The life histories (survival, parturition rate, litter size, etc) of individual animals are fueled by their ability to achieve positive energy and nutrient balances, which are underpinned by the resources and abiotic conditions of their environment (e.g., habitat, weather, climatic conditions). When managers, policy makers, the public, and the greater conservation community are concerned about declines in abundance or demographic rates, the WERC Lab conducts research aimed at identifying mechanisms of decline (habitat quantity and quality (i.e., nutrition), climate, disease, predation). In turn, wildlife managers, land managers, and policy makers can use this information to generate data-driven conservation solutions. This is the core of habitat, nutritional, and population ecology, which is one of the three pillars of the WERC Lab.​