Wiebke Neumann Sivertsson

I have always been interested in understanding how animals respond to and interact with their dynamic environment, considering both intraspecific and interspecific interactions, including those involving humans. This interest is the common thread throughout my education and research. Addressing research questions that combine behaviour, movement, physiology and spatial ecology in relation to different landscape features that may be biologically and ecologically relevant creates the optimal link to feed my interests. Generating knowledge to support decision-making in wildlife management and landscape planning has always been a key focus of my research. Consequently, much of my research has an applied focus. Human activity is increasingly encroaching on wildlife habitats, increasing the frequency of contact between humans and wildlife year-round and leaving a long-lasting ecological footprint (e.g. land use and infrastructure). In addition, changing climatic conditions affect wildlife and generate new dynamics. Alongside my research on wildlife, I also study the spatial interactions between different land uses and their implications for sustainable coexistence. For example, this includes specific questions on the establishment of wind power, forestry, biodiversity and hunting in relation to other interests. Over the past years, I also have become involved in restoration ecology research within managed boreal forest landscapes, evaluating the effects of various restoration measures. In my research, I often combine empirical and GIS-based approaches, using statistical and spatial analyses. For many of my research objectives, I utilise remote monitoring techniques such as GPS tracking devices and passive acoustic monitoring. I combine these data with different sets of existing environmental data.

Over the past 20 years, I have studied various aspects of wildlife ecology, primarily focusing on ungulates such as moose, roe deer and reindeer. I have led various moose marking projects in Sweden. Currently, I am leading the project  ‘Viltsamverkan i brandens spår’ (Game cooperation following a forest fire), which quantifies moose distribution, migration, reproduction and calf survival, as well as the utilisation of resources by adult moose following the extensive forest fire that took place in summer 2018. For this project, we are collaborating closely with the Scandinavian Brown Bear Project and the Swedish Wolf Project SKANDULV. Connected to this project, I am also leading a project of prey-predator interactions between deer species and multiple large carnivores. In northern Sweden, near the mountain village of Nikkaluokta (67°N), we are studying the effects of climate change on large herbivores such as moose.

In addition to my own projects, I am and have been involved in others. For example, the 'Ecopark' project, which studies the effects of restoration measures within managed forest landscapes along a latitudinal gradient (project leader: Anne-Maarit Hekkala). A project that studied the potential for synergies and conflicts among different land use interests in relation to wind power (project leader: Johan Svensson, SLU). A project that studied the development of an innovative green land-use plan at a municipal level (project leader: Therese Bjärsting, Umeå University). A project that evaluated the method ‘circuitscape’ to quantify infrastructure effects on landscape connectivity for large mammals (project leader: Lisa Sjölund, Sweco). The 'Beyond Moose' programme that studied ungulate interactions in multi-species systems and their impact on the surrounding environment in human-modified landscapes (project leader: Joris Cromsigt, SLU). 

I am the Deputy Director of the SLU Forest Damage Centre with focus on monitoring. Within the centre, we focus on the collection of continuous data on forest damage and populations or agents that cause damage in Swedish forest ecosystems. The monitoring activities financed by the Centre focus on strengthening and complementing ongoing monitoring within forest ecosystems within Sweden, as well as funding method and model development.

https://www.slu.se/en/Collaborative-Centres-and-Projects/slu-forest-damage-centre/

I am currently the co-assistant leader of the course 'Ecological disturbances in forests - silvicultural challenges under climate change', which belongs to the programme at the Bachelor level at SLU. I have also been course leader for two distance courses on the global wildlife ecology at our department. My teaching covers topics such as wildlife ecology, spatial ecology, behavioural ecology, human-wildlife interactions and wildlife management.

Main supervisor PhD candidates:

2022-2027 Desiree Guidobaldi Stenbacka (Landscape utilization of a large and long-lived herbivore in multifunctional forestland), funding: SLU + SLU Forest Damage Centre

Co-supervisor PhD candidates:

2024-2028 Ciarán Ó Cuív (Älgfoder i norr- fodertillgång, foderutnyttjande och förebyggande av skador på skog) Main supervisor: Fredrik Widemo

2024-2028 Carolin Berndt (Älgstammens kvalitet i en föränderlig värld) Main supervisor: Fredrik Widemo

2022-2026 Lucie Lemiere (Reproductive ecophysiology and phenology of the two largest Scandinavian mammals, the moose and the brown bear, in a changing climate), Main supervisor Alina Evans (INN, Norway, https://www.inn.no/finn-en-ansatt/alina-evans.html)

2019-2025 Paulina Bergmark (The importance of green infrastructure for biodiversity of deadwood-dependent insects and fungi.) Main supervisor Anne-Maarit Hekkala (SLU)

2016-2021 Sabine Pfeffer (Impacts of multi-species deer communities on boreal forests across ecological and management scales) Main supervisor Fredrik Widemo (SLU)

Postdocs:

2024-2027 Bruno Esattore (Characterization of moose personality in an anthropogenic landscape and its applications to forestry and management). Main host. Funding FORMAS 

Master thesis students:

I usually supervise 2-3 MSc theses per year. 

Please check my publication records following this link to the SLU database:

https://publications.slu.se/?file=search%2Fmain&lang=en&q=wiebke+neumann

I am part of the compentence area 'Animal Ecology'

https://www.slu.se/en/research/research-catalogue/grupper/z/animal-ecology/