PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES

† equal contributions

- 2025 -

  • Shawler, A. L., Barker, K. J. , Xu, W. , Mills, K. J., Mong, T. W., & Middleton, A. D. (2025). Wolves use diverse tactics to track partially migratory prey. Current Biology, 35(16), 4035-4042. (open access)

  • Butt, B., & Xu, W. (2025). Reply to Ogutu et al.: Cattle–wild herbivore interaction studies warrant new lenses from community ecology and environmental justice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(23), e2505717122. (pdf)

  • Aikens, E. O., Merkle, J. A., Xu, W., & Sawyer, H. (2025). Pronghorn movements and mortality during extreme weather highlight the critical importance of connectivity. Current Biology, 35(8), 1927-1934. (pdf)

  • Han, Y., Xu, W., Wang, K., Wang, D., & Mei, Z. (2025). Effects of Freshwater Protected Areas on Survival of a Critically Endangered Cetacean. Conservation Letters18(1), e13081. (open access)

- 2024 -

  • Xu, W., & Butt, B. (2024). Rethinking livestock encroachment at a protected area boundary. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences121(38), e2403655121.(pdf)

Science Magazine:  Cattle may pose little threat to iconic wildlife in Kenya park
Mongabay: 
Can cattle and wildlife co-exist in the Maasai Mara? A controversial study says yes
Africa Geographic: ​Livestock, wildlife, and the future of the Maasai Mara
Nation.Africa: Can cattle and wildlife co-exist in the Mara?

  • Wilkinson, C. E., Xu, W., Luneng Solli, A., Brashares, J. S., Chepkisich, C., Osuka, G., & Kelly, M. (2024). Social–ecological predictors of spotted hyena navigation through a shared landscape. Ecology and Evolution14(4), e11293. (open access)

- 2023 -

  • Serota, M. W., Barker, K. J., Gigliotti, L. C., Maher, S. M. L., Shawler, A. L., Zuckerman, G. R., Xu, W., Verta, G., Templin, E., Andreozzi, C., Middleton, A. D. Incorporating human dimensions is associated with better wildlife translocation outcomes. Nature communications14(1), 2119. (open access)

  • Xu, W., Giglioti, L., Royauté, R., Sawyer, H., Middleton, A.  Fencing amplifies individual differences in movement with implications on survival for two migratory ungulates. Journal of Animal Ecology, 92(3), 677-689. (pdf)

  • Han, Y., Xu, W., Liu, J., Zhang, X., Wang, K., Wang, D., Mei, Z. (2023). Ecological impact of unsustainable sand mining: urgent lessons learned from a critically endangered freshwater cetacean. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 290 (1990), 20221786. (pdf)

- 2022 -

  • ​​Xu, W., Huntsinger, L. (2022). Minding the boundary: social-ecological contexts for fence ecology and management. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 20(7):405-412. (open access)

  • Gigliotti, L. C., Xu, W., Zuckerman, G. R., Atwood, M. P., Cole, E. K., Courtemanch, A., ... & Middleton, A. D. (2022). Wildlife migrations highlight importance of both private lands and protected areas in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Biological Conservation, 275, 109752. (open access)

- 2021 -

  • ​​Barker, K.J., Xu, W., Van Scoyoc, A., Serota, M., Moravek, J., Shawler, A., Ryan, R., Middleton., A. D., A. (2021). Toward a new framework for restoring lost wildlife migrations. Conservation Letters. e12850. (open access)

  • Kauffman, M. J., Cagnacci, F., Chamaille-Jammes, S., Hebblewhite, M., Hopcraft, G., Merkle, J., Mueller, T., ..., Xu, W., Zuther, S. Mapping out a future for ungulate migraitons. Science. 372.6542 (2021): 566-569. (pdf)​​​

                                       CMS: International Experts  Launch First Global Initiative to Map Ungulate Migrations

  • Xu, W., Barker, K. , Shawler, A. , Van Scoyoc, A. , Smith, J., Mueller, T., Sawyer, H., Andreozzi, C., Bidder, O., Mumme, S., Karandikar, H., Templin, E., & Middleton, A. Migratory Plasticity of Ungulate in a Changing World. Ecology. 102(4), e03293. (pdf)

