Bruna Amaral

Michigan State University | MSU

How species interact with human‐disturbed environments is a central focus of conservation biology. Within disturbed landscapes, regenerating forests have potential to provide habitat for forest species, especially as increasing amounts of primary forest are lost. As secondary forest regenerates beside primary forest, it increases habitat heterogene...

Forested landscapes containing eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) are under threat by the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) in eastern North America. Although several studies have shown the negative effects of adelgid invasion in local bird communities, its regional impacts have not yet been quantified. Using broad-scale spatial (eas...

Although the duration of biological rhythms varies from milliseconds to decades, daily cycles are especially widespread for individual organisms. These circadian rhythms are synchronized by light–dark cycles, which govern predictable changes in other microclimate variables. Despite the fixed, regular nature of these abiotic cycles at low latitudes,...

Humans significantly influence geographic patterns of biological invasions, creating conditions for species to overcome biogeographic barriers and colonize new areas. In the eastern United States, forested landscapes containing eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) are under threat by the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae). Although seve...

Insectivores of the tropical rainforest floor are consistently among the most vulnerable birds to forest clearing and fragmentation. Several hypotheses attempt to explain this pattern, including sensitivity to extreme microclimates found near forest borders, particularly brighter and warmer conditions. Importantly, this “microclimate hypothesis” ha...

Warming from climate change is expected to reduce body size of endotherms, but studies from temperate sys­tems have produced equivocal results. Over four decades, we collected morphometric data on a nonmigratory understory bird community within Amazonian primary rainforest that is experiencing increasingly extreme climate. All 77 species showed low...

Animals and plants are shifting the timing of key life events in response to climate change, yet despite recent documentation of escalating phenological change, scientists lack a full understanding of how and why phenological responses vary across space and among species. Here, we used over 7 million community-contributed bird observations to deriv...

Rapidly expanding use of biologging devices is increasingly bringing novel insights into ornithology. Consequently, to maximize bird welfare and data quality, this growth calls for ensuring that devices are properly attached. Here, we provide a diagram for constructing a simple, field‐adjustable leg‐loop harness suitable for many small and medium‐s...