Ecology of Human-dominated Systems
Dr. Bruce Robertson
My research broadly investigates the ecology of human-dominated systems including urban and agricultural landscapes. Urbanization is an important driver of species loss, pollution and climate change and alters both biotic and abiotic ecosystem properties within, surrounding, and even at great distances from urban areas. In addition, humans have already appropriated a third of earth's primary production and land for agriculture. As the human footprint expands, human-dominated systems will become increasingly important to biodiversity conservation and the maintenance of important ecological functions and processes.
I focus on the direct and indirect impacts of human activities on biodiversity and species interactions with special emphasis on how rapidly changing environments may disrupt evolved relationships and trigger maladaptation. I strive to answer questions that address important conservation issues, but that also provide fundamental insights into ecological theory. To this end, I combine field observations and experiments with quantitative modeling and advanced statistical approaches. I frequently engage in interdisciplinary collaborations which I believe spark novel approaches and insights. Much of my work focuses on birds, but I'm increasingly employing arthropods, mammals and plants as study organisms. For more information on my research programs, please click on the topical links below:
1. Ecological and Evolutionary Traps
2. Biofuels, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
3. Postfire Wildlife Ecology
Recent News:
May
* Moving to upstate New York to start my new position as Assistant Professor of Biology at Bard College.
* New manuscript published in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B.
* Manuscript accepted at Condor
* Manuscript on an ecological trap for Spectacled Bears submitted to journal Conservation Biology.
April
* New manuscript on habitat management approaches to eliminating ecological traps sent to Avian Conservation and Ecology
March
* Submitted manuscripts to journals Condor and BioEnergy Research
February
* Appointed as George Didden Conservation Fellow, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution
I focus on the direct and indirect impacts of human activities on biodiversity and species interactions with special emphasis on how rapidly changing environments may disrupt evolved relationships and trigger maladaptation. I strive to answer questions that address important conservation issues, but that also provide fundamental insights into ecological theory. To this end, I combine field observations and experiments with quantitative modeling and advanced statistical approaches. I frequently engage in interdisciplinary collaborations which I believe spark novel approaches and insights. Much of my work focuses on birds, but I'm increasingly employing arthropods, mammals and plants as study organisms. For more information on my research programs, please click on the topical links below:
1. Ecological and Evolutionary Traps
2. Biofuels, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
3. Postfire Wildlife Ecology
Recent News:
May
* Moving to upstate New York to start my new position as Assistant Professor of Biology at Bard College.
* New manuscript published in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B.
* Manuscript accepted at Condor
* Manuscript on an ecological trap for Spectacled Bears submitted to journal Conservation Biology.
April
* New manuscript on habitat management approaches to eliminating ecological traps sent to Avian Conservation and Ecology
March
* Submitted manuscripts to journals Condor and BioEnergy Research
February
* Appointed as George Didden Conservation Fellow, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution
Contact Information:
Department of Biology, Bard College, 32 College Drive, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, 23504;
Email: RobertsonBr@si.edu; Phone: 845-905-2543
Department of Biology, Bard College, 32 College Drive, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, 23504;
Email: RobertsonBr@si.edu; Phone: 845-905-2543
Click to set custom HTML
