Amanda Martin
Adjunct Research Professor
| Degrees: | B.Sc.H. (Queen’s University); B.Sc. (University of British Columbia); Ph.D. (Carleton University) |
| Email: | amanda.martin@canada.ca |
| Office: | National Wildlife Research Centre, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON |
Current Research
The overarching focus of my research program at Environment and Climate Change Canada is on research to inform effective and efficient conservation planning in a complex and changing landscape. Projects within my program address three key questions:
- How do spatial scales of measurement affect our ability to detect effects of human land use (e.g. roads) and conservation actions (e.g. forest restoration) on wildlife abundances and distributions?
- What are the relative effects of different human land uses, climate change, and conservation actions on wildlife and measures of biodiversity?
- Can we use species’ traits (e.g. dispersal ability) to predict responses to human land use or conservation action?
Additionally, I work on research and development of tools to support conservation planning when resources are limited. There are often multiple actions that could be used to address conservation objectives (e.g. for recovery of species at risk), and many locations where those actions could be implemented. However, when resources (e.g. time, money) are limited we cannot do everything, everywhere. My work is designed to support decisions about which actions to take and where to take them to maximize the probability of meeting the conservation objective(s).
My current research is generally focused on answering these questions within the context of identifying biodiversity-friendly agricultural land management options; supporting conservation planning for boreal caribou recovery; and planning and monitoring for connectivity within Canada’s protected and conserved areas networks.
Selected Publications
Martin, A.E., Neave, E., Kirby, P., Drever, C.R., Johnson, C.A. In review. Multi-objective optimization can balance trade-offs among boreal caribou, biodiversity, and climate change objectives when conservation hotspots do not overlap. Scientific Reports.
Wood, S., Martins, K.T., Dumais-Lalond, V., Tanguy, O., Maure, F., St. Denis, A., Rayfield, B., Martin, A.E., Gonzalez, A. 2022. Missing interactions: the current state of multispecies connectivity analysis. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.830822
Martin, A.E., Mitchell, G.W., Girard, J.M., Fahrig, L. 2021. More milkweed in farmlands comprised of small, annual crop fields and hedgerows. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 319: 107567.