Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Director of the Wildlife Ecology and Management Program

Email address: jbednarz@astate.edu

 

• Ph.D. in Biology at University of New Mexico - 1986
• M. S. in Animal Ecology at Iowa State University - 1979
• B. S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology at New Mexico State University - 1976

Wildlife Ecology, Conservation Biology, Ornithology, Behavioral Ecology, Raptor Biology, Effects of Landscape Patterns and Management on Neotropical Migratory Birds, Evolution of Sociality in Birds and Mammals.

My research primarily involves the analysis of how human activities and development affect wildlife populations. In addition, I have studied the social structure and breeding systems of several bird and mammal species. Some specific projects include investigation on the effects of habitat fragmentation on migratory bird populations, the impacts of a nuclear waste disposal plant on wildlife populations, the effects of military training activities on raptors, the evolution of cooperative hunting and the breeding system of the Harris' Hawk, the wintering biology of Red-tailed Hawks, the migratory strategies of birds, and the interactions of fungi and woodpeckers.

Graduate students are working with me on a variety of research projects. Recent thesis topics include: 1) the winter population ecology and dynamics of Red-tailed Hawks, 2) the effects of forest fragmentation on the survivorship of nesting neotropical migratory birds, 3) the impacts of forest modification on the Formosan Crested Goshawk, 4) dispersal and mortality patterns of Eastern Wild Turkeys, and 5) the habitat affinities of neotropical migratory birds during migration periods.

In the future, graduate student projects involving raptors, neotropical migratory songbirds, and wild turkeys should be continued. In addition, I am seeking funds to support students addressing applied and basic research questions related to the wintering ecology of waterfowl.

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS

• Status, habitat use, and management of Red-shouldered Hawks in Iowa. 1981. Journal of Wildlife Management 45:236-241. (J. J. Dinsmore).
• Cooperative hunting in Harris' hawks (Parabuteo unicinctus). 1988. Science 239:1525-1527.
• A study of the ecological bases of cooperative breeding in the Harris' Hawk. 1988. Ecology 69:1176-1187. (with J. D. Ligon).
• Migration counts at Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania as indicators of population trends, 1934-1986. 1990. Auk 107:96-109. (with D. Klem, L. J. Goodrich, and S. E. Senner).
• Skewed brood sex ratio and sex-biased hatching-sequence in Harris' Hawks. 1991. American Naturalist 137:116-132. (with T. J. Hayden).
• Reproductive performance of territorial Ovenbirds occupying forest fragments and a large contiguous forest in Pennsylvania. 1993. Conversation Biology 7:618-622. (with P. L. Pronluzi, L. J. Goodrich, N. Zawada, and J. Hoover).
• Social foraging classes in raptorial birds. 1993. BioScience 43:14-20. (with D. H. Ellis, D. G. Smith, and S. P. Flemming).
• Confirmation of cooperative polyandry in the Galapagos hawk (Buteo galapagoensis). 1995. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 35:83-90. (with J. Faaborg, P. G. Parker, L. DeLay, Tj. de Vries, S. Maria Paz, J. Naranjo, and T. A. Waite.)
• Harris' Hawk (Parabuteo unicincturs). 1995. In: The Birds of North America, No. 146 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and the American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

• Member, Eastside Late-successional Stage Forests Scientific Panel, 1993-1994.
• Director, Raptor Research Foundation, 1994-present.
• Chair of Conservation Committee, Raptor Research Foundation, 1996-present.

Ornithology and Wildlife Biology Rules! 

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