Congratulations to Emma Gómez, who won the Best Poster of the Conference award at the  7th Student Colloquium, Ecology Institute (INECOL), Theme: Ecological Niche Modeling: Concepts, Applications and Perspectives, held October 4^th and 5^th, 2012 in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.  The title of her poster was “Potential distribution of the migratory corridor of an endangered pollinating bat”, abstract below.  To view the entire poster in Spanish, click here.

Abstract: The Mexican long-nosed bat Leptonycteris nivalis (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) is a nectar-feeding species distributed from central Mexico to southern United States. Currently, it is listed as endangered by the United States, Mexico and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, due to declines in populations of over 50% in the past 10 years. Evidence suggests that pregnant females of L. nivalis migrate north every spring following the blooms of century plants (Agave sp). The objective of this work was to model the potential distribution of this “nectar corridor” using informatics algorithms. Results show that areas with higher agave species richness form a corridor that overlaps with the location of the known maternity roosting sites in the bat’s northern range. This information is fundamental to guide and prioritize conservation actions to key areas that will ensure the continuity of this corridor and the pollination service that the Mexican long-nosed bats provide.

The barrier reef system of the beautiful Mesoamerica region, one of the ABS program core regions, is featured in this month’s National Geographic (October 2012 Issue).  The direct participation of Dr. Will Heyman (one of our ABS Faculty) was fundamental to the story.  The article and photographs might be best appreciated in print, although the online version is available here: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/10/mesoamerican-reef/brower-text.

Anna Santos, an ABS Trainee and Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Geography, won a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement (DDRI) award for her dissertation: Determinants of Livelihood Strategies in a Marine Extractive Reserve. The award will cover research expenses for her upcoming field work in Northeast Brazil. Anna attributes being granted the DDRI award to her training within the Department of Geography and experience in the ABS program and respective faculty and students, and is she grateful for the support she has received.

Congratulations Anna!

Congratulations to David Toledo, winner of the Judges’ Choice award in the 2012 NSF-IGERT Conference Video and Poster competition.  You can view his video and poster, “To burn or not to burn: balancing societal risk perceptions and ecological needs of a fire adapted system”, on the IGERT website.