Matt Alldredge, Wildlife Research Scientist

Wildlife Research Scientist, Carnivores ​

Current or Recent Research Projects

• Using Non-Invasive Genetic Sampling to Estimate Mountain Lion and Bobcat Abundance, Age Structure and Diet
• Mountain Lion Demographics and Human Interactions Along the Urban-Exurban Front Range

Areas of Interest and Expertise

My research interest focuses on large carnivore and ungulate ecology, population parameter estimation, habitat use, avian ecology and population sampling. 

Streaming Videos

Mountain lions in Colorado – a 4 part series

• Series Trailer
• Part 1: Mountain Lion Biology & Historical Perspective 
• Part 2: Mountain Lion Habitat & Human Expansion 
• Part 3: Hunting
• Part 4: What to do if you encounter a mountain lion
• Colorado Mountain Lions (all 4 videos combined)

Select Publications

• Fountain-Jones, N. M., S. Kraberger, R. B. Gagne, D. R. Trumbo, P. E. Salerno, W. C. Funk, K. Crooks, R. Biek, M. W. Alldredge, K. Logan, G. Baele, S. Dellicour, H. B. Ernest, S. VandeWoude, S. Carver, and M. E. Craft. 2021. Host relatedness and landscape connectivity shape pathogen spread in the puma, a large secretive carnivore​. Communications Biology 4:12. doi: 10.1038/s42003-020-01548-2.
• Gagne, R. B., S., Kraberger, R. McMinn, D. R. Trumbo, C. R. Anderson Jr, K. A. Logan, M. W. Alldredge, K. Griffin and S. VandeWoude. 2021. Viral sequen​ces recovered from puma tooth DNA reconstruct statewide viral phylogenies. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9:734462. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2021.734462​
• Kraberger, S., N. M. Fountain-Jones, R. B. Gagne, J. Malmberg, N. G. Dannemiller, K. Logan, M. Alldredge, A. Varsani, K. R. Crooks, M. Craft, S. Carver, and S. VandeWoude. 2020. Frequent cross-species transmissions of foamy virus between domestic and wild felids. Virus Evolution 6(1):vez058. https://doi.org/10.1093/ve/vez058
• Bishop, C. J., M. W. Alldredge, D. P. Walsh, E. J. Bergman, C. R. Anderson Jr, D. Kilpatrick, J. Bakel, and C. Febvre. 2019. A noninvasive automated device for remotely collaring and weighing mule deer. Wildlife Society Bulletin 43:717–725. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.1034
• Trumbo, D. R., P. E. Salerno, K. A. Logan, M. W. Alldredge, R. B. Gagne, C. P. Kozakiewicz, S. Kraberger, N. M. Fountain‐Jones, M. E. Craft, S. Carver, H. B. Ernest, K. R. Crooks, S. VandeWoude, and W. C. Funk. 2019. Urbanization impacts apex predator gene flow but not genetic diversity across an urban‐rural divide. Molecular Ecology 28:4926–4940. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15261
• Alldredge, M. W., F. E. Buderman, and K. A. Blecha. 2019. Human–Cougar interactions in the wildland–urban interface of Colorado's front range. Ecology and Evolution 9:10415–10431.  https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5559
• Alldredge, M. W., T. Blecha, and J. H. Lewis. 2019. Less invasive monitoring of cougars in Colorado's Front Range. Wildlife Society Bulletin 43:222–230. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.971 
• Kechejian, S. R., N. Dannemiller, S. Kraberger, C. Ledesma-Feliciano, J. Malmberg, M. Roelke Parker, M. Cunningham, R. McBride, S. P. Riley, W. T. Vickers, K. Logan, M. Alldredge, K. Crooks, M. Löchelt, S. Carver, and S. VandeWoude. 2019. Feline foamy virus is highly prevalent in free-ranging puma concolor from Colorado, Florida and Southern California. Viruses 11:359. https://doi.org/10.3390/v11040359
• Kirby, R., H. E. Johnson, M. W. Alldredge, and J. N. Pauli. 2019. The cascading effects of human food on hibernation and cellular aging in free-ranging black bears. Scientific Reports 9:2197. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-38937-5
• Peterson, M. E., C. R. Anderson Jr, M. W. Alldredge, and P. F. Doherty Jr. 2018. Using maternal mule deer movements to estimate timing of parturition and assist fawn captures. Wildlife Society Bulletin 42:616–621. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.935
• Buderman, F. E., M. B. Hooten, M. W. Alldredge, E. M. Hanks, and J. S. Ivan. 2018. Time-varying predatory behavior is primary predictor of fine-scale movement of wildland-urban cougars. Movement Ecology 6:22. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-018-0140-6
• Blecha, K. A., R. B. Boone, and M. W. Alldredge. 2018. Hunger mediates apex predator's risk avoidance response in wildland-urban interface. Journal of Animal Ecology 87:609–622. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12801
• Lewis, J. S., K. A. Logan, M. W. Alldredge, S. Carver, S. N. Bevins, M. Lappin, S. VandeWoude, and K. R. Crooks. 2017. The effects of demographic, social, and environmental characteristics on pathogen prevalence in wild felids across a gradient of urbanization. PLoS One 12(11):e0187035. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0187035
• Lewis, J. S., K. A. Logan, M. W. Alldredge, D. M. Theobald, S. VandeWoude, and K. R. Crooks. 2017. Contact networks reveal potential for interspecific interactions of sympatric wild felids driven by space use. Ecosphere 8(3):e01707. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1707
