Dave Klinges
@thenaturedave.bsky.social
Incoming Asst Prof Rutgers, Postdoc Yale, PhD U Florida '24, Dartmouth '17...climate change ecology, catching frogs in trees, microclimate, ecophysiology, tropical ecology, Madagascar, things in-between. He/him.
https://ecoclimateglobal.org/
https://ecoclimateglobal.org/
Thrilled to have accepted a TT faculty position in the Dept of Ecology, Evolution & Natural Resources at Rutgers @rutgersuniversity.bsky.social! Keen on climate change ecology, Madagascar, amphibians, range shifts? Visit our lab website & watch for upcoming PhD + postdoc ads! ecoclimateglobal.org
July 14, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Thrilled to have accepted a TT faculty position in the Dept of Ecology, Evolution & Natural Resources at Rutgers @rutgersuniversity.bsky.social! Keen on climate change ecology, Madagascar, amphibians, range shifts? Visit our lab website & watch for upcoming PhD + postdoc ads! ecoclimateglobal.org
And if you want quality biodiversity data, cost-effectiveness, or local economic dev, it's always optimal to include community members. We're hoping to integrate more local communities into Mada park wildlife monitoring. Congrats to Lydia & Lalatiana who led this charge! (4/4)
tinyurl.com/53h6vx84
tinyurl.com/53h6vx84
July 2, 2025 at 1:36 PM
And if you want quality biodiversity data, cost-effectiveness, or local economic dev, it's always optimal to include community members. We're hoping to integrate more local communities into Mada park wildlife monitoring. Congrats to Lydia & Lalatiana who led this charge! (4/4)
tinyurl.com/53h6vx84
tinyurl.com/53h6vx84
Sampling from real data from 6 protected areas in Mada, we simulated different combos of wildlife surveys by Malagasy scientists (great observations, expensive) and Malagasy community members (good observations, inexpensive) to see what proportion scientist vs community yielded best outcomes (3/4)
July 2, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Sampling from real data from 6 protected areas in Mada, we simulated different combos of wildlife surveys by Malagasy scientists (great observations, expensive) and Malagasy community members (good observations, inexpensive) to see what proportion scientist vs community yielded best outcomes (3/4)
Natural resource managers can have different (non-mutually exclusive) priorities: eg "eco-centric" that prioritizes knowledge of ecological outcomes, and "people-centric" that prioritizes socioeconomic development for local peoples. We can represent each with value functions...(2/4)
July 2, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Natural resource managers can have different (non-mutually exclusive) priorities: eg "eco-centric" that prioritizes knowledge of ecological outcomes, and "people-centric" that prioritizes socioeconomic development for local peoples. We can represent each with value functions...(2/4)
The capstone paper from our community-based wildlife monitoring project in Madagascar, led by @lysoifer.bsky.social : employing local communities is more cost effective than hiring just scientists, even when you put a high premium on quality biodiversity data
BioCon paper: tinyurl.com/53h6vx84 (1/4)
BioCon paper: tinyurl.com/53h6vx84 (1/4)
July 2, 2025 at 1:36 PM
The capstone paper from our community-based wildlife monitoring project in Madagascar, led by @lysoifer.bsky.social : employing local communities is more cost effective than hiring just scientists, even when you put a high premium on quality biodiversity data
BioCon paper: tinyurl.com/53h6vx84 (1/4)
BioCon paper: tinyurl.com/53h6vx84 (1/4)
And if you want quality biodiversity data, cost-effectiveness, or local economic development, it's always optimal to include community members. We're hoping to expand integration of local communities into Mada park wildlife monitoring. Big congrats to Lydia & Lalatiana who led this charge! (4/4)
July 2, 2025 at 1:20 PM
And if you want quality biodiversity data, cost-effectiveness, or local economic development, it's always optimal to include community members. We're hoping to expand integration of local communities into Mada park wildlife monitoring. Big congrats to Lydia & Lalatiana who led this charge! (4/4)
Building on real data from 6 protected areas in Mada, we simulated different combos of wildlife surveys by Malagasy scientists (great observations, expensive) and Malagasy community members (good observations, inexpensive) to see what proportion scientist : community yielded best outcomes (3/4)
July 2, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Building on real data from 6 protected areas in Mada, we simulated different combos of wildlife surveys by Malagasy scientists (great observations, expensive) and Malagasy community members (good observations, inexpensive) to see what proportion scientist : community yielded best outcomes (3/4)
Natural resource managers can have different (non-mutually exclusive) priorities: eg "eco-centric" that prioritizes positive ecological outcomes and associated data, and "people-centric" that prioritizes socioeconomic development for local peoples. We can represent each with value functions...(2/4)
July 2, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Natural resource managers can have different (non-mutually exclusive) priorities: eg "eco-centric" that prioritizes positive ecological outcomes and associated data, and "people-centric" that prioritizes socioeconomic development for local peoples. We can represent each with value functions...(2/4)
I’m pretty stubborn about avoiding graveyard projects, and so quite fulfilled to see this one through...even if almost a decade later than expected. Better late than never! And, recommend a visit to south Louisiana and LUMCON, I loved my time down in the swamp:
lumcon.edu
lumcon.edu
March 14, 2025 at 3:15 PM
I’m pretty stubborn about avoiding graveyard projects, and so quite fulfilled to see this one through...even if almost a decade later than expected. Better late than never! And, recommend a visit to south Louisiana and LUMCON, I loved my time down in the swamp:
lumcon.edu
lumcon.edu
We think it's not just because of grazing preferences, but predator avoidance: they climb sturdy stalks, eg of Juncus roemerianus, to avoid blue crabs. So snail distributions may be driven by both bottom up + top down controls. Makes a difference when there's 100s of snails per sq meter out there!
