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Research
Interests:
One
major problem facing ecologists is being able to understand and
predict how fauna will respond to habitat disturbance. Numerous
models have been created in an attempt to describe what ecologists
think will happen to a population under certain environmental changes.
This problem is highly pronounced in the dynamic climate and land
use of northern Australia. The habitat is influenced by the dry
season which lasts from April to October and the wet season which
lasts from November to March. In addition to the seasonal flooding,
fire intensity helps to shape the habitat. Aboriginal people of
Australia systematically burn patches of land at specific times
for 9.5 months of the year for a variety of purposes. The effect
of these fires being lit at different times of the year was to create
a mosaic of burned areas in various stages of post fire recovery.
It has been found that this mosaic pattern increases biodiversity
in an area compared to more homogenous burn patterns. Extensive
clearing of native vegetation as well as land use changes has occurred
throughout Australia in the past 200 years following European colonization.
The clustering of Aboriginal people into towns and the prohibition
of burning in many areas greatly reduced the amount of burning by
traditional methods. This habitat change has resulted in fragmented
populations as well as a decline of vertebrate populations. Rock
Ringtail Possums, Petropseudes dahli, may potentially be
affected by both the habitat changes and the management strategies
currently in place. Its range appears to be declining in northwestern
Australia; however, only a few studies have been done on the Rock
Ringtail Possum and its life history is not well known. The purpose
of this study is to examine dispersal patterns and population structure
among Rock Ringtail Possums and determine the impact of environmental
perturbations caused by fire.
I came to University of Hawaii with the intent of studying seabird
migration. However, as I taught the Vertebrate Zoology lab my first
semester here my interests changed. In that course I was to teach
about mammals of the world. During my preparation, I realized that
I didn't really know anything about marsupials. Their amazing diversity
fascinated me. I read a ton of publications about them and finally
decided to research Rock Ringtail Possums, in large part because
very little is known about them. I have been researching in northern
Australia on and off since 2002. My father has come with me and
served as an invaluable help. He has put together a web page of
photos of both fun locations and my research sites. http://bob-berryman.com
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