Lemur conservation in Madagascar: Understanding the links between landscape ecology, behavior and population genetics in fragmented forests.
In this project we are integrating long-term behavioral, mark and recapture, landscape and genetic data of various lemur species present in Ranomafana National Park in Madagascar. Our goal is to better understand the effects of climate and land cover change on lemur populations to inform conservation practices. |
Effect of coffee management practices on small mammal population connectivity
In this project I am integrating genetic and land cover data to understand the effects of coffee production and management on the dispersal of two common species of tropical rodents Heteromys desmarestianus and Peromyscus gymnotis in Chiapas, Mexico. Otero-Jiménez, B., Vandermeer, J. H., & Tucker, P. K. (2018). Effect of coffee agriculture management on the population structure of a forest dwelling rodent (Heteromys desmarestianus goldmani). Conservation Genetics, 19(2), 495-499. (link) |
Landscape resistance to O. pumilio dispersal in lowlands of northeastern Costa Rica
We were interested in better understanding the effects of pasture land cover on frog movement. We measured recapture rates of individuals displaced into forests and into pastures, the effects of microclimate on the movement performance of individuals, and the influence of land‐cover type and displacement distance on orientation ability of O. pumilio. Nowakowski, A. J., Otero Jiménez, B., Allen, M., Diaz‐Escobar, M., & Donnelly, M. A. (2013). Landscape resistance to movement of the poison frog, O ophaga pumilio, in the lowlands of northeastern Costa Rica. Animal Conservation, 16(2), 188-197. (link) |
Effect of land-use history on the recovery of bird and amphibian communities in Puerto Rico
The goal of this project was to describe the recovery patterns of the fauna (amphibians and birds) in these secondary forests. To do this we compared the species composition in both secondary forest (abandoned agricultural sites > 60 yr old- n=6) and mature forests (n=6) in the Luquillo and Carite forests in Puerto Rico. At each site, portable recorders were used to census the fauna. Project was part of ARBIMON |