I am a global change ecologist interested in understanding how individuals respond to environmental change and how these responses scale up to influence populations and communities.

I have worked on a variety of study systems, but my work primarily focuses on birds and plants in a range of ecosystems including boreal, temperate and tropical forests and tallgrass prairies. I typically combine both behavioural and population ecology and use a variety of techniques to develop a mechanistic understanding of the responses of widlife to global change.

My work currently investigates:

• Winter ecology
• Food caching behaviour
• How behaviour shapes functional characteristics of the microbiome
• Interactive effects of land use and climate on prairie plant population dynamics
• Population dynamics of boreal breeding songbirds

I am willing to supervise a PhD

2023

• PublishedApplied winter biology: threats, conservation and management of biological resources during winter in cold climate regions
  Reeve, C., Robichaud, J. A., Fernandes, T., Bates, A. E., Bramburger, A. J., Brownscombe, J. W., Davy, C. M., Henry, H. A. L., McMeans, B., Moise, E., Sharma, S., Smith, P. A., Studd, E. K., O'Sullivan, A. M., Sutton, A., Templer, P. H. & Cooke, S. J., 2023, In: Conservation physiology. 11, 1, p. coad027 coad027.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedEarly-life sibling conflict in Canada jays has lifetime fitness consequences
  Fuirst, M., Strickland, D., Freeman, N. E., Sutton, A. & Norris, D. R., 26 Apr 2023, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 290, 1997
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedThe biotic and abiotic drivers of timing of breeding and the consequences of breeding early in changing world
  Sutton, A. & Freeman, N. E., 11 Jul 2023, In: Ornithology. 140, 3
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2022

• PublishedEarly-life experience shapes patterns of senescence in a food-caching passerine
  Sorensen, M. C., Strickland, D., Freeman, N. E., Fuirst, M., Sutton, A. O. & Norris, D. R., 26 Jan 2022, In: Biology Letters. 18, 1, 20210532.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedPopular press portrayal of issues surrounding free-roaming domestic cats Felis catus
  Gow, E., Burant, J., Sutton, A. O., Freeman, N. E., Grahame, E., Fuirst, M., Sorensen, M. C., Knight, S., Clyde, H., Quarrell, N., Wilcox, A., Chicalo, R., Van Drunnen, S. & Shiffman, D. S., 1 Feb 2022, In: People and Nature. 4, 1, p. 143-154
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2021

• PublishedCauses and consequences of variation in diet composition of nestling Canada jays
  Freeman, N. E., Newman, A., Sutton, A. O., Kyser, T. K. & Norris, D. R., 1 Jan 2021, In: Journal of Avian Biology. 52, 1
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedClimate-driven carry-over effects negatively influence population growth rate in a food-caching boreal passerine
  Sutton, A. O., Strickland, D., Freeman, N. E. & Norris, D. R., 1 Mar 2021, In: Global Change Biology. 27, 5
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedEarly-life corticosterone and body condition influence social status and survival in a food-caching passerine
  Freeman, N. E., Norris, D. R., Sutton, A. O., Strickland, D., Kyser, T. K. & Newman, A., 23 Jul 2021, In: Integrative and Comparative Biology. 61, 1, p. 9-19
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedEnvironmental conditions modulate compensatory effects of site-dependent regulation in a food-caching passerine
  Sutton, A. O., Strickland, D., Freeman, N. E. & Norris, D. R., 1 Jan 2021, In: Ecology. e03203.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedFrozen out: unanswered questions in winter biology
  Sutton, A. O., Studd, E. K., Fernandes, T., Bates, A. E., Bramburger, A. J., Cooke, S. J., Hayden, B., Henry, H. A. L., Humphries, M. M., Martin, R., McMeans, B., Moise, E., O'Sullivan, A. M., Sharma, S. & Templer, P. H., 1 Dec 2021, In: Environmental Reviews. 29, 4
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedNine maxims for winter ecology
  Studd, E. K., Bates, A. E., Bramburger, A. J., Hayden, B., Henry, H. A. L., Humphries, M. M., Martin, R., McMeans, B., Moise, E., O'Sullivan, A., Sharma, S., Sinclair, B., Sutton, A. O., Templer, P. H. & Cooke, S. J., 1 Aug 2021, In: BioScience. 71, 8, p. 820-830
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2020

• PublishedInto the drink: an observation of a novel hunting technique employed by the Eastern Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)
  Sutton, A. O., Fuirst, M. & Bill, K., 8 Jul 2020, In: Canadian Field Naturalist. 134, 1
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedRaising young with limited resources: supplementation improves nestling condition and advances fledging of Canada jays
  Freeman, N. E., Norris, D. R., Sutton, A. O. & Newman, A., 1 Jan 2020, In: Ecology. 101, 1, e02651.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2019

• PublishedA boreal songbird’s 20,000 km migration across North America and the Atlantic Ocean
  Deluca, W. V., Woodworth, B. K., MacKenzie, S. A., Newman, A., Cooke, H. A., Phillips, L. M., Freeman, N. E., Sutton, A. O., Tauzer, L., McIntyre, C., Stenhouse, I. J., Weidensaul, S., Taylor, P. D. & Norris, D. R., 1 May 2019, In: Ecology. 100, 5, e02651.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedAutumn freeze-thaw events carry over to depress late-winter reproductive performance in Canada jays
  Sutton, A. O., Strickland, D., Freeman, N. E., Newman, A. & Norris, D. R., 10 Apr 2019, In: Royal Society Open Science. 6, 4
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedLength polymorphisms at two candidate genes explain variation of migratory behaviours in blackpoll warblers (Setophaga striata)
  Ralston, J., Lorenc, L., Montes, M., Deluca, W. V., Kirchman, J. J., Woodworth, B. K., MacKenzie, S. A., Newman, A., Cooke, H. A., Freeman, N. E., Sutton, A. O., Tauzer, L. & Norris, D. R., 1 Aug 2019, In: Ecology and Evolution. 9, 15, p. 8840-8855
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2018

• PublishedBehavioural and physiological responses of an amphibious, euryhaline mangrove fish to acute salinity exposure
  Sutton, A. O., Turko, A. J., McLaughlin, R. L. & Wright, P., 13 Jun 2018, In: Copeia. 106, 2
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2016

• PublishedFood storage in a changing world: implications of climate change for food-caching species
  Sutton, A. O., Strickland, D. & Norris, D. R., 8 Dec 2016, In: Climate Change Responses. 3, 1
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Cache 22: The fate of synergistic species interactions in a time of global change

  01/12/2024 – 15/12/2026 (Active)

• You are what you do: how behaviour shapes composition and functional potential of the microbiome

  09/01/2023 – 30/04/2023 (Finished)