  • Xu, W., Nandintsetseg, D., Sawyer, H., Middleton, A. (2021). Barrier Behavior Analysis (BaBA) reveals extensive effects of fencing on wide-ranging animals. Journal of Applied Ecology. 58.4 (2021): 690-698. (pdf)

WyoFile: New Study reveals how fences hinder migratory wildlife in the west
​Berkeley News:
New study reveals how fences hinder migratory wildlife in the west
Wyoming Public Media:
New study helps pinpoint the fences that causes problems for wildlife
The Daily California:
UC Berkeley researchers find fences in Wyoming impact deer migration

- 2020 -

  • Parker-Shames, P., Xu, W., Rich, L., Brashares, J.S. (2020). Coexisting with cannabis: wildlife response to marijuana cultivation. California Fish and Game. 106(2): 91-106. (pdf)

  • McInturff, A., Xu, W., Wilkinson, C., Nandintsetseg D., Brashares, J.S. (2020). Fence Ecology: Frameworks for Understanding the Ecological Effects of Fences BioScience. Biaa103 (open access)

The Conversation: Fences have big effects on land and wildlife around the world that are rarely measured
Yale E360:​​ Unnatural Barriers: How the Boom in Fences Is Harming Wildlife
The Economist: Fences are bad for wildlife
Anthropocene Magazine: We’ve built enough fences to stretch to the sun
Berkeley News: New research outlined new field of fence ecology
BioScience podcast: Often understudied fences pose ecological threats
Americon Institute of Biological Sciences: Chronically understudied, fences hold grave ecological threats
Cosmos magazine: The ecological impact of fences: Scientists highlight a neglected but serious issue
Treehugger: Fences Can Cause 'Ecological Meltdown,' Study Finds

- 2019 -

  • Sawyer, H., LeBeau, C. W., McDonald, T. L., Xu, W., & Middleton, A. D. (2019). All routes are not created equal: An ungulate's choice of migration route can influence its survival. Journal of Applied Ecology, 56(8), 1860-1869. (pdf).

  • Xu, W., Huang, Q., Stabach, J., Hoshino, B., & Leimgruber, P. (2019). Railway Underpass Location Affects Migration Distance in Tibetan Antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii). PLoS ONE 14.2. (open access) ​

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute News: Chinese Railway Underpass Prolongs Tibetan Antelope’s Migration

OTHER ARTICLES

  • Monk, J. D., Barker, K. J., Maher, S. M., Serota, M. W., Shawler, A. L., Verta, G., Xu, W., Middleton, E. D., & Gherardi, L. A. (2024). Wild vs. domestic ungulate ecosystem impacts: understanding functional differences requires greater focus on mechanisms. EcoEvoRxiv. [preprint]

  • Pei, J., Wang, L., Xu, W., Kurz, D. J., Geng, J., Fang, H., Guo, X., Niu, Z. (2019). Tibetan Antelope Again Under Threat. Science 366, no. 6462: 194-194. [Letter]

  • Bernardes, S., Madden, M., Astuti, I., Chuvieco, E.,  Cotten, D., Dennison, P. E., Dronova, I., Gitas, I., Gong, P., Franch-Gras, B., Hancher, M., Hirano, A., Howard, A., Hu, X., Huete, A., Jordan, T., Justice, C., Lawrence, R. L., Lu, L., Mishra, D. R., Mishra, S., Miura, T., Mountrakis, G., Pal, M., Remillard, C., Roberts, D. A., Roger, J., Singh, K. K., Somers, B., Stavrakoudis, D., Sun, W., Sun, G., Thau, D., Tits, L., Usery, E. L., Vermote, E., Wang, C., Wang, M., Weng, Q., Xu, W., Yao T., Yoshioka, H.,  Zhang, L., Zhang, Q., Zhang, Z. (2019). Processing and Analysis Methods. In Manual of Remote Sensing, 4th Edition. American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 631-868. [Book chapter]

Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one.
- Voltaire