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PhD Research |
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Golden Orb-web Spider Photo: © JW Wilson |
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While not downplaying other threats to biodiversity, global species assessments have shown that habitat loss is currently the single most important factor leading to species extinctions. As humans and their activities encroach upon once unending wildernesses, landscapes suitable for biodiversity are increasingly fragmented into smaller remnants. Habitat remnants typically support smaller populations of especially habitat interior species, and so elevate the extinction risk of those smaller populations by rendering them more vulnerable not only to human factors but also processes such as environmental and demographic stochasticity (e.g. genetic factors). In addition, reduced habitat also leads to increased distances between fragmented populations, impeding dispersal of individuals and so further negates a fragmented landscape’s ability to maintain biodiversity. My dissertation goals revolve around mitigating the effects of habitat loss by connecting fragmented habitats and populations. I achieve my goals through extensive use of spatial analysis and modeling skills, using the St. Francis’s Satyr (one of North America’s most endangered butterfly species) and the Guinean Forests of West Africa (one of the most threatened ecosystems on earth) as study systems. |
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My PhD committee · Nick Haddad (Chair- NC State University) · Rob Dunn (NC State University) · Stuart Pimm (Duke University) · Dean Urban (Duke University) |