritt, L.L. Getz, M.L. Hunter, Jr., S.H. Vessey, J.W. Witham, and A. Guillaumet, “Comparative Population Dynamics of Large and Small Mammals in the Northern Hemisphere: Deterministic and Stochastic Forces,” Ecography 36 (2013): 439-446.

N. Politi, M.L. Hunter, Jr., and L. Rivera, “Assessing the Effects of Selective Logging on Birds in Neotropical Piedmont and Cloud Montane Forest,” Biodiversity and Conservation 21 (2012): 3131-3155.

S.P. Campbell, J.W. Witham, and M.L. Hunter, “Long-Term Changes in Spatial Distribution of Birds Responding to a Group-Selection Timber Harvest,” Wildlife Society Bulletin 36 (2012): 313-327.

V.D. Popescu, B.S. Brodie, M.L. Hunter, and J. Zydlewski, “Use of Olfactory Cues by Newly Metamorphosed Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) During Emigration,” Copeia 3 (2012): 424-431.

V.D. Popescu, D.A. Patrick, M.L. Hunter, and A.J.K Calhoun, “The Role of Forest Harvesting and Subsequent Vegetative Regrowth in Determining Patterns of Amphibian Habitat Use,” Forest Ecology and Management 270 (2012): 163-174.

V.D. Popescu and M.L. Hunter, “Clearcutting Affects Habitat Connectivity for a Forest Amphibian by Decreasing Permeability to Juvenile Movements,” Ecological Applications 21 (2011): 1283-1295.

M.L. Hunter, Jr., E. Dinerstein, J. Hoekstra, and D. Lindenmayer, “Conserving Biodiversity in the Face of Climate Change: A Call to Action,” Conservation Biology 24 (2010): 1169-1171.

Books and Monographs:

Hunter, M.L. D. Lindenmayer, and A. J.K. Calhoun. 2016. Saving the earth as a career: Advice on becoming a conservation professional. 2nd edition. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, United Kingdom.

M.L. Hunter, Jr. and F. Schmiegelow, Wildlife, Forests, and Forestry: Principles of Managing Forests for Biological Diversity, 2nd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2011), 259.

J. Gibbs, M.L. Hunter, Jr., and E. Sterling, Problem-Solving in Conservation Biology and Wildlife Management: Exercises for Class, Field, and Laboratory, 2nd ed. (Oxford, United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing, 2008), 328.

M.L. Hunter, Jr. and J.P. Gibbs, Fundamentals of Conservation Biology, 3rd ed. (Oxford, United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing, 2007), 497.

M.L. Hunter, Jr., Fundamentals of Conservation Biology, 2nd ed. (Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Science, 2002), 547.