March 14, 2025 at 3:15 PM
We think it's not just because of grazing preferences, but predator avoidance: they climb sturdy stalks, eg of Juncus roemerianus, to avoid blue crabs. So snail distributions may be driven by both bottom up + top down controls. Makes a difference when there's 100s of snails per sq meter out there!
What'd we find? Well periwinkles indeed prefer S. alterniflora (and prefer dead / senescing plants to live green tissue), but in both the field and lab we found them choosing other plants too. Why?
March 14, 2025 at 3:15 PM
What'd we find? Well periwinkles indeed prefer S. alterniflora (and prefer dead / senescing plants to live green tissue), but in both the field and lab we found them choosing other plants too. Why?
We wanted to find out. So we set up 24-hr time trials, with a different plant species placed on each side of an area, and six snails per arena. Because these snails graze mostly at night, we had to record nocturnal behavior.....and thus the rave snails were born!
March 14, 2025 at 3:15 PM
We wanted to find out. So we set up 24-hr time trials, with a different plant species placed on each side of an area, and six snails per arena. Because these snails graze mostly at night, we had to record nocturnal behavior.....and thus the rave snails were born!
Littoraria irrorata, the marsh periwinkle snail, is likely the most abundant herbivore in salt marshes in the Gulf (of _Mexico_) and American Atlantic coasts. Most assume they only graze on smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) and fungi, but why do we find them hanging out on other marsh plants?
March 14, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Littoraria irrorata, the marsh periwinkle snail, is likely the most abundant herbivore in salt marshes in the Gulf (of _Mexico_) and American Atlantic coasts. Most assume they only graze on smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) and fungi, but why do we find them hanging out on other marsh plants?
Yes, only 9 years after my long nights in the lab painting 100s of snails with neon paint, installing camera traps above salt water tanks, and sifting through 72,000 photos of snail locations (my AI skills less savvy in 2016), my undergraduate thesis is finally published....
March 14, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Yes, only 9 years after my long nights in the lab painting 100s of snails with neon paint, installing camera traps above salt water tanks, and sifting through 72,000 photos of snail locations (my AI skills less savvy in 2016), my undergraduate thesis is finally published....
Need some excitement for research these days? Look no further than our most recent (open-access) paper in PeerJ: the exhilarating study of marsh snail grazing behaviors! But, these are RAVE snails....see the video supplement: 1/7
peerj.com/articles/190...
peerj.com/articles/190...
March 14, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Need some excitement for research these days? Look no further than our most recent (open-access) paper in PeerJ: the exhilarating study of marsh snail grazing behaviors! But, these are RAVE snails....see the video supplement: 1/7
peerj.com/articles/190...
peerj.com/articles/190...
Interrupting our doom-scrolling with a ray of ☀️ that was Orlando's @oacevedocharry.bsky.social wonderful seminar (to a packed room!) on his PhD work, from fusing standardized surveys + citizen science for improved population viability analysis, to global island biogeography. Check out his work!
March 12, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Interrupting our doom-scrolling with a ray of ☀️ that was Orlando's @oacevedocharry.bsky.social wonderful seminar (to a packed room!) on his PhD work, from fusing standardized surveys + citizen science for improved population viability analysis, to global island biogeography. Check out his work!
We also show how using microclimate KG's better matches land use patterns than macroclimate KG's. This calls for us to reconsider what is "tropical" or "polar" climate, and to use ecologically-relevant microclimate data in our research.
Great work w/ @ilyamaclean.bsky.social & Brett Scheffers!
Great work w/ @ilyamaclean.bsky.social & Brett Scheffers!
