Steven R. Beissinger
A major area of research in my lab concentrates on quantifying and ameliorating the impacts of climate change on biodiversity. I lead the Grinnell Resurvey Grinnell Resurvey Project to document the effects of contemporary climate and land use change on the birds and mammals of California. Another research thrust during this period has been a set of contributions to the development and application of analytical methods in ecology and conservation biology. My long-term studies of parrotlets in Venezuela are in their 31st year, making this the longest continuously studied bird in the tropics, and have attracted widespread attention for the discovery of how baby parrots learn their names as well as informing the population biology of this poorly known, threatened and heavily traded group of birds. A final area of current research is with threatened and endangered species. We currently study the metapopulation dynamics two secretive water birds - black and Virginia rails - that inhabit small wetlands in the foothills of the Sierras, trying to understand how human modifications of their habitats and climate change will shape their future.
In the News
Collapse of desert birds due to heat stress from climate change
UC Berkeley leads new assessment of Bay Area climate impacts
Mojave birds crashed over last century due to climate change
Climate refuges identified for endangered snow leopards
Biologists try to dig endangered pupfish out of its hole
Scientists estimate that fewer than 100 Devils Hole pupfish remain in their Mojave Desert home, but a conservation biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, is giving important guidance in the efforts to rescue them by establishing a captive breeding program.