Bette A. Loiselle, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin
Email: loiselle@jinx.umsl.edu
Education
- B.A. Univ. Illinois, Urbana, IL. August 1979.
- M.S. Univ. Illinois, Urbana, IL. August 1981.
- Ph.D. Univ. Wisconsin, Madison, WI. Zoology (major),
Botany (minor), December 1987.
Selected Publications
- Loiselle, B. A. 1990. Seeds in droppings of tropical
fruit-eating birds: importance of considering seed composition.
Oecologia 82:494-500.
- Loiselle, B. A., and J. G. Blake. 1991. Resource abundance and
temporal variation in fruit-eating birds and along a wet forest
elevational gradient in Costa Rica. Ecology 72:180-193.
- Loiselle, B. A., and J. G. Blake. 1992. Population variation
in a tropical bird community implications for conservation.
BioScience 42:838-845.
- Loiselle, B. A., and J. G. Blake. 1993. Spatial dynamics of
understory avian frugivores and fruiting plants in lowland wet
tropical forest. Vegetatio 107/108:177-189.
- Loiselle, B. A., and J. G. Blake. 1994. Annual variation in
birds and plants of a tropical second-growth woodland. Condor
96:368-380.
- Loiselle, B. A., E. Ribbens, and O. Vargas. 1995. Spatial and
temporal variation of seed rain in a tropical lowland wet forest.
Biotropica 28: 82-95.
- Loiselle, B. A., V. L. Sork, and C. Graham. 1995. Comparison
of genetic variation in bird-dispersed shrubs of a tropical wet
forest. Biotropica 27:487-494.
- Loiselle, B. A., V. L. Sork, J. Nason, and C. Graham. 1995.
Spatial genetic structure of a tropical understory shrub,
Psychotria officinalis (Rubiaceae). Amer. J. Botany
82:1420-1425.
- Renjifo, L. M., G. P. Servat, J. M. Goerck, B. A. Loiselle,
and J. G. Blake. 1998. Patterns of species composition and
endemism in the northern Neotropics: a case for conservation of
montane avifaunas. Pages 577-594 in "Natural history and
conservation of Neotropical birds", Ted Parker Memorial Volume, J.
V. Remsen, ed., Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.
Ornithological Monographs 48.
- Loiselle, B.A., and J.G. Blake. 1999. Dispersal of
Melastome seeds by fruit-eating birds of tropical forest
understory. Ecology 80:330-336.
Research Interests
My research interests, in a broad sense, are in the evolution and
ecology of seed dispersal systems in the tropics and the conservation
of tropical vertebrates, especially birds. Below I summarize recently
completed research and research in progress.
Population dynamics and conservation of frugivorous
birds.
Together with John G. Blake, I initiated a long-term study of
frugivorous birds and their food plants in La Selva-Braulio
Carrillo extension during January 1985. Located in northeast Costa
Rica, this protected transect goes from tropical wet forest near
sea level at the Organization for Tropical Studies' La Selva
Biological Station (36 m) to montane rainforests in Braulio
Carrillo National Park (highest point at 2906 m, Barva Volcano).
We have sampled the abundances and habitat use of birds using mist
nets and point-count censuses in several habitats at La Selva
(1985-present; 10 continuous years) and from 3-5 forest elevations
within the National Park. Our results documented altitudinal
migrations by frugivorous birds and tied these migrations to
changes in fruit resource availability along the gradient.
Although there can be considerable annual variation in the extent
and duration of altitudinal movements by frugivorous species (and
by sexes within species), there also is a great deal of
predictability in these movements. Within lowland forest at La
Selva (i.e., at a smaller spatial scale), we also have
demonstrated through correlative analyses that the spatial habitat
use by birds is predicted by the availability of plants with ripe
fruits in the understory. In remnant tropical forest areas, the
extent to which tropical populations vary takes on increasing
importance for their conservation. In small reserves, conservation
and population biology theory predict that the more variable
populations are, the greater probability that those populations
will go extinct through stochastic processes. Our long-term
studies of birds evaluate population variation in this forest. We
have found birds that rarely used disturbed forest patches showed
the greatest degree of population variation. This result is
particularly worrisome for the long-term conservation of these
forest-restricted species at La Selva given that this lowland
forest is surrounded on three sides by agricultural or pasture
land, including a recent large-scale banana plantation on the east
side.
Differential role of avian seed dispersers and ecological
consequences for tropical plants.
The extent to which birds influence the evolutionary dynamics of
plant populations will depend on the temporal predictability of
fruit choice and habitat use by birds and the role that chance
plays in seed and seedling establishment following dissemination
of seeds. Our (with John G. Blake) results suggest that
fruit-handling techniques and general habitat use patterns of
birds are temporally predictable and understory birds differ in
their effectiveness as seed dispersers for individual plant
species. Currently, we (with Victoria Sork) preliminarily tested
the genetic consequences of seed dispersal by birds for Psychotria
officinalis, an understory shrub in the Rubiaceae (see Loiselle,
Sork et al. 1995). Presently, experiments are being designed to
investigate the relative impact of seed dispersers, pollinators,
and natural selection on the spatial dispersion of individuals
within mature forest at La Selva. Our long-term goals for this
study will be to dissect out the individual roles of avian
dispersers and model the impact to plant populations when local
seed dispersers go extinct.
GIS and bird conservation.
Together with Jaqueline Goerck and Milton Ribeiro, we
are using museum records of birds in the bird families, Cotingidae
and Pipridae, and GIS environmental layers digitized from the
National Atlas of Brazil, to model historic distributions of birds in
the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. These distributions are then compared
to present day extent of forest to estimate the amount of the
original range lost and its spatial biases (i.e., presence/absence of
peripheral and central populations). This GIS work is the first step
in a long-term, collaborative research plan to investigate the
population ecology and conservation of birds in the region. National
Geographic Society has supported the field portion of the project.
