Dr Robert Montgomery
Alumni
After pursuing my undergraduate, masters, and Ph.D. training in the USA, I first visited WildCRU in 2012. That visit launched a number of productive research collaborations with Professor Macdonald and several other colleagues in the unit. I then had the pleasure of being a visiting Research Associate at WildCRU from 2018-2021 whilst I was a tenured professor of conservation science in the USA. In February of 2021, I joined WildCRU formally when I accepted the position of Senior Research Fellow in Conservation Innovation at Lady Margaret Hall and the Department of Zoology at Oxford University.
I maintain a diverse and expansive research laboratory centered on the study of large carnivore ecology, predator-prey interactions, and wildlife conservation and sustainability. I have honed my expertise as an ecologist by examining the consequences of carnivore-prey interactions on animal community dynamics, spatial patterns in landscape ecology, and the well-being of local people that share their landscapes with wildlife. Consequently, the scope of my research program is broad, diverse, and grounded in applied research.
Selected Publications
For a full set of publications, please see my Google Scholar Profile
Montgomery, R.A., J. Raupp*, M. Mukhwana*, A. Greenleaf*, T. Mudumba*, and P. Muruthi. 2021. The efficacy of interventions to protect crops from raiding elephants. Ambio.
Moll, R.J., P.J. Jackson, B.F. Wakeling, C.W. Lackey, J.P. Beckmann, J.J. Millspaugh, and R.A. Montgomery. 2021. An apex carnivore’s life history mediates a predator cascade. Oecologia 196: 223–234
Heit, D.*, W. Ortiz-Calo*, R.A. Montgomery. 2021. Landscape complexity persists as a critical source of bias in terrestrial animal home range estimation. Ecology.
Moll, R.J.*, A.K. Killion, M.W. Hayward, and R.A. Montgomery. 2021. A framework for the Eltonian niche of humans. BioScience.
Moll, R.J.*, J.T. McRoberts, J.J. Millspaugh, K.H. Wiskirchen, J.A. Sumners, J.L. Isabelle, B.J. Keller, and R.A. Montgomery. 2021. A rare 300 kilometer dispersal by an adult male white-tailed deer. Ecology and Evolution.
Masiaine, S.*, N. Pilfold, R.J. Moll*, D. O’Connor, L. Larpei, J. Stacy-Dawes, K. Ruppert, J. Gilkman, G.J. Roloff, and R.A. Montgomery. 2021. Landscape-level perturbations to large mammal space use in response to a pastoralist incursion. Ecological Indicators
Montgomery, R.A., J. Raupp*, and M.R. Parkhurst. 2021. A typology of animal responses to the COVID-19 quietus. Trends in Ecology and Evolution.
Beck, J.M.*, R.J. Moll*, B. Kissui, and R.A. Montgomery. 2021. Do pastoralist cattle fear African lions? Oikos – Cover of this journal issue
Chaka, S.M.*, B. Kissui, S. Gray*, and R.A. Montgomery. 2020. Predicting the fine-scale factors that correlate with multi-carnivore depredation of livestock. African Journal of Ecology.
Montgomery, R.A., D. Heit*, and W. Ortiz-Calo*. 2020. Integrating the multi-domainal and multi-dimensional nature of animal movement into ecological modelling. Ecological Modelling 436.
Meena, V., P.J. Johnson, P.J., A. Zimmerman, R.A. Montgomery, and D.W. Macdonald. 2020. Evaluation of human attitudes and factors conducive to promoting human-lion coexistence in the Greater Gir Landscape, India. Oryx
Mudumba, T.*, D. Heit*, S. Jingo*, and R.A. Montgomery. 2020. The landscape configuration and lethality of snare poaching. African Journal of Ecology.
Montgomery, R.A., D.W. Macdonald, and M.W. Hayward. 2020. The inducible defenses of large mammals to human lethality. Functional Ecology 34: 2426-2441.
Kasozi, H.* and R.A. Montgomery. 2020. Variability in the estimation of ungulate group sizes complicates ecological inference. Ecology and Evolution 10:6881–6889.
