My Research
My research has evolved gradually from a strictly basic research program to one that incorporates elements of conservation science and public education. In studying the behavioral ecology of western bluebirds, I have focused primarily on the evolution of social behavior, including mating systems, parental care, and cooperative breeding. The theoretical underpinnings of this research are derived from ideas proposed by Charles Darwin, W.D. Hamilton, and R.L. Trivers. The synthesis of these ideas is that behavioral traits evolve because they increase the ability of individuals to propagate copies of their genes, either by increasing the number and quality of offspring they, themselves, produce or by enhancing the number and quality of offspring produced by relatives (via kin selection). This body of theory predicts both cooperation and conflict within individuals, families, within and between the sexes, and within animal societies. I am most interested in the nature of these cooperative and competitive behaviors, the diversity of behavioral and morphological adaptations they produce, the tradeoffs they involve, and how these tradeoffs shape the behavioral choices animals make throughout their lives.
Recently, I have become interested in how the behavioral decision rules animals use influence species responses to environmental disturbance (Dickinson & McGowan 2005). This becomes a key conservation issue, because where animals have decision rules that are adaptive within the context of the habitat and social milieu they evolved in, these same rules may prove maladaptive in altered ecological and social landscapes. For example, an animal that uses a simple rule to assess habitat, such as assessing the degree of openness or edge, may find itself preferring agricultural fields over forest gaps. This could result in habitat preferences that reduce survival and reproductive success of the population by drawing them into “attractive sinks” or “ecological traps”. The interface between behavioral decision rules and species conservation issues has been little explored, but has significant potential for discovery of rather simple practices to ameliorate negative impacts of land use changes. Along these lines, I plan to expand the western bluebird research (below) to explore the impacts on population viability of placing bluebird boxes in vineyards.
Taxonomically, I have worked with birds, butterflies, and beetles and despite my strong ornithological commitment, in J.B.S. Haldane’s words, I maintain an “inordinate fondness” for leaf beetles (family Chrysomelidae).
Current Field Research in Behavioral Ecology: Western Bluebird Project
The bluebird project has contributed to understanding of:
- Helping at the nest/cooperative breeding
- Delayed dispersal
- Parental care
- Mate guarding and extrapair fertilizations
- Sex ratio manipulation
- Population viability and life history evolution
- Plumage variation
- Begging behavior and chick recognition
- Behavioral plasticity and decision rules
The western bluebird study began in 1983-1985 on 700 ha of oak woodland/chaparral in upper Carmel Valley, California, and expanded to include a second study area in 2001. While we have lost access to a portion of the original 700 ha, the project is ongoing and has become one of the few truly long-term studies of color-banded birds. I have used it as a model system for testing several key questions in the field of behavioral ecology, including sex ratio evolution, parental care, female choice, male competition, sperm competition, cooperative breeding, dispersal, and winter reproductive ecology.
In 2001-2007 the NSF-funded research has focused on the evolution of delayed dispersal and the relative importance of resources and nepotism as reasons why sons stay home with their parents. This work involved extensive GIS mapping and we are now analyzing dispersal and habitat use as a function of landscape features, including winter food supplies (collaborative with Art Lembo and recent Cornell graduate, Chris Marx). The bluebird project is ideal for involving students in research, because the population is ripe for new questions that can benefit from a combination of novel experimental studies, use of molecular techniques, and access to long-term demographic data. It is a fantastic training ground for undergraduates and recent post-graduate interns, and has sent more than 80% of its 75 interns on to graduate school over the years. Several now hold professorships or lectureships at colleges or universities.
Graduate Teaching:
BIOEE 758 - ORNITHOLOGY SEMINAR - 1.0 hours, S/U only
This one-hour seminar is taught each semester. The course format is mostly comprised of student presentations and discussions. This is an excellent forum for vetting your own ornithological research and for learning about research design and hypothesis testing within evolutionary ecology and conservation frameworks.
5:00-6:00, The Grouse Room, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Co-Instructors André Dhondt, Janis Dickinson, Irby Lovette, and David Winkler
Current Citizen Science Research
Personality profiles- http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/instructions
/optional_st/personality
My Yard Counts-
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/MyYardCounts
West Nile Virus: Impacts on survival in CA
Western Bluebird partial migration tracking with eBird
Related Resources
Photo by Peter LaTourrette