João Paulo Silva

Biography

"My research interests lie in the area of conservation biology, with particular focus on: (i) APPLIED ECOLOGY OF AGRICULTURAL BIRDS – because these birds are of high conservation value, mostly dependent on manmade management, it is crucial to understand their environmental requirements from which agro-environmental prescriptions can be outlined. (ii) MOVEMENT ECOLOGY – understanding the behavioural and environmental factors driving the ecology of movement. Being involved in the development of tracking devices that enable to study the animal’s movement and behaviour I have been actively involved in several studies with birds and mammals aiming to understand their migration. (iii) CLIMATE CHANGE – species’ response to changing environments is likely to be determined at a greater scale mostly by population responses at range margins. For this reason I am particularly interested in studying the effects of present and future climate on the Southern-western European grassland bird populations of Little Bustard. More specifically I am interested in understanding how changes in habitat quality and on the bird’s behaviour potentially may affect the individual fitness and population dynamics. (iv) IMPACTS OF LINEAR INFRASTRUCTURES ON BIRDS – collision and electrocution constitute for many bird species the main cause on non-natural mortality. My interest here is to understand what factors expose the birds to higher risk of mortality and how we can address these problems to reduce the threat from hazardous utility structures."

Research Interest

APPLIED ECOLOGY OF AGRICULTURAL BIRDS, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY, CLIMATE CHANGE, IMPACTS OF LINEAR INFRASTRUCTURES ON BIRDS