Meet the Fisheries and Wildlife Faculty

Matthew E. Gompper, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences

Phone: 573-882-9424
E-mail: GompperM@missouri.edu
Address: 302 Anheuser-Busch Natural Resources Building

Education

Ph.D. 1994, University of Tennessee

Research

Behavioral, population and community ecology, conservation biology and mammalian carnivores.

Research Summary

Gompper's research examines a wide array of topics in ecology, evolution and conservation, with a central focus on the basic and applied science of wildlife disease ecology and mammalian carnivore biology. Often these two themes are addressed simultaneously by using carnivores as model organisms or by examining how parasites influence carnivore behavioral, population or community ecology. This research agenda makes use of diverse analytical tools, including non-invasive census techniques, experimental and observational field studies, molecular genetics, laboratory parasitology and virology, GIS approaches, and a range of data analysis procedures, and often involves collaborative efforts with other researchers at the University of Missouri and across the globe.
Current research efforts include studies of the community ecology of mesopredator guilds (e.g. attempting to understand factors structuring carnivore communities in Missouri and New York), causes and effects of disease spill-over (e.g. distemper and parvovirus spill-over in Indian canids), the role of social behavior and contact rate in disease transmission (e.g. how parasite communities respond to manipulated host contact rates), the long-term impact of sub-lethal parasites on hosts (e.g. effects of endo and ectoparasites on the demographics of coatis and foxes in Brazil) and the fundamental ecology, evolution and conservation of a diverse array of carnivore species (e.g. raccoons, coatis, spotted skunks, bobcat, fisher, marten, coyotes, ferrets, domestic dogs, ocelots and tigers).

Selected Publications

Lesmeister, D.B., M.E. Gompper, & J. J. Millspaugh (2009)
Habitat selection and home range dynamics of eastern spotted skunks in the Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas. Journal of Wildlife Management 73:18-25.
Lesmeister, D.B., M.E. Gompper, & J. J. Millspaugh. (2008)
Summer resting and den site selection by eastern spotted skunks (Spilogale putorius) in Arkansas. Journal of Mammalogy 89:1512–1520.
McFadden, K.W., Gompper, M.E., Valenzuela, D., and Morales, J.C. (2008)
Evolutionary history of the critically endangered Cozumel dwarf carnivores inferred from mitochondrial DNA analyses. Journal of Zoology 276:176-186.
Kays, R.W., M.E. Gompper, and J.C. Ray. (2008)
The landscape ecology of coyotes based on large-scale estimates of abundance. Ecological Applications 18: 1014–1027.
Gompper, M.E. and A.T. Vanak (2008)
Subsidized predators, landscapes of fear, and disarticulated carnivore communities. Animal Conservation 11:13-14.
Monello, R.J. and M.E. Gompper (2007)
Biotic and abiotic predictors of tick (Dermacentor variabilis) abundance and engorgement on free-ranging raccoons (Procyon lotor). Parasitology 134:2053-2062.
Koepfli, K.-P., M.E. Gompper, E. Eizirik, C.-C. Ho, L. Linden, J.E. Maldonado, and R.K. Wayne. (2007)
Phylogeny of the Procyonidae (Mammalia: Carnivora): Molecules, morphology and the Great American Interchange. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 43:1076-1095
Herzog, C., R.W. Kays. J.C. Ray, M.E. Gompper, W.J. Zielinski, R. Higgins, and M. Tymeson (2007)
Using Patterns in Track Plate Footprints to Identify Individual Fishers. Journal of Wildlife Management 71: 955-963
Junge, R.E., K. Bauman, M. King, and M.E. Gompper (2007)
A serologic assessment of exposure to viral pathogens and Leptospira in an urban raccoon (Procyon lotor) population inhabiting a large zoological park. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 38:18-26
Gompper, M.E., A.E. Petrites, and R. L. Lyman. (2006)
Cozumel Island fox (Urocyon sp.) dwarfism and possible divergence history based on subfossil bones (PDF). Journal of Zoology 270: 72-77
McFadden, K. W., R. Sambrotto, R. Medellin and M. E. Gompper (2006)
Feeding habits of the endangered pygmy raccoon (Procyon pygmaeus) based on stable isotope and fecal analyses. Journal of Mammalogy 87:501-509
Gompper, M.E., R.W. Kays, J.C. Ray, S.D. LaPoint, D.A. Bogan, and J. R. Cryan (2006) A comparison of non-invasive techniques to survey carnivore communities in Northeastern North America (PDF). Wildlife Society Bulletin 34:1142-1151
McFadden, K.W., S. E. Wade, E.J. Dubovi, and M.E. Gompper, M.E. (2005)
A serological and fecal parasitologic survey of the critically endangered pygmy raccoon. (PDF) (Procyon pygmaeus). Journal of Wildlife Diseases 41: 000-000
Gittleman, J.L. and Gompper, M.E. (2005)
Plight of predators: The importance of carnivores for understanding patterns of biodiversity and extinction risk. (PDF) Pp. 370-388 in: (P. Barbosa and I. Castellanos, eds) Ecology of Predator-Prey Interactions. Oxford University Press.
Wright, A.N. and M.E. Gompper (2005)
Altered parasite assemblages in raccoons in response to manipulated resource availability. (PDF) Oecologia 144:148-156.
Gompper, M.E. and A. N. Wright (2005)
Increased prevalence of raccoon roundworm, (Baylisascaris procyonis) owing to manipulated contact rates of hosts. Journal of Zoology 266:215-219.
Gompper, M.E. and Hackett, H.M. (2005)
The long-term, range-wide decline of a once abundant carnivore: the eastern spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius). Animal Conservation 8:195-201. PDF
Fiorello, C.V., S.L. Deem, M.E. Gompper, and E.J. Dubovi (2004)
Seroprevalence of pathogens in domestic carnivores on the border of Madidi National Park, Bolivia. Animal Conservation 7:45-54.
Gompper, M. E. (2004)
Correlations of coati (Nasua narica) social structure with parasitism by ticks and chiggers (PDF). Pp. 527-534 in: (V. Sánchez-Cordero and R.A. Meddellín, eds) Contribuciones mastozoológicas en homenaje a Bernardo Villa. Instituto de biología e Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México.
Cuaron, A., Morales-Martinez, M., McFadden, K. W., D. Valenzuela, and Gompper, M.E. (2004)
The Status of Dwarf Carnivores on Cozumel Island, Mexico. Biodiversity and Conservation (PDF). 13: 317–331.