Université de Sherbrooke
Ph.D. candidate
Supervisor: Marco Festa Bianchet
Start: 2013-01-01
End: 2017-12-01

Project

Causes and consequences of variability in parturition date in Eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus)
I am studying the plasticity of timing of reproduction in large mammals in response to unpredictable seasonal weather patterns. Results from this study will be useful in predicting how large iteroparous mammals from seasonal environments may respond to erratic seasonality caused by climat change. My findings show that timing of parturition in a population of Eastern grey kangaroos in southern Australia is seasonal yet not synchronized. Low synchronisation of parturition is likely the result of high annual variability in rain and plant phenology which causes selective pressure for timing of reproduction to vary between years.

Keywords

timing of reproduction, seasonality

Publications

1- Capacity of older plantations to host bird assemblages of naturally-regenerated conifer forests: A test at stand and landscape levels
MacKay, Allison, Maxime Allard, Marc-André Villard
2014 Biological Conservation

2- Experimental manipulation of habitat structures in intensively managed spruce plantations to increase their value for biodiversity conservation
MacLean, David A., Evan Dracup, Franck Gandiaga, Sean R. Haughian, Allison MacKay, Paryse Nadeau, Kwadwo Omari, Greg Adams, Katherine A. Frego, Daniel Keppie, Gaétan Moreau, Marc-André Villard
2015 The Forestry Chronicle