image: Michigan Tech researcher David Flaspohler studies how bioenergy crops affect ecosystems, using birds as biodiversity barometers. They are the most diverse vertebrates on land, living in almost every natural and human landscape on the planet, and because of that, they are fairly conspicuous creatures. Being highly mobile also makes them more responsive to landscape changes.
'The composition of bird communities and relative abundance of different bird species tells us much about the quality of different habitats and the usefulness of such habitats,' Flaspohler says. In the oil palm plantations in Mexico where he does fieldwork, he keeps an eye out for many bird species, including mockingbirds and vermillion flycatchers.
Through the rest of the month and into early March, Flaspohler will be at the Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan in Merida and visiting several field sites near Villahermosa, Tasbasco. Flaspohler's work is part of a bigger Partnerships in International Research and Education (PIRE) project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Credit: Michigan Tech, David Flaspohler