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Wenjing Xu

Past, Philomathia Graduate Fellowship in Environment Sciences

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, POLICY AND MANAGEMENT, PH.D. CANDIDATE

Wildlife migration carries important ecological functions and social values in many ecosystems, especially in arid and semi-arid rangeland. However, linear infrastructures such as fencing have proliferated around the world. Wenjing’s search focuses on ecological responses and consequences of migratory pronghorn and mule deer to landscape fragmentation caused by fencing in the rangeland of the American West. Using GPS tracking data and remote sensing imagery, Wenjing quantifies animals’ behavioral responses to linear barriers and examines the ecological consequences of such changes in animal movement and habitat use. Her study adds empirical insights to the emerging subdiscipline of fence ecology and offers direct guidance to conservation decisions that aim to maintain and improve landscape connectivity.

  • UC Berkeley