Dokes, T., G.J. Roloff, K.F. Millenbah, B.H.K. Wolter, and R.A. Montgomery. 2020. Natural resource undergraduate students in the New Millenium. Wildlife Society Bulletin.
Montgomery, R.A. and D.W. Macdonald. 2020. COVID-19, health, conservation, and a shared well-being: Details matter. Trends in Ecology and Evolution.
Montgomery, R.A. 2020. Poaching is not one big thing. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 35: 472-475.
Montgomery, R.A., K. Borona, H. Kasozi*, T. Mudumba*, and M. Ogada. 2020. Positioning human heritage at the center of conservation practice. Conservation Biology 34: 1122-1130.
Montgomery, R.A., M. Carr*, C. Booher*, A. Pointer*, B. Mitchell*, N. Smith*, K. Calnan*, G. Montgomery, M. Ogada, and D.B. Kramer. 2020. Characteristics that make trophy hunting of giant pandas inconceivable. Conservation Biology 34: 915-924.
Macdonald, D.W., Salazar, R.D., Eynard, S.E., Rogers, A., Coles, R.S. and Montgomery, R.A., 2020. The genetic differentiation of common toads on UK farmland: the effect of straight-line (Euclidean) distance and isolation by barriers in a heterogeneous environment. Journal of Herpetology 54:118-124.
Moll, R.J.*, W. Ortiz-Calo*, J.D. Cepek, P.D. Lorch, P.M. Dennis, T. Robison, and R.A. Montgomery. 2020. The effect of camera trap viewshed obstruction on wildlife detection rates. Wildlife Research 47:158-165.
Gray, S.M.*, G.J. Roloff, D.B. Kramer, D.R. Etter, K.C. VerCauteren, and R.A. Montgomery. 2020. Effects of wild pig disturbance on forest vegetation and soils. Journal of Wildlife Management 84:739-748.
Moll, R.J.*, J. Eaton*, J.D. Cepek, P.D. Lorch, P.M. Dennis, T. Robison, J. Tsao, and R.A. Montgomery. 2020. Dynamic rodent behavioral response to predation risk: Implications for disease ecology. Oecologia 192:67-68.
Moll, R.J.*, J.D. Cepek, P.D. Lorch, P.M. Dennis, T. Robison, and R.A. Montgomery. 2020. At what spatial scale(s) do mammals respond to urbanization? Ecography 42: 171-183.
Abade, L., J. Cusack, R.J. Moll*, P. Strampelli, A. Dickman, D.W. Macdonald, and R.A. Montgomery. 2020. The relative effects of prey availability, anthropogenic pressure and environmental variables on lion (Panthera leo) site use in Tanzania’s Ruaha landscape. Journal of Zoology 310:135-144.
Farhadinia, M., D. Heit*, R.A. Montgomery, P. Johnson, K. Hobeali, L. Hunter, and D.W. Macdonald. 2020. Vertical relief facilitates spatial segregation of a high density large carnivore population in the Asian highlands. Oikos 129: 346–355.
Gray, S.M.*, C. Booher*, D.B. Kramer, K. Elliott, J. Waller, B. Kissui, J.J. Millspaugh, and R.A. Montgomery. 2020. Research-implementation gap limits the actionability of human-carnivore conflict studies in East Africa. Animal Conservation 23:7-17.
Hayward, M.W., R.J. Scanlon, A. Callen, L.G. Howell, K.L. Klop-Toker, Y. Di Blanco, C.K. Bugir, L. Campbell, A. Chalmers, J. Clulow, S. Clulow, J.A. Gould, A. Griffin, B.K. Howe, D.J. Lenga, C. Peneaux, J.C. Rodger, R.G.Y. Seeto, C.T. Tamessar, R.M.O. Upton, and R.A. Montgomery. 2020. Envisioning the future with ‘compassionate’ conservation: an ominous projection for native wildlife and biodiversity. Biological Conservation 241: 108365.
Gray, S.M.*, G.J. Roloff, R.A. Montgomery, J.C. Beasley, and K.M. Pepin. 2020. Spatial ecology and behaviors. In K. C. VerCauteren, J. C. Beasley, S. S. Ditchkoff, J. J. Mayer, G. J. Roloff, and B. K. Strickland (Eds.), Invasive Wild Pigs in North America: Ecology, Impacts and Management.
