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Aysegul Birand |
Postdoctoral Research Associate Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, 569 Dabney Hall, 1416 Circle Dr., Knoxville, TN 37996-1610 Ph: 865-974-0346; Fax: 865-974-6042, <abirand at utk.edu>, Office: 403E Austin Peay |
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A zone of overlap and hybridization between Allonemobius socius and a new Allonemobius sp.
Howard lab discovered a new species of Allonemobius in Texas when investigating the allozyme variation across southern populations of A. socius and A. fasciatus. This new species, A. sp. nov. Tex was previously misidentified as A. fasciatus, however, this study showed that the new species differ from A. fasciatus in at least two allozyme loci. This new species seem to be reproductively isolated from A. socius, as the proportion of hybrids in the mixed populations where the two species co-occur is always low, resulting in a bimodal distribution pattern (dominance of parental types with a few intermediates, i.e. hybrids). It is very likely that the reproductive isolation between the two species is probably maintained through conspecific sperm precedence like in the A. socius and A. fasciatus pair.
Publications: Traylor, T., Birand, A. Marshall, J. L. and D. J. Howard (submitted) A zone of overlap and hybridization between Allonemobius socius and a new Allonemobius sp.
More resources: Laboratory for Ecological and Evolutionary Genetics, Department of Biology, NMSU.
A survey of amphibians, reptiles, and birds in Northeast India
I undertook a bird survey in semi-evergreen and wet-evergreen forests of Northeast India during October 2000 – June 2001, along with a colleague who surveyed of amphibians and reptiles. Northeast India is an important part of the Indo-Myanmar biodiversity hotspot, supports some of the biologically richest areas in the world. However, the region is poorly explored, and like many other places, the forest cover in this region is under serious threat. This means that much of the region’s diversity is being lost without even being recorded. Our survey, which was motivated to provide basic biological data for more effective prioritisation and conservation efforts in the area, yielded a number of range records, and some new species of amphibians and reptiles as well.
We also compared patterns in diversity and distribution of forest frogs, lizards and birds across surveyed areas, and explored anthropogenic (e.g., habitat fragmentation) and natural environmental correlates of these patterns. Our analysis suggested, perhaps an expected pattern, that there would be a greater loss of forest species diversity of amphibians and reptiles from non-protected areas than of birds, given the present extent of habitat-loss in the region. This demonstrated the need for including more biotic groups, including invertebrates and plants when prioritisation criteria of areas for conservation are being made (see our tome report for more details).
Publications: Pawar, S.S., Birand, A., Ahmed, F.M., Sengupta, S. and T. R. S. Raman (2007) Conservation biogeography in Northeast India: hierarchical analysis of cross-taxon distributional congruence. Biodiversity and Conservation 13:53-65. Birand, A. and S. Pawar (2004) An ornithological survey in north-east India. Forktail 20: 7-16. Pawar, S. and A. Birand (2001) A survey of amphibians, reptiles, and birds in Northeast India. CERC Technical Report #6, Centre for Ecological Research and Conservation, Mysore. 118 pages.
(Popular) Birand, A (2003) To walk on top of the trees. Mobidik 7:20-27 (In Turkish, for kids). Birand, A (2002) Western Ghats – creatures of the rain. Atlas 117:123-132 (In Turkish). Birand, A (2002) Himalayan rainforests – invisible things. Atlas 116:102-131 (In Turkish).
More resources: Nature Conversation Foundation, Centre for Ecological Research and Conservation, Mysore, India Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay, India
Other
Research student at Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun: I studied the population ecology of three sympatric ungulates in Sariska Tiger Reserve; and later studied the home range, movement patterns and habitat use by gaur (Bos gaurus) in central India. I also attended a training workshop on applications of GIS and remote sensing in wildlife conservation (1-10 May 1998) and two national seminars on wildlife conservation, research and management (Aug 1997 and 1998).
During my master's I worked on carnivores in a game reserve in Turkey.
Research intern at the Marmara Research Center of the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey: I studied the transcriptional regulation of latent Epstein-Barr Virus infection in host cells as an intern (July – Aug 1995 |
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