people - faculty - Gavin

Thomas A. Gavin
Associate Professor


209 Fernow Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Ph: 607-255-2841
Fx: 607-255-1895
e.mail: tag1@cornell.edu
personal website
Thomas A. Gavin

Ph.D - Oregon State University - 1979
M.S. - University of Arizona - 1973
B.S. - Ohio State University - 1968

Tom Gavin joined the department in 1980. His interests focus on conservation of biodiversity, population ecology of birds and mammals, and ecoagriculture.

Research

Recent projects have included studying the population ecology and genetics of Northern Idaho ground squirrels, and how resident forest understory birds utilize a fragmented landscape in Costa Rica. Currently he is focused on the development of indicators that can be used to quantify the status of biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes, especially in the Mt. Elgon area on the Kenya-Uganda border.

Teaching

Selected Publications

  • Ruiz-Gutierrez, V., T.A. Gavin, and A.A. Dhondt. In press . Does habitat fragmentation influence survival of birds in fragmented tropical forests? Ecological Applications.

  • Buck, L.E., T.A. Gavin, N.T. Uphoff, and D.R. Lee. 2007. Scientific assessment of ecoagriculture systems. Pgs. 20-45 in Farming With Nature: The Science and Practice of Ecoagriculture (S.J. Scherr and J.A. McNeely, eds.)

  • Rubenstein, D.R., D.I. Rubenstein, P.W. Sherman, and T.A. Gavin. 2006. Pleistocene parks: Does re-wilding North America represent sound conservation for the 21st century? Biological Conservation 132:232-238.

  • Perrings, C., L. Jackson, K. Bawa, L. Brussaard, S. Brush, T. Gavin, R. Papa, U. Pascual, and P. de Ruiter. 2006. Biodiversity in agricultural landscapes: saving natural capital without losing interest. Conservation Biology 20:263-264.

  • Borgella, R., and T.A. Gavin. 2005. Avian community dynamics in a fragmented tropical landscape. Ecological Applications 15:1062-1073.

  • Brown, L.M., R.R. Ramey II, B. Tamburini, and T.A. Gavin. 2004. Population structure and mitochondrial DNA variation in sedentary Neotropical birds isolated by forest fragmentation. Conservation Genetics 5:743-757.

  • Bollinger, E.K., and T.A. Gavin. 2004. Responses of nesting bobolinks (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) to habitat edges. Auk 121:767-776.

  • Schlaepfer, M.A., and T.A. Gavin. 2001. Edge effects on lizards and frogs in tropical forest fragments. Conservation Biology 15:1079-1090.

  • Borgella, R., Jr., A.A. Snow, and T.A. Gavin. 2001. Species richness and pollen loads of hummingbirds using forest fragments in southern Costa Rica. Biotropica 33:90-109.

  • Mancke, R.G., and T.A. Gavin. 2000. Breeding bird density in woodlots: effects of depth and buildings at the edges. Ecological Applications 10:598-611.

  • Gavin, T.A., P.W. Sherman, E. Yensen, and B. May. 1999. Population genetic structure of the northern Idaho ground squirrel (Spermophilus brunneus brunneus). Journal of Mammalogy 80:156-168.