Hoffmann, C.F.*, B.M. Kissui, and R.A. Montgomery. 2019. The spatial randomness inherent to patterns of carnivore depredation of livestock. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7, 478:1-10.
Hayward, M.W., A. Callen, B. Allen, G. Ballard, F. Broekhuis, C. Bugir, R. Clarke, J. Clulow, S. Clulow, J. Daltry, H. Davies-Mostert, P. Fleming, A. Griffin, L. Howell, G. Kerley, K. Klop-Toker, S. Legge, T. Major, N. Meyer, R.A. Montgomery, K. Moseby, D. Parker, S. Periquet, J. Read, R. Scanlon, C. Shuttleworth, M. Somers, C. Tamessar, K. Tuft, R. Upton, M. Valenzuela, A. Wayne, R. Wit, and W. Wüster. 2019. Should the compassionate tail wag the conservation dog? Conservation Biology 33:760–768.
Hollis-Etter, K.M., R.A. Montgomery, D.R. Etter, C.L. Anchor, J.E. Chelsvig, R.E. Warner, P.R. Grimstad, D.D. Lovin, and M.S. Godsey. 2019. Environmental conditions for Jamestown Canyon virus correlated with population-level resource selection by white-tailed deer in a suburban landscape. PLOS ONE.
Montgomery, R.A., B. Kissui, and M.W. Hayward. 2019. Editorial: How prides of lion researchers are evolving to be interdisciplinary. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7, 374:1-5.
Kissui, B., C. Kiffner, H. König, and R.A. Montgomery. 2019. Patterns of livestock depredation and effectiveness of fortified enclosures in Northern Tanzania. Ecology and Evolution 9:11420-11433.
Hayward, M.W., L. Howell, D. Jachowski, J. Gould, Y. Di Blanco, B. Howe, A. Griffin, F. Weise, A. Moehrenschlager, R. Kowalczyk, C. Tamessar, A. Callen, L. Osipova, J. Clulow, R.A. Montgomery, C. Shuttleworth, L. Sales, K. Marnewick, K. Ramesh, R. Seeto, P. Cross, N. Balkenhol, J. Linnell, M. Heurich, S. Clulow, R. Scanlon, R. Upton, C. Bugir, J. Rodger, A. Caravaggi, L. Campbell, C. Peneaux, M. Somers, A. Chalmers, K. Klop-Toker, Y. Jhala, and D. Lenga. 2019. The search for novelty continues for rewilding. Biological Conservation 236:584-585.
Beck, J.M.*, M. Claudio-Lopez. T. Mudumba*, and R.A. Montgomery. 2019. Improving human-lion conflict research through interdisciplinarity. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7, 243:1-8.
Hayward, M.W., L. Howell, D. Jachowski, J. Gould, Y. Di Blanco, B. Howe, A. Griffin, F. Weise, A. Moehrenschlager, R. Kowalczyk, C. Tamessar, A. Callen, L. Osipova, J. Clulow, R.A. Montgomery, C. Shuttleworth, L. Sales, K. Marnewick, K. Ramesh, R. Seeto, P. Cross, N. Balkenhol, J. Linnell, M. Heurich, S. Clulow, R. Scanlon, R. Upton, C. Bugir, J. Rodger, A. Caravaggi, L. Campbell, C. Peneaux, M. Somers, A. Chalmers, K. Klop-Toker, Y. Jhala, and D. Lenga. 2019. Reintroducing rewilding to restoration – Rejecting the search for novelty. Biological Conservation 233:255-259.
Prugh, L.R., K.J. Sivy, P. Mahoney, T. Ganz, M. Ditmer, M. van de Kerk, S. Gilbert, and R.A. Montgomery. 2019. Designing predation risk studies for improved inference in carnivore-ungulate systems. Biological Conservation 232:194-207.
Montgomery, R.A., R.J. Moll*, E. Say-Sallaz, M. Valeix, and L. Prugh. 2019. A tendency to simplify complex systems. Biological Conservation 233:1-11.
