I use genetic methods together with demographic and behavioral data to study wild populations. Questions range from ecological and population processes to individual behaviors and evolution. Because some study species are economically important, directly affect ecosystem functioning, or of conservation concern, most projects address questions of both applied and fundamental interest.

Specific research interests

Dispersal ecology and behavior Interspecific competition Cooperation and sociality Predator-prey trade-offs Adaptation and evolution

Projects and collaborators

Our model systems are found from the tropics to the boreal, for example we study ungulate browsing and predator-prey interactions in northern Europe, North America and in Africa. Because some of our projects require access to advanced technical platforms, biobank material, or access to animals under controlled circumstances we collaborate with zoos, government agencies and universities across the world. Collaborators include: The Swedish Vetrinary Institute (Uppsala), Science for Life Laboratory (Stockholm), Kolmården Safari Park, Lycksele Zoo. For more details see project links on MERG group page (under construction 2012-02-29).

 

Supervision

I supervise Master students on a continual basis and project suggestions can be found on  MERG homepage. PhD positions and projects are contingent on the funding situation and will always be advertised. It is also possible for students to pursue their own, independent research ideas provided they bring funding.

Teaching

Together with Karyn Sandström, UmU, I teach Scientific Writing (7.5credits) each fall to PhD students. Please sign up to this course via SLUkurs. If you seek information about PhD studies at SLU you need to go here.

Publications

Nichols RN, Danell K and Spong G (in review) Browsed twig eDNA: diagnostic PCR to identify ungulate species.

Thurfjell H, Spong G and Ericsson G (in review) Effects of hunting on wild boar (Sus scrofa L.) behaviour.

Thulin C-G, Englund L, Ericsson G and Spong G (2011). The impact of founder events and introductions on genetic variation in the muskox Ovibos moschatus in Sweden. Acta Theriologica 56: 305-314.

Clutton-Brock TH, Hodge S, Spong G, Flower T & Young A (2010) Adaptive suppression of subordinate reproduction in cooperative mammals. American Naturalist 176:664-176.

Culver M, Driscoll C, Eizirik E, Spong G. (2010) Population and Conservation Genetics in Felids. In; Biology and Conservation of Felids. Eds. Macdonald D & Loveridge A. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Spong G and Thulin C-G (2010) Genetik. In Vilt, människa, samhälle (Editors K Danell and R Bergström). Liber AB, Stockholm pp 93-97.

Spong G, Hodges S, Young AJ & Clutton-Brock TH (2008) Factors affecting reproductive success in male meerkats, Suricata suricatta. Molecular Ecology.

Young AJ, Spong G & Clutton-Brock TH (2007) Helper males prospect for extra-group matings: alternative reproductive tactics in a cooperative mammal. Proceedings of the Royal Society 274: 1603-1609.

Russell AF, Young AJ, Spong G, Jordan NR & Clutton-Brock TH (2007). Helpers increase the reproductive potential of offspring in cooperative meerkats. Proceedings of the Royal Society 274: 513-520.

Clutton-Brock TH, Hodge SJ, Spong G, Russell AF, Jordan NR, Bennett NC, Sharpe LL, Manser MB (2006) Intrasexual competition and sexual selection in cooperative mammals.Nature 444: 1065-1068.

Csilléry K, Johnson T, Beraldi D, Clutton-Brock TH, Coltman D, Hansson B, Spong G, Pemberton J (2006) Performance of marker-based relatedness estimators in natural populations of outbred vertebrates. Genetics 173: 2091-2101.

Spong G & Creel S (2004) Effects of kinship on territorial conflicts among groups of lions, Panthera leo. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 55: 325-331.

Lukins WJ, Creel S, Erbes B & Spong G (2004) An assessment of the tobacco root mountain range in southwestern Montana as a linkage zone for grizzly bears. Northwest Science 78: 168-172.

Creel S, Spong G, Sands J, Rotella J, Zeigle J, Joe L, Murphy K & Smith D (2003) Bias in population size estimates from noninvasive microsatellite genotypes. Molecular Ecology 12: 3003-3009.

Spong G, Creel S, Stone J & Björklund M (2002) Genetic structure of a population of lions (Panthera leo): implications for the evolution of sociality. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 15(6): 945-953.

Spong G (2002) Space use in lions, Panthera leo, in the Selous Game Reserve; social and ecological factors. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 52: 303-307.

Spong G & Hellborg L (2002) A near extinction event in Lynx: do microsatellite data tell the tale? Conservation Ecology 6(1): 15.

Creel S, Spong G & Creel NM (2001) Interspecific competition and the population biology of extinction prone carnivores. In Conservation of Carnivores. Eds. J. Gittleman, D. Macdonald and R. Wayne. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Spong G & Creel S (2001) Deriving dispersal distances from genetic data. Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences Series B. 268: 2571-2574.

Spong G (2001) Genetic Consequences of Dispersal and Social Behavior in Lions, Panthera leo. Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology 659. Uppsala University, Sweden.

Spong G, Johansson M & Björklund M (2000) High genetic variation in leopards indicates large and long-term stable effective population size. Molecular Ecology 9: 1773-1782.

Spong G, Hellborg L & Creel S (2000) Sex ratio of leopards taken in trophy hunting: genetic data from Tanzania. Conservation Genetics 1: 169-171.