Patterns of biodiversity, life history and behavior in tropical montane birds
My postdoctoral research is part of a collaborative Dimensions of Biodiversity project funded by the National Science Foundation. The overall objective is to test alternative mechanistic hypotheses explaining elevational patterns of species distributions and diversity of birds in Borneo – one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. Very little is known of the functional, genetic, and phylogenetic diversity of birds in this region. We are studying 18 species within two of the most diverse superfamilies, muscicapoids and sylvoids, breeding in tropical montane forests in Kinabalu Park, Malaysia from 400 to 4100 m. These species represent the phylogenetic diversity of passerine taxa in insular Southeast Asia as well as diverse physiological tolerances and elevational ranges. We are investigating potential interactions of an elevational climate gradient, physiological tolerance, competition, life history trade-offs, and avian malaria lineage distributions on dispersal propensity and genetic structure, and the consequences for phylogenetic diversification and community structure. My research aims to characterize the life histories and mating systems of these understudied tropical species to identify key life history and reproductive trade-offs.
|
Publications:
Kaiser, S.A., T.E. Martin, J.C. Oteyza, C. Armstad, and R.C. Fleischer. In review. Direct fitness benefits and kinship of social foraging groups in an Old World tropical babbler.
Kaiser, S.A., J.E. Danner, L. Bergner, and R.C. Fleischer. 2015. Identification and characterization of microsatellite loci in two socially complex Old World tropical babblers (Family Timaliidae). BMC Research Notes 8:707.
Collaborators:
Andy Boyce, PhD Candidate, University of Montana
Robert Fleischer, Center Head, Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Thomas Martin, Senior Scientist, Assistant Unit Leader, Professor, Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Montana
Ellen Martinsen, Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Robert Moyle, Associate Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Kansas. Associate Curator of the KU Biodiversity Institute & Natural History Museum
Juan Oteyza, PhD Candidate, University of Montana
Frederick Sheldon, George H. Lowery, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Natural Science, Curator of Genetic Resources, Louisiana State University
Madhvi Venkatramen, PhD Candidate, National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellow, University of Maryland, Predoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Center for Conservation Genomics
Kaiser, S.A., T.E. Martin, J.C. Oteyza, C. Armstad, and R.C. Fleischer. In review. Direct fitness benefits and kinship of social foraging groups in an Old World tropical babbler.
Kaiser, S.A., J.E. Danner, L. Bergner, and R.C. Fleischer. 2015. Identification and characterization of microsatellite loci in two socially complex Old World tropical babblers (Family Timaliidae). BMC Research Notes 8:707.
Collaborators:
Andy Boyce, PhD Candidate, University of Montana
Robert Fleischer, Center Head, Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Thomas Martin, Senior Scientist, Assistant Unit Leader, Professor, Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Montana
Ellen Martinsen, Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Robert Moyle, Associate Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Kansas. Associate Curator of the KU Biodiversity Institute & Natural History Museum
Juan Oteyza, PhD Candidate, University of Montana
Frederick Sheldon, George H. Lowery, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Natural Science, Curator of Genetic Resources, Louisiana State University
Madhvi Venkatramen, PhD Candidate, National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellow, University of Maryland, Predoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Center for Conservation Genomics
©S.A. Kaiser 2012