Moll, R.J.*, J.D. Cepek, P.D. Lorch, P.M. Dennis, T. Robison, J.J. Millspaugh, and R.A. Montgomery. 2019. What does urbanization actually mean? A framework for urban metrics in wildlife research. Journal of Applied Ecology 56:1289-1300.
Montgomery, R.A., K. Redilla*, R.J. Moll*, B. Van Moorter, C.M. Rolandsen, E.J. Solberg, and J.J. Millspaugh. 2019. Movement modeling reveals the complex nature of moose response to summer ambient temperatures. Journal of Mammalogy 100: 169-177.
Muneza, A.*, W. Ortiz Calo III*, C. Packer, J.J. Cusack, T. Jones, M.S. Palmer, A. Swanson, M. Kosmala, A.J. Dickman, D.W. Macdonald, and R.A. Montgomery. 2019. Quantifying the severity of an emerging skin disease affecting giraffe populations using photogrammetry analysis of camera trap data. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 55:770-781.
Lepard, C.*, R.J. Moll*, J. Cepek, P. Lorch, P. Dennis, T. Robison, and R.A. Montgomery. 2018. The influence of the delay period setting on camera trap data storage, wildlife detections, and occupancy models. Wildlife Research
Montgomery, R.A., K. Redilla*, W. Ortiz-Calo*, T. Smith, B. Keller, and J.J. Millspaugh. 2018. Evaluating the individuality of animal-habitat relationships. Ecology and Evolution 8:10893-10901.
Abade, L., J. Cusack, R.J. Moll*, P. Strampelli, A. Dickman, D.W. Macdonald, and R.A. Montgomery. 2018. Spatial variation in leopard (Panthera pardus) site use across a gradient of anthropogenic pressure in Tanzania’s Ruaha landscape. PLOS ONE 13(10), p.e0204370.
Kasozi, H.*, and R.A. Montgomery. 2018. How do giraffes find one another? A review of visual, olfactory, and auditory communication among giraffes. Journal of Zoology 306:139-146.
Farhadinia, M., R.J. Moll*, R.A. Montgomery, S. Ashrafi, P. Johnson, L. Hunter, and D.W. Macdonald. 2018. Citizen science data facilitate monitoring of rare large carnivores in remote montane landscapes. Ecological Indicators 94:283-291.
Montgomery, R.A., C. Hoffmann*, E.D. Tans, and B, Kissui. 2018. Discordant scales and the potential pitfalls of human-carnivore conflict mitigation. Biological Conservation 224:170-177.
Moll, R.J.*, J.D. Cepek, P.D. Lorch, P.M. Dennis, T. Robison, J.J. Millspaugh, and R.A. Montgomery. 2018. Humans and urban development mediate carnivore sympatry across multiple spatio-temporal dimensions. Urban Ecosystems 21:765-778.
Montgomery, R.A., K.C. Elliott, M.W. Hayward, S.M. Gray*, J.J. Millspaugh, S.J. Riley, B. Kissui, D.B. Kramer, R.J. Moll*, T. Mudumba*, E.D. Tans, A.B. Muneza*, L. Abade, J.M. Beck*, C. Hoffmann*, C.R. Booher*, and D.W. Macdonald. 2018. Examining evident interdisciplinarity among prides of lion researchers. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 6:1-13.
Boyer, R., J. Coluccy, R.A. Montgomery, K. Redilla*, and S. Winterstein. 2018. The effect of habitat on the breeding season survival of mallards in the Great Lakes Region. Canadian Journal of Zoology 96:700-706.
