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Laboratory research in the Foufopoulos lab focuses on the following four broad areas of investigation. Lab members pursuing new insights have frequently worked in very distinct study systems. Research in the Foufopoulos lab has for the first time also demonstrated that similar processes apparently occur in the parasite communities of these species, which also become increasingly simplified as their host populations decline on isolated islands. While there are several processes that are responsible for the gradual decline of wildlife populations on small islands, loss of genetic diversity as well as changes in immune function are likely to be important. Our research investigates how these processes operate both in Darwin’s finches on the Galapagos Islands, as well as in Aegean Island lizards.
A. Effects of human activities on wildlife
Habitat Fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation and loss are probably the most important processes through which humans impact natural ecosystems. Research conducted in the lab aims to quantify the effects of habitat loss on the probabilities of vertebrate populations persisting on habitat fragments, and how size, edge effects, distance from other habitats and duration of isolation influence a species’ probabilities of survival. Members of the lab investigate these questions in a variety of systems ranging from songbirds in Michigan forest fragments and the effects of oil palm plantations on Papua New Guinea wildlife, to the impacts of roads on Colorado wildlife, and the progressive loss of large mammal species in a flagship African National Park.
In many cases, it is easiest to assess the impacts of fragmentation on animal populations by studying true islands, which represent a useful approximation of isolated habitat fragments. Our research on the response of reptile populations surviving on land-bridge islands has demonstrated how these populations go progressively extinct with increasing duration of isolation and diminishing island size. The progressive extinction of species from land-bridge islands is the result of several processes undermining the survival of individual small populations surviving on an island.
Invasive species
Exotic species, whether intentionally or accidentally introduced by humans, can have profound effects on native species communities, especially if this process occurs on islands. Research by lab members has investigated how feral cats and goats affect endemic island wildlife and their behavior, and how invasive rats undermine the ecology of seabird islands. Lastly, we are examining the role of historical human trade and travel across the Mediterranean Sea on the composition of native reptiles in the region.
Global Climate Change
Climate shifts can be potent drivers of changes in wildlife species communities and have been responsible for shaping the composition of past species communities. Today, a rapidly shifting global climate will likely result in the extirpation of many wildlife populations. We do research on how climate change interacts with other stressors to impact wildlife and how the innate environmental preferences of reptiles and amphibians affect their probability of surviving future climatic shifts.
B. Ecology and Evolution of Island Organisms
Island taxa constitute an important fraction of earth’s vertebrate species, and have often evolved unique morphologies reflecting unusual ecological relationships. Because they generally exist only in small populations they face particularly high risk of extinction. We focus on the evolutionary processes that occur in small island populations, as well as the resultant ecological, physiological and behavioral traits. Lab research seeks not only to understand basic processes producing these patterns but also generating applied insights that can be used to advance to conservation of island ecosystems.
Because their limited size and often large number, islands also hold exceptional promise as places where advances in basic ecology are made. Using a combination of comparative observational studies and experimental manipulations, lab members are doing research into the processes that make island systems function.
C. Sustainable Land Use Practices
In many parts of the world, humans have lived for millennia sustainably along natural species communities. This coexistence has often resulted in wildlife actually becoming dependent on the use of traditional agricultural and livestock raising practices. In such regions, abandonment of the land, or shift to more intensive land-use practices represent opposite but equally potent dangers for resident wildlife populations. Research in the Foufopoulos lab focuses on how traditional land use systems shape local biodiversity, as well as the ecosystems services (like crop pollination and food production) it provides to humans. For example, in a long-term research project in the Mediterranean Sea, we investigate how livestock grazing practices and concomitant stocking rates affect species diversity and ecosystem services in large regions as well as on small islets.
We also try to shed light on how departure from traditional agricultural landscapes shapes species communities. In a project led by our collaborator, Dr. P. Pafilis, we investigate how dry-stone walls and terraces, which are widespread components of traditional agricultural systems in many parts of the world, affect local species communities.
D. Ecology of Infectious Diseases in Wildlife Populations
Wildlife populations are infected with a multitude of parasites including a diversity of malarial pathogens. Through long-term studies in select vertebrate systems (songbirds, lizards) we aim to elucidate the ecological and evolutionary forces that shape the relationship between the hosts and their parasites. While traditionally the focus has been on the impacts on the hosts, there is increased realization of the important role that parasitic organisms play in regulating their host populations and in ensuring the proper function of natural ecosystems. Thus, lab research is increasingly focusing on understanding how human activities affect the persistence of parasites and pathogens. Because much of the interplay between wildlife and its parasites is mediated through immune function, we explore how environmental conditions shape immune function in wild species such as Darwin’s finches, sparrows, amphibians and reptiles.
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