Overview

The Avian Ecology Program at Archbold Biological Station conducts basic and applied research on the behavioral ecology and population dynamics of threatened birds through ecologically and evolutionarily meaningful time spans and across the varied landscapes, including those altered by humans, of upland habitats in central Florida. Our research is primarily focused in the following areas:

• Avian population biology, demography and population regulation

• Evolution of cooperative breeding

• Behavioral ecology

• Urban ecology

• Landscape ecology

• Endangered species management and conservation

We also have strong collaborative projects on:

• Eco-immunology (w/ Raoul K. Boughton, Archbold Biological Station, Morris Animal Foundation Fellow)

• Disease ecology and regulation of FSJ populations (w/ Raoul K. Boughton, and John. W. Fitzpatrick, Andy Clark and Nancy Chen, Cornell University)

• Endocrine basis of avian behavior (w/ Stephen J. Schoech, University of Memphis)

• Population and conservation genetics (w/ John W. Fitzpatrick and Irby Lovette, Cornell University and Dr. Aurélie Coulon, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle)

Our diverse avenues of research integrate our interests in the processes that drive annual patterns of demographic variation and ultimately the factors that regulate populations over evolutionary time. We emphasis long-term research and use a combination of longitudinal observational studies and natural and controlled experiments to test hypotheses.

Consistent with Archbold Biological Station’s mission of research informing both conservation and education, we work with many public (federal and state agencies) and private (NGOs, professional societies, etc) to identify conservation priorities and to effectively channel our research results into successful solutions. We engage students, both interns and graduate students, in our research and in the application of their own research results to the conservation of natural resources.

Our interns are enormously important to our ability to collect long-term demographic data. We provide them with a broad array of experiences, but most importantly, the opportunity to conduct independent research. Working with program staff, interns identify their own areas of interest, formulate research questions and design experiments or series of observations to answer those questions. As will be expected of them in graduate school, they must prepare written proposals that simulate grant applications and present their final results in both oral and written forms. Interns also are engaged in regular lab meetings, paper review sessions, and seminars. 

The 2011 FSJ crew of the Avian Ecology Lab, from top left: top row, Sara Bebus, Tom Small, Sam Slowinski, Alex White, Raoul Boughton, Shane Pruett, John Fitzpatrick, Rebecca Heiss; middle, Reed Bowman; bottom, Charles van Reese, Melanie Klein, Emily Elderbrock, Angela Tringali, Liz and Jack Hailman, and Holly Lutz. Missing from photo was Eli Bridge, Joe Neiderhauser, and Steve Schoech.

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Staff

Data (all Archbold data)

Photo Album (all Archbold photo album)

Internships

Lab Publications

Avon Park Air Force Range

 

The Florida Scrub-Jay is a cooperative breeder and the only bird species endemic to Florida. Our research emphasizes its social system and behavioral ecology and its demography and population biology, and how these vary in different landscapes.

Fire is the dominant ecological disturbance affecting Florida scrub and most scrub organisms, jays included, have specific adaptations that enable them to thrive in this pyrogenic landscape.

Our research of Florida Grasshopper Sparrows probes the causes for the decline of this species throughout its dry prairie habitat.

Red-cockaded Woodpeckers are a conservation-dependent species, requiring management that provides them suitable nesting sites and regularly burns their habitat. Here Lauren Gilson, RA IV at the Avian Ecology Lab’s Avon Park Air Force Range field office,  inspects an artificial RCW cavity.