Shumba, T., R.A. Montgomery, G. Rasmussen, and D.W. Macdonald. 2018. African wild dog habitat use modelling using telemetry data and citizen scientist sightings: are the results comparable? African Journal of Wildlife Research 48(1):013002 – Winner of the Fairall Award for best paper
Moll, R. J.*, K.M. Redilla*, T. Mudumba*, A.B. Muneza*, S. M. Gray*, L. Abade*, M.W. Hayward, J.J. Millspaugh, and R.A. Montgomery. 2017. The many faces of fear: A synthesis of the methodological variation in characterizing predation risk. Journal of Animal Ecology 86: 749-765. – Cover of this journal issue
Ellwood, S.A., C. Newman, R.A. Montgomery, V. Nicosia, C.D. Buuesching, A. Markham, C. Mascolo, N. Trigoni, B. Pasztor, V. Dyo, V. Latora, and D.W. Macdonald. 2017. An active-radio-frequency-identification system capable of identifying co-locations and social-structure: Validation with a wild free-ranging animal. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 8: 1822-1831.
Hoffmann*, C.F., R.A. Montgomery, and P.R. Jepson. 2017. Examining the effect of billboards in shaping the great wolf debate of the American West. Human Dimensions of Wildlife 22: 267-281.
Hayward, M.W., L. Porter, J. Lanszki, J.F. Kamler, J.M. Beck*, G.I.H. Kerley, D.W. Macdonald, R.A. Montgomery, D.M. Parker, D.M. Scott, J. O’Brien, and R.W. Yarnell. 2017. Factors affecting the prey preferences of jackals (Canidae). Mammalian Biology 85: 70-82.
Gray, S.*, R.A. Montgomery, J.J. Millspaugh, and M.W. Hayward. 2017. Spatiotemporal variation in African lion roaring in relation to a dominance shift. Journal of Mammalogy 98: 1088-1095.
Rota, C.T., A.J. Wolf, R.B. Renken, R.A. Gitzen, D.K. Fantz, R.A. Montgomery, M.G. Olson, L.D. Vangilder, and J.J. Millspaugh. 2017. Long-term impacts of three forest management practices on herpetofauna abundance in the Missouri Ozarks. Forest Ecology and Management 387:37-51
Moll, R.J.*, D. Steel, and R.A. Montgomery. 2016. AIC and the challenge of complexity: A case study from ecology. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 60: 35-43.
Muneza, A.B.*, D. Linden, R.A. Montgomery, A.J. Dickman, G.J. Roloff, D.W. Macdonald, and J.T. Fennessy. 2016. Examining disease prevalence for species of conservation concern using non-invasive spatial capture–recapture techniques. Journal of Applied Ecology 198: 145-156.
Muneza, A.B.*, R.A. Montgomery, J.T. Fennessy, A.J. Dickman, G.J. Roloff and D.W. Macdonald. 2016. Regional variation, prevalence, and severity of Giraffe Skin Disease: A review of an emerging disease in wild and captive giraffe populations. Biological Conservation 198:145-156.
Moll, R. J.*, K. Kilshaw, R.A. Montgomery, L. Abade, R. D. Campbell, L. A. Harrington, J. J. Millspaugh, J. D. S. Birks, and D. W. Macdonald. 2016. Clarifying habitat niche width using broad-scale, hierarchical occupancy models: A case study with a recovering mesocarnivore. Journal of Zoology 300: 177-185.
Hayward, M., J. Kamler, R.A. Montgomery, A. Newlove, S. Rostro-Garcia, L.P. Sales, and B. Van Valkenburgh. 2016. Prey preferences of the jaguar Panthera onca reflect the post-Pleistoecene demise of large prey. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 3:148
Moll, R.J.*, A.K. Killion, R.A. Montgomery, C.J. Tambling, and M.W. Hayward. 2016. Spatial patterns of African ungulate group size reveal complex but limited risk effects from reintroduced carnivores. Ecology 97: 1123-1134.
Salazar, R.D., R.A. Montgomery, S.E. Thresher, and D.W. Macdonald. 2016. Mapping the relative probability of occurrence of the common toad in terrestrial lowland farm habitat in the United Kingdom. PLOS ONE 11(2): e0148269.
Kilshaw, K. R.A. Montgomery, R. Campbell, P. Johnson, D. W. Macdonald, and J.J. Millspaugh. 2016. Mapping the spatial configuration of hybridization risk for the endangered Scottish wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris). Acta Theriologica 61:1-11.
