Nicholas J. Russo- PhD, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- Postdoc at Harvard University
Nicholas J. Russo
- PhD, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- Postdoc at Harvard University
About
12
Publications
3,066
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94
Citations
Introduction
My research focuses on the importance of landscape structure for animal movements and the role of animals as dispersal vectors for other organisms. I am currently studying seed dispersal in rainforests of Cameroon.
Current institution
Additional affiliations
October 2024 - present
January 2020 - April 2020
Position
- NASA DEVELOP National Program
Description
- At the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, I worked as part of a team to create a semi-automated wetland mapping tool for stakeholders in the Great Lakes Basin.
Education
September 2018 - June 2023
August 2014 - May 2018
Publications
Publications (12)
As one of the world's largest freshwater ecosystems, the Great Lakes Basin houses thousands of acres of wetlands that support a variety of crucial ecological and environmental functions at the local, regional, and global scales. Monitoring these wetlands is critical to conservation and restoration efforts; however, current methods that rely on fiel...
Tardigrades are potentially dispersed by birds, but the extent of the interactions between birds and tardigrades is virtually unknown. We discovered nine tardigrades within feces of White-bellied Seedsnipe (Attagis malouinus) collected from high Andean tundra on Navarino Island, Chile. Eight of the tardigrade specimens began moving once rehydrated....
Bryophyte consumption is uncommon among bird species globally and is often presumed incidental. We sought to determine whether herbivorous bird species of the high Andes, including the white‐bellied seedsnipe (Attagis malouinus) and Chloephaga geese (C. picta and C. poliocephala), consume bryophytes, and if so, how frequently. We collected 26 seeds...
In eastern North America, the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae Annand), has expanded northward at a pace that exceeds predictions from mechanistic models, suggesting successful long-distance dispersal despite the only viable dispersive phase being a flightless nymph, or “crawler.” We hypothesize that migrating birds may contribute to...
Birds have long been hypothesized as primary dispersal agents of the hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae Annand). Although A. tsugae eggs and mobile first instars (crawlers) have been collected from wild birds, key mechanistic elements necessary for avian dispersal have never been examined. To evaluate the mechanisms of bird-mediated A. tsugae d...
Animal movement is increasingly being quantified in novel ways, with high potential for integration in broad-scale efforts to monitor biological diversity. Here, we define movement diversity as a form of biodiversity measuring variation in animal movement from the level of individual animals to communities. We present a framework to develop a commo...
Three‐dimensional (3D) vegetation structure influences animal movements and, consequently, ecosystem functions. Animals disperse the seeds of 60%–90% of trees in tropical rainforests, which are among the most structurally complex ecosystems on Earth.
Here, we investigated how 3D rainforest structure influences the movements of large, frugivorous bi...
Animals disperse seeds in various ways that affect seed deposition sites and seed survival, ultimately shaping plant species distribution, community composition, and ecosystem structure. Some animal species can disperse seeds through multiple pathways (e.g., defecation, regurgitation, epizoochory), each likely producing distinct seed dispersal outc...
Capturing birds of tropical rainforest canopies is important for answering many questions in ecology, evolution, and conservation, but canopy birds are often out of reach when using conventional mist-netting methods. Some methods exist to mist-net canopy birds, but modifications needed for target-capturing large frugivores are not well documented....
Ecosystem functions in a series of feedback loops that can change or maintain vegetation structure. Vegetation structure influences the ecological niche space available to animals, shaping many aspects of behaviour and reproduction. In turn, animals perform ecological functions that shape vegetation structure. However, most studies concerning three...