January 21, 2025 at 2:22 PM
We also show how using microclimate KG's better matches land use patterns than macroclimate KG's. This calls for us to reconsider what is "tropical" or "polar" climate, and to use ecologically-relevant microclimate data in our research.
Great work w/ @ilyamaclean.bsky.social & Brett Scheffers!
Great work w/ @ilyamaclean.bsky.social & Brett Scheffers!
And yep, microclimate reshuffled KG classes, 38% area reclassified. Plant canopies buffer microclim, but also open areas are more thermally variable at 15cm height than what 2m weather stations measure. This extended KG zones latitudinally: eg Cfa "humid subtropical" microclimates at >50° latitude!
January 21, 2025 at 2:22 PM
And yep, microclimate reshuffled KG classes, 38% area reclassified. Plant canopies buffer microclim, but also open areas are more thermally variable at 15cm height than what 2m weather stations measure. This extended KG zones latitudinally: eg Cfa "humid subtropical" microclimates at >50° latitude!
Since 1884, Köppen-Geiger (KG) classes have been used in environmental research, and in education to teach how "desert", "rainforest", "polar", regions differ in climates. We used the same KG rules, but with 2 climate sources: macroclimate (ERA5), & below-canopy microclimate (the microclimf model).
January 21, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Since 1884, Köppen-Geiger (KG) classes have been used in environmental research, and in education to teach how "desert", "rainforest", "polar", regions differ in climates. We used the same KG rules, but with 2 climate sources: macroclimate (ERA5), & below-canopy microclimate (the microclimf model).
My final PhD chapter published in FEE (Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment): re-mapping Köppen-Geiger climate zones, but now using microclimate! Very excited to have this one out:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
January 21, 2025 at 2:22 PM
My final PhD chapter published in FEE (Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment): re-mapping Köppen-Geiger climate zones, but now using microclimate! Very excited to have this one out:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
While taxonomic experts are more efficient (detect more species per survey), community members (CMs) are consistent: they do more surveys annually. So while experts observe higher abundance of common species (left panels), CMs observe more of rare species (eg lemurs, right panels) across time 2/3
November 27, 2024 at 12:53 PM
While taxonomic experts are more efficient (detect more species per survey), community members (CMs) are consistent: they do more surveys annually. So while experts observe higher abundance of common species (left panels), CMs observe more of rare species (eg lemurs, right panels) across time 2/3
Interested in microclimate ecology? Hop over to our Microclimate Ecology starter pack. DM me and I'll add you in!
November 19, 2024 at 1:43 PM
Interested in microclimate ecology? Hop over to our Microclimate Ecology starter pack. DM me and I'll add you in!
Curiously, this warm-end thermal niche underfilling across microhabitats reflects thermal niche underfilling across elevation and latitude:
tinyurl.com/yecb55tt
tinyurl.com/527pfkre
tinyurl.com/3jpjp6bs
Perhaps microgeography is reflecting macrogeography here....? Take a look at our paper and see!
tinyurl.com/yecb55tt
tinyurl.com/527pfkre
tinyurl.com/3jpjp6bs
Perhaps microgeography is reflecting macrogeography here....? Take a look at our paper and see!
November 13, 2024 at 12:50 PM
Curiously, this warm-end thermal niche underfilling across microhabitats reflects thermal niche underfilling across elevation and latitude:
tinyurl.com/yecb55tt
tinyurl.com/527pfkre
tinyurl.com/3jpjp6bs
Perhaps microgeography is reflecting macrogeography here....? Take a look at our paper and see!
tinyurl.com/yecb55tt
tinyurl.com/527pfkre
tinyurl.com/3jpjp6bs
Perhaps microgeography is reflecting macrogeography here....? Take a look at our paper and see!
Counterintuitively, we found that species active in COOLER places/times – eg nocturnal canopy species – preferred it WARMER. It's called countergradient selection. There's many examples in ecophysiology, but this is the first study of many species living from ground to top of vegetated canopy.
November 13, 2024 at 12:50 PM
Counterintuitively, we found that species active in COOLER places/times – eg nocturnal canopy species – preferred it WARMER. It's called countergradient selection. There's many examples in ecophysiology, but this is the first study of many species living from ground to top of vegetated canopy.
If you live in hotter microhabitats, do you like it hotter? For rainforest amphibians, apparently not. We studied Malagasy frogs, surveying from forest floor up to the canopy, day and night. We paired this with thermal preference experiments, and measured and mechanistically modeled microclimates.
November 13, 2024 at 12:50 PM
If you live in hotter microhabitats, do you like it hotter? For rainforest amphibians, apparently not. We studied Malagasy frogs, surveying from forest floor up to the canopy, day and night. We paired this with thermal preference experiments, and measured and mechanistically modeled microclimates.