Petrunenko, Y., R.A. Montgomeryⱡ, I.V. Seryodkin, O.Y. Zaumyslova, D. Miquelle, and D.W. Macdonald. 2016. Spatial variation in the density and vulnerability of preferred prey in the landscape shape patterns of Amur tiger habitat use. Oikos 125:66-75. ⱡ: Corresponding author – Cover of this journal issue
Millspaugh, J.J., C.D. Rittenhouse, R.A. Montgomery, W.S. Matthews, and R. Slotow. 2015. Resource selection modeling reveals potential conflicts involving reintroduced lion (Panthera leo) in Tembe Elephant Park, South Africa. Journal of Zoology. 296:124-132.
Keller, B.J., R.A. Montgomery, H.R. Campa, D.E. Beyer, S. Winterstein, L.P. Hansen and J.J. Millspaugh. 2015. A review of vital rates and cause-specific mortality of elk (Cervus elaphus) in Eastern North America. Mammal Review. 45:146-159.
Daigle, C.L., D. Banerjee, R.A. Montgomery, S. Biswas, and J.M. Siegford. 2014. Moving GIS research indoors: Spatiotemporal analysis of agricultural animals. PLOS ONE 9(8): e104002.
Montgomery, R.A., G.J. Roloff, J.J. Millspaugh, and M. Nylen-Nemetchek. 2014. Living amidst a sea of agriculture: Predicting the occurrence of Canada lynx within an ecological island. Wildlife Biology 20:145-154.
Brown, D.D., R.A. Montgomery, R.W. Kays, and J.J. Millspaugh. 2014. Selection and spatial arrangement of rest sites within northern tamandua anteater home ranges. Journal of Zoology 293:160-170.
Meena, V., D.W. Macdonald, and R.A. Montgomery. 2014. Managing success: Asiatic lion conservation, interface problems and peoples’ perceptions in the Gir Protected Area. Biological Conservation 174:120-126.
Montgomery, R.A., J.A. Vucetich, G.J. Roloff, J.K. Bump, and R.O. Peterson. 2014. Where wolves kill moose: The influence of prey life history dynamics on the landscape ecology of predation. PLOS ONE 9(3): e91414.
Jachowski, D.S., R.A. Montgomery, R. Slotow, and J.J. Millspaugh. 2013. Unravelling complex associations between physiological state and movement of African elephants. Functional Ecology 27:1166-1175.
Montgomery, R.A., J.A. Vucetich, R.O. Peterson, G.J. Roloff, and K.F. Millenbah. 2013. The influence of winter severity, predation and senescence on moose habitat use. Journal of Animal Ecology 82:301-309.
Montgomery, R.A., G.J. Roloff, and J.J. Millspaugh. 2013. Variation in elk response to roads by season, sex, and road type. Journal of Wildlife Management 77:313-325.
Montgomery, R.A., G.J. Roloff, and J.J. Millspaugh. 2012. Importance of visibility when evaluating animal response to roads. Wildlife Biology 18:393-405.
Goetz, K.T., R.A. Montgomery, J.M. Ver Hoef, R.C. Hobbs and D.S. Johnson. 2012. Identifying essential habitat of the endangered beluga whale in Cook Inlet, Alaska. Endangered Species Research 16:135-147.
Montgomery, R.A., G.J. Roloff and J.M. Ver Hoef. 2011. Implications of ignoring telemetry error on inference in wildlife resource use models. Journal of Wildlife Management 75:702-708.
Montgomery, R.A., G.J. Roloff, J.M. Ver Hoef and J.J. Millspaugh. 2010. Can we accurately characterize wildlife resource use when telemetry data are imprecise? Journal of Wildlife Management 74:1917-1925.
Montgomery, R.A., C.N. Rubeck-Schurtz, K.F. Millenbah, G.J. Roloff, M.E. Whalon and L.G. Olsen. 2009. Modeling protected species habitat and assigning risk to inform regulatory decisions. Environmental Management 44:12-23.
Montgomery, R.A., J.M. Ver Hoef and P.L. Boveng. 2007. Spatial modeling of haul-out site use by harbor seals in Cook Inlet, Alaska. Marine Ecology Progress Series 341:257-264.