Allyson Menzies
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Research Interests |
For my PhD, I am combining traditional methods (i.e., respirometry and doubly-labeled water) with more recent biologging methods (accelerometers, heart rate and body temperature loggers, VHF/GPS collars) to obtain estimates of energy expenditure of Canada lynx, snowshoe hares, and North American red squirrels in the northern boreal forest. With these data I aim to verify relationships among activity-time budgets, heart rate, body temperature and daily energy expenditure in order to predict overall energy requirements of free-ranging animals outfitted with these dataloggers. Continuous sampling of behavioural, spatial, energetic and environmental data, over multi-seasonal and multi-annual time periods will allow me to estimate energetic status of these three species over ecologically-relevant spacial and temporal scales and gain a better understanding of how the energetic status of a free-ranging mammal changes in their highly variable environment. Most of my field work is based at Squirrel Camp in southwestern Yukon, between the town of Haines Junction and Kluane Lake. Ecological monitoring and research has occurred in this area for decades and I am fortunate to be part of the extensive team of professors and graduate students that have done work there. Thank you to the Champagne and Aishihik and Kluane First Nations for allowing us to be guests and conduct field work on their traditional territory, and to the community members of Haines Junction for their hospitality and support. |
Previous Work |
For my honours project, I helped develop the first behavioural test for personality in bats and used it to test the hypothesis that individual personality (i.e., activity and exploration) influences basal metabolic rate and summer torpor expression of little brown bats. For my masters, I followed this up looking at the influence of body condition, sex, age, and personality on over-winter torpor expression and energy use in big brown bats. I also investigated repeatability and heritability of body condition and torpor expression using molecular markers and quantitative genetics to determine if certain hibernation traits have the capacity to evolve in response to selection. |
Publications |
Submitted and In Review: Menzies, A.K., Studd, E.K., Majrchrzak, Y.N., Peers, M.J.L., Boutin, S., and M.M. Humphries. Winter heart rate and body temperature of a free-ranging endotherm exposed to extreme environmental variation: is Lepus americanus the varying hare or the constant hare? Submitted to The American Naturalist (Manuscript 59314). Peers, M., Majchrzak, Y., Studd, E., Menzies, A., Kukka, P., Konkolics, S., Boonstra, R., Boutin, S., Jung, T. Aging Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis): gum-line recession is not an accurate method. In Review at Wildlife Society Bulletin (WSB-19-068). In Press: MacMillan, G., Falardeau, M., Girard, C., Dufour-Beausejour, S., Lacombe-Bergeron, J., Menzies, A.K., and D. Henri. (2019). Highlighting the potential of peer-led workshops in training early career researchers for research in an indigenous context. In Press at FACETS. Published: Studd, E.K., Boudreau, M.R., Boutin, S., Majchrzak, Y.N., Menzies, A.K., Murray, D.L., Peers, M.J.L., Seguin, J.L., and M.M. Humphries. (2019) Use of acceleration and acoustics to investigate the influence of moonlight on the behavior of snowshoe hares. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. Jung, T., Konkolics, S., Kukka, P., Majchrzak, Y., Menzies, A.K, Oakley, M., Peers, M., and E. Studd. (2019). Short-term effect of helicopter-based capture on movements of a social ungulate. Journal of Wildlife Management. * all authors contributed equally and are listed in alphabetical order Studd, E., Landry-Cuerrier, M., Menzies, A.K., Boutin, S., McAdam, A.G., Lane, J.E., and M.M. Humphries. Behavioural classification of low frequency acceleration and temperature data from a free-ranging small mammal. Ecology and Evolution, 2018;00:1–12. PDF Muise, K.A., Menzies, A.K., and Craig, K.R. Willis. (2018) Stress-induced changes in body temperature of silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans). Physiology and Behavior 194(1): 356-361. PDF Humphries, M.M., Studd, E.K., Menzies, A.K., and Boutin, S. (2017). To everything there is a season: summer-to-winter food webs and the functional traits of keystone species. Integrative and Comparative Biology. doi:10.1093/icb/icx119. PDF Bohn, S., Webber, Q., Florko, K., Paslawski, K., Peterson, A., Piche, J., Menzies, A.K., and C. Willis. 2017. Personality predicts ectoparasite abundance in an asocial sciurid. Ethology 123(10): 761-771. PDF Levesque, D.L., Menzies, A.K., Landry-Cuerrier, M., Larocque, G., and M.M. Humphries. 2017. Embracing heterothermic diversity: non-stationary waveform analysis of temperature. PDF Menzies A.K., Webber, Q.R.M, Baloun, D.E., McGuire, L..P., Muise, K.A., Cote, D., Tinkler, S., and C.K.R. Willis. 2016. Metabolic rate, colony size and latitude, but not phylogeny, affect rewarming rates of bats. Physiology and Behavior, 164: 361 - 368. PDF Menzies, A.K., Timonin, M.E., McGuire, L.P. and Willis, C.K.R. 2013. Personality variation in little brown bats. PLoS one, 8(11). PDF Clare, E., Symondson, W., Broders, H., Fabianed, F., Frazer, E., MacKenzie, A., Boughen, A., Hamilton, R., Willis, C., Martinez-Nunez, F., Menzies, A.K., Norquay, K., Brigham, M., Poissant, J., Rintoul, J., Barclay, R., and J. Reimer. 2013. The diet of Myotis lucifugus across Canada: assessing foraging quality and diet variability. Molecular Ecology, DOI: 10.1111/mec.12542. PDF Willis, C.K.R., Menzies, A.K., Boyles, J.G. and M.S. Wojciechowski. 2011. Cutaneous water loss is a plausible explanation for mortality of bats from white-nose syndrome. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 51: 364-373. PDF Norquay, K.J.O., Menzies, A.K., McKibbin, C.S., Timonin, M.E., Baloun, D.E., and C.K.R. Willis. 2010. Silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans) found ensnared on burdock (Arctium minus). Northwestern Naturalist, 91: 339-342. PDF Jonasson, K.A., Timonin, M.E., Norquay, K.J.O, Menzies, A.K., Dubois, J. and C.K.R. Willis. 2010. Case study: a little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) survives in the wild with only one foot. Journal of Wildlife Rehabilitation, 30: 27-29. PDF Reports and Other Publications: Leatherdale International Polar Bear Conservation Centre (LIPBCC) Advisory Board. July 2018. Management Rationale and Options for Orphan Polar Bear Cubs in Manitoba. Unpublished Report to Department of Sustainable Development, Manitoba. 22p. Prepared by S. Petersen, K. Florko, and A. Menzies. |