Are Tropical Species At Elevated Risks of Global Extinction?
I joined the Feeley Lab as a tropical conservation biologist, and my passion for continuing research in those subjects remain. My current research can be split into two general subtopics: 1. Tropical conservation ecology, and 2. Conceptual and theoretical conservation biology. I have a strong interest in the tropics as they are the most biodiverse regions on the planet, and constituent species are at the greatest risk of extinction (see Stroud & Feeley 2015a and Perez, Stroud & Feeley 2016).
Tropical Community Responses to Habitat Disturbances
I have conducted long-term tropical field research on herpetofaunal (reptile and amphibian) communities on Buton Island, Sulawesi (Indonesia, SE Asia) with my close collaborator Dr. Graeme Gillespie for the past decade. Recently we published our first long-term analysis of tropical herpetofauna community responses to anthropogenic vs. natural habitat disturbance (see Gillespie et al. 2015). Our long term research goals are to better understand community level effects of various abiotic disturbances, such as anthropogenic habitat alteration and extreme climatic events.
Are We Being Smart About Conservation Biology?
I have developed several studies aiming to highlight pitfalls in the world of conservation biology. Over the past ~10 years conservation research funding has experienced a dramatic shift from classical threats known to negatively affect biodiversity (e.g. habitat destruction, fragmentation) to modern, and somewhat more popular, threats (e.g. climate change). This is notable as extinction probabilities may operate at different temporal scales. Switching research priorities (and with it the associated funding) to long-term conservation goals, such as climate change research, may put species at elevated risk of short-term extinction threats (see Stroud et al. 2014). Conservation biology is further complicated in it’s mission as practitioners contribute more greenhouse gas emissions than average members of the general public, and therefore have a relatively higher personal contribution to global climate change (see Stroud & Feeley 2015b).
Left) Mapping the greenhouse gas output of attendees to the biennial conferences of the International Biogeography Society. Air travel routes of attendees to (left) actual meeting locations, and (right) the respective optimal (i.e., lowest possible total Greenhouse Gas emissions) meeting locations are modelled. Average per person round-trip air travel distances and meeting-total GHG emissions that would have been saved if meetings were held in their respective optimal locations are indicated below the panels on the right. See Stroud & Feeley (2015b) for more information!
Relevant publications:
– Stroud, J.T., Giery, S.T., Outerbridge, M.O. (2016) Establishment of Anolis sagrei on Bermuda represents a novel ecological threat to Critically Endangered Bermuda skinks (Plestiodon longirostris). PDF
– Gillespie, G.R., Howard, S., Stroud, J.T., Ul-Hassanah, A., Campling, M., Lardner, B., Scroggie, M., Kusrini, M. (2015) Responses of a tropical herpetofauna community to anthropogenic disturbance and natural habitat variation in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Biological Conservation, 192(2015): 161-173 doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2015.08.034 PDF
– Rehm, E., Feeley, K.J., Stroud, J.T. (2015) Losing your edge: climate change and the conservation value of range-edge populations. Ecology & Evolution, doi: 10.1002/ece3.1645 PDF
– Stroud, J.T., and Feeley, K.J. (2015a) A downside of diversity? A response to Gallagher et al. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 30(6): 296-297 PDF
– Stroud, J.T., and Feeley, K.J. (2015b) Responsible academica: Optimizing conference locations to minimize greenhouse gas emissions. Ecography, 38(4): 402-404 PDF Ecography blog post
– Stroud, J.T., Rehm E., Ladd, M., Olivas, P., Feeley, K.J. (2014) Is conservation money being spent wisely? Changing trends in conservation research priorities. Journal of Nature Conservation 22(2014) 471-473 PDF