• Kirby, R., M. W. Alldredge, and J. N. Pauli. 2017. Environmental, not individual, factors drive markers of biological aging in black bears. Evolutionary Ecology 31:571–584. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-017-9885-4
• Moss, W. E., M. W. Alldredge, K. A. Logan, and J. N. Pauli. 2016. Human expansion precipitates niche expansion for an opportunistic apex predator (Puma concolor). Scientific Reports 6:39639. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep39639
• Kirby, R., M. W. Alldredge, and J. N. Pauli. 2016. The diet of black bears tracks the human footprint across a rapidly developing landscape. Biological Conservation 200:51–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.05.012
• Moss, W. E., M. W. Alldredge, and J. N. Pauli. 2015. Quantifying risk and resource use for a large carnivore in an expanding urban-wildland interface. Journal of Applied Ecology 53:371–378. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12563
• Lewis, J. S., K. A. Logan, M. W. Alldredge, L. L. Bailey, S. VandeWoude, and K. R. Crooks. 2015. The effects of urbanization on population density, occupancy, and detection probability of wild felids. Ecological Applications 25:1880–1895. https://doi.org/10.1890/14-1664.1
• Blecha, K. A., and M. W. Alldredge. 2015. Improvements on GPS location cluster analysis for the prediction of large carnivore feeding activities: ground-truth detection probability and inclusion of activity sensor measures. PLoS One 10(9): e0138915. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0138915 
• Alldredge, M. W., D. P. Walsh, L. L. Sweanor, R. B. Davies, and A. Trujillo. 2015. Evaluation of translocation of black bears involved in human-bear conflicts in South-central Colorado. Wildlife Society Bulletin 39:334–340. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.526 
• Hanks, E. M., M. B. Hooten, and M. W. Alldredge. 2015. Continuous-time discrete-space models for animal movement. The Annals of Applied Statistics 9:145-165. https://doi.org/10.1214/14-AOAS803
• Hooten, M. B., E. M. Hanks, D. S. Johnson, and M. W. Alldredge. 2013. Reconciling resource utilization and resource selection functions. Journal of Animal Ecology 82:1146–1154. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12080 
• Hooten, M. B., E. M. Hanks, D. S. Johnson, and M. W. Alldredge. 2014. Temporal variation and scale in movement-based resource selection functions. Statistical Methodology 17:82–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stamet.2012.12.001
• Bevins, S. N., S. Carver, E. E. Boydston, L. M. Lyren, M. Alldredge, K. A. Logan, S. P. D. Riley, R. N. Fisher, T. W. Vickers, W. Boyce, M. Salman, M. R. Lappin, K. R. Crooks, and S. VandeWoude. 2012. Three pathogens in sympatric populations of pumas, bobcats, and domestic cats: implications for infectious disease transmission. PLoS One 7(2):e31403. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0031403 
• Horne, J. S., K. M. Strickler, and M. Alldredge. 2011. Quantifying the importance of patch-specific changes in habitat to metapopulation viability of an endangered songbird. Ecological Applications 21:2478–2486. https://doi.org/10.1890/10-2328.1 
• Alldredge, M. W. 2011. Cougars on the edge. The Wildlife Professional 5:72–76. 
• Simons, T. R., K. H. Pollock, J. M. Wettroth, M. W. Alldredge, K. Pacifici, and J. Brewster. 2009. Sources of measurement error, misclassification error, and bias in auditory avian point count data. Pages 237–254 in Thomson D.L., E.G. Cooch, M.J. Conroy, editors. Modeling demographic processes in marked populations. Environmental and ecological statistics. Volume 3. Springer, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-78151-8_10 
• Bevins, S. N., J. A. Tracey, S. P. Franklin, V. L. Schmit, M. L. Macmillan, K. L. Gage, M. E. Schriefer, K. A. Logan, L. L. Sweanor, M. W. Alldredge, C. Krumm, W. M. Boyce, W. Vickers, S. P. Riley, L. M. Lyren, E. E. Boydston, R. N. Fisher, M. E. Roelke, M. Salman, K. R. Crooks, and S. VandeWoude. 2009. Wild felids as hosts for human plague, Western United States. Emerging Infectious Diseases 15:2021–2024. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1512.090526
• Alldredge, M. W., T. R. Simons, K. H. Pollock, and K. Pacifici. 2007. A field evaluation of the effectiveness of distance sampling and double independent observers to estimate detection probability in aural avian point counts. Avian Conservation and Ecology - Écologie et conservation des oiseaux 2:13. http://www.ace-eco.org/vol2/iss2/art13/

Education

• Ph.D., Zoology and Biomathematics — North Carolina State University, 2004
• M.S., Biomathematics — North Carolina State University, 2002
• M.S., Wildlife Resources — University of Idaho, 1999
• B.S., Mechanical Engineering — University of Colorado, 1994

Current or Recent Positions

• Wildlife Researcher — Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2006-Present
• Post-Doctoral Researcher — USGS Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, North Carolina State University, 2004-2006
• Carnivore Biologist —Wyoming Game and Fish Department, 1995