Area(s) of Specialization:
- Behavioral, evolutionary, and physiological ecology; Basic and applied ornithology; Migration, dispersal, and life history
My research investigates the evolutionary, behavioral, and physiological ecology of mobile animals, especially focusing on avian movements. Much of my research centers on understanding the life-history trade-offs underlying alternative migratory and dispersal strategies, organismal responses to selective pressures imposed by elevational gradients, and the role of climatic variability in shaping life history and movement. My work is centered at the population level, but I explore the causes and implications of behavior at the community level, drawing heavily from the physiological ecology toolbox to understand underlying mechanisms for ecological patterns. Much of my research has focused on understanding the costs and benefits of avian migratory movements in both tropical and temperate biomes. Recent work points to a strong role for climate variation, a finding with major implications in the face of changing climatic regimes. I combine a field-based research program with an array of laboratory and analytical methods to address questions of fundamental importance to both basic and applied branches of wildlife ecology.
Ongoing Projects:
- Too much rain for rainforest birds?
- Environmental causes of population variability in grassland songbirds
- Cowbirds and the development of host young
- Dead-beats vs. hot-shots: causes and consequences of differences in manakin displays
- Movement ecology of Grasshopper Sparrows
- Long-term bird studies at the Konza Prairie
Research: Consequences of rain for bird populations, dispersal & migration movements, sexual selection, brood parasitism, habitat selection of declining species, life history evolution
Alice is an avian ecologist with research programs in the grasslands of the central USA and in the tropical wet forests of Central America.
Subject areas:
Expertise: Studies consequences of climate variation for grassland and tropical birds at individual, population, and community levels.
