Climate Change in Tropical Mountains
Tropical mountains are global centres of biodiversity and endemism. Climate change imperils that biodiversity, threatening to push species to higher elevations until they eventually run out of room. My PhD research focused on the responses of tropical montane birds to climate change. In particular, I have researched how birds are changing their elevational distributions in Honduras, Rwanda, and Tanzania, and I have conducted a meta-analysis and a separate review of this field. The Usambara Mountains in Tanzania have been my principal study system, a collaboration with Bill Newmark at the Natural History Museum of Utah who has been monitoring birds there for over three decades. With these data I have determined that species have shifted upslope over time. In the same system, I have also been using long-term banding data to assess changes in bird demographic rates over time and in relation to fragmentation. Long-term monitoring is incredibly important if we are to detect the impacts of anthropogenic change, and I continue to research this fragile system. |
Global Bird Macroecology
Before beginning my PhD I worked for Joe Tobias at Oxford University as a research assistant measuring morphometric traits for the world's birds at the Natural History Museum in London. Since then, I have been passionate about global macroecology and have used some of those data in my own research. In the Şekercioğlu Lab, I was responsible for curating our own global bird ecology dataset which has abundant uses. I am particularly interested in understanding which types of birds are more likely to be negatively impact by anthropogenic change and I have used these data across several studies. I have investigated whether we can use global community science data to monitor the world's birds, whether traits can explain taxonomic disagreement, whether we can predict elevational shift rates in tropical birds, and what traits predict urban tolerance. Most recently, I combined global trait data with eBird data to understand the predictors of urban tolerance across birds. |
Migratory Birds
Every year, millions of birds migrate across North America. Utah, in particular, is a very dry state, which presents challenges for migratory birds. Riparian corridors provide critical habitat for breeding birds as well as stopover sites for migratory birds. In the Şekercioğlu Lab, I managed two bird banding stations in Utah, one in the Wasatch Front close to the University of Utah, and one in the Colorado Plateau close to Moab. These stations provide important long-term data so that we can assess changes in community structure and demographic rates over time. I also used long-term monitoring data in collaboration with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to assess how climate is influencing riparian birds throughout Utah. During my postdoc in the Tingley Lab I have used banding data from across North America to examine differences in phenological trends between males and females, adults and immatures. |
Outreach
It is incredibly important that we not only study biodiversity and conservation, but convey what we have learned to the public, and instill in people compassion for the natural world. At the Şekercioğlu Lab's banding stations in Utah I hosted many groups including ACCESS women in STEM, high school students, university classes, and summer campers. There, I taught visitors about the importance of monitoring birds, and how to catch and process them. I am also eager to give talks about my research and have done so for university classes, high school classes, summer camps, the incarcerated, and the Audubon Society. |