Plant-bird studies in Colombia.
Together with Colombian colleagues, Gustavo Kattan and Carolina
Murcia, and post-doctoral associate, Ana Cristina Villegas, I am
initiating a project that examines the factors affecting maternal
fitness for three species of Palicourea (Rubiaceae) in the
central Andes of Colombia. These species grow in the understory of
tree plantations and old-growth forest. Our goals are to determine
which processes best explain maternal fitness, which is measured
at several different stages, and how these processes might change
in importance across closely related sympatric species and sites.
Ultimately, we hope to use these studies to understand what
factors might limit plant distributions, and identify key
processes related to regeneration in abandoned tree plantations.
Recent Graduate Students
- Gillian Bowser. PhD. 1998 (USA). Genetics, geographics, and
prairie dogs: a landscape model of prairie dog (Cynomys
ludovicianus) dispersal. PhD diss., UM-St. Louis.
(Co-advisor). Gillian is now Chief Biologist at Joshua Tree
National Park, California.
- Luis Miguel Renjifo. PhD. 1998 (Colombia). Effects of
landscape matrix on the composition and conservation of forest
bird communities. PhD diss., UM-St. Louis. (Advisor). Luis Miguel
is now Director of Conservation Biology at the Hulmboldt
Institute, Colombia.
- Mark Yoder. M.Sc. 1996. (USA). Fruit and seed morphological
traits determining seed-handling behavior in the long-tailed
macaque (Macaca fascicularis). M.Sc. thesis. (Advisor).
Mark is now Field Coordinator for an international effort to
reintroduce the endangered Bali Mynah in Indonesia.
- Jaqueline M. Goerck. M.Sc. 1995. (Brazil). Birds of the
Atlantic Forest of brazil: patterns of rarity and species
distributions along an elevational gradient. M.Sc. thesis, UM-St.
Louis. (Advisor). Jaqueline is now in UM-St. Louis' PhD program.
- Melissa Hayes. M.Sc. 1994. (USA). Consequences of fruit color
polymorphism in Rubus spectabilis: an experimental
investigation of fruit removal by birds. M.Sc. thesis. (Advisor).
Melissa is now in a PhD program at the University of Indiana.
- Evan Notman. M.Sc. 1994. (USA). Factors affecting seed
survival in two tropical tree species of a Peruvian rain forest.
M.Sc. thesis. (Advisor). Evan is now in a PhD program at Miami
University.
- Monica Romo. M.Sc. 1993. (Peru). Seasonal variation in fruit
consumption and seed dispersal by canopy frugivorous bats in
lowland mature and successional forests of Peru. M.Sc. thesis.
(Advisor). Monica coordinated Conservation International's RAP
program from their offices in Lima, Peru. She is now on leave from
CI to pursue a PhD in Forest Ecology with Dr. Hanna Tuomisto in
Finland.
Present Graduate Students
- Jaqueline Goerck-PhD student (Brasil): Research interests
center around questions of rarity and biogeography. Her
dissertation is investigating the ecology and evolution of
Drymophila and Hypocnemis, two genera in the antbird
family. The work is being conducted largely in the Atlantic
coastal forest of Brazil, which are recognized as one of the
world's most threatened ecosystems. A large proportion of species
are endemic to the region and given current and past rates of
deforestation, many species are in immediate danger of extinction.
This project will highlight forest elevational differences in
species distribution patterns and provide critical information on
species vulnerabilities to current development of tall, coastal
forests in the region.
- Gilbert Barrantes-PhD student (Costa Rica): Research interests
center on the conservation and distribution of birds. GB's
dissertation is investigating population differences in
Phainoptila melanocephala, a bird restricted to the
mountains of Costa Rica and western Panama. He hopes to unravel
the relationships among these disjunct populations using molecular
tools, morphology, and plumage patterns. GB is on leave from his
professor position at the Universidad de Costa Rica.
- Grace Servat-PhD student (Peru): Research interests center
around the ecology and conservation of high elevation birds in
Peru. Grace is studying birds restricted to Polylepis
forests in the high Andes. Her work investigates regional and
local environmental effects on foraging ecology and community
organization. Her research has been funded by the National Science
Foundation, among others.
- Sandra Arango-PhD student (Colombia): Research interests
center around the effects of fragmentation on plant regeneration.
Sandra is working on this topic in forest fragments in the central
Andes of Colombia using both experimental and observational
approaches. Her research is funded by COLCIENCIAS, Banco de
Republica, among others.
- Tibisay Escalona-PhD student (Venezuela): Tiby's research is
on the consequences of nest site selection for the threatened
Terecay river turtle, Podocnemis unifilis, in Venezeula.
Her research will identify what factors influence where females
lay their eggs and how these decisions affect their fitness both
on undisturbed beaches and in beaches where eggs and adults are
taken by humans. Her work should have implications for developing
a management plan for the turtle. Her research is funded by the
Sustainable Aquatic Resources Center (SARC), Wildlife Conservation
Society, among others.
- Luciana Griz-PhD student (Brazil): Research interests center
around the ecology and evolution of seed dispersal. Luciana
investigates this plant/animal mutualism in caatinga habitats of
northeast Brazil. Her research investigates the role of seed
dispersal in explaining distribution patterns of plants.
Courses and Seminars
Theory
and Applications of Conservation Biology
Ecology and
Conservation of Fragmented Forests in the Tropics