U of I Professor, Alumnus, Publish Paper in Wildlife Journal

Professor Lisette Waits and former doctoral student Robert Lonsinger along with researchers from Utah, California and federal agencies including the Department of the Army published a review of kit foxes, a species of concern in the Great Basin Desert, in The Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management. The team found that shifts in vegetation — including more exotic and intrusive plants such as cheatgrass — across the high desert region of the Great Basin increased the population of coyotes and decreased rabbit population. This shift in populations led to a tenfold decline of kit fox over a period of several decades. Researchers recommend further monitoring of kit foxes — once considered one of the most abundant carnivores in the Great Basin Desert — and maintaining critical habitat including desert shrubs.