KERRY RABENOLD

Professor
LILY G-310
494-8120

We focus on ecology at the community, population and individual levels, centering on conservation issues. We employ a variety of tools at the cutting edge, from DNA fingerprinting to machetes. We pioneered the use of the former to establish relatedness in animals whose family lives were the subjects of debate over conditions required for the evolution of "altruism" in the form of helping others raise their young. Comparative studies of very different species help explain the wide variation in social behavior among vertebrates, including the importance of monogamy and polygamy and which sex is most dispersive. The limitations of dispersers determine the genetics of populations and their ability to persist at low densities. Tropical ecosystems support much greater variety of life than temperate ones, and are therefore most important in addressing the erosion of biological diversity on the planet.

Comparing the bird communities of the Great Smoky Mountains to those of the mountains of Costa Rica, we find that the greater number of species in the latter tend to be more vulnerable to extinction because they have small geographical ranges and are specialized to narrow altitudinal zones where climate change is most disruptive. Studies in both regions suggest that protected natural areas must be larger in order to support robust populations able to withstand the impacts of human enterprise.