Michael Akresh, PhD

My primary research interests are focused on the following topics:

Effects of shrubland and early-successional forest management on wildlife

Shrublands, early-successional habitats, young forests, and wildlife dependent on these habitats have recently been declining in the eastern United States. One such habitat is pitch pine-scrub oak (PPSO) barrens, which are globally threatened and dependent on fire or other management practices. As part of my Master’s and Ph.D. research, I conducted an extensive 10-year study on prairie warblers in a PPSO barren in Massachusetts, and examined how this at-risk species responds to prescribed burning, mowing, and herbicide treatments. With collaborators, I have also examined management effects on other threatened wildlife species, such as eastern whip-poor-wills and eastern hognose snakes. New projects with Antioch students will entail looking at moth and ant communities in pine barrens in the region. Lastly, I have been working with the USFS and MassAudubon to create a web-based decision support tool for managers and landowners in the northeast, which will allow users to specify on-the-ground silvicultural projects, and a parameterized model will output shrubland birds likely to be present as a result of management treatments. Overall, I am proud and excited that our research efforts and novel work is directly impacting and supporting the management planning of pine barrens and shrublands in the northeast and throughout the U.S.

Conservation and ecology of migratory and resident birds in the Caribbean

Basic knowledge of natural history, wildlife-habitat relationships, and even species taxonomy is infrequently studied and relatively unknown for many species in the tropics, despite high biodiversity in tropical regions and extensive threats to species conservation. During my Ph.D., I have been extensively studying both threatened resident and migratory birds in The Bahamas. Research topics include the impact of moisture on overwintering migratory birds, bird and arthropod communities and habitat relationships, and the ecology and distribution of endangered avian species (e.g., Kirtland’s warbler, West Indian woodpecker). I am also collaborating with other researchers to study avian species taxonomy (e.g., Melanerpes woodpeckers), by examining bird plumage, song, morphometrics, and genetics. I am highly interested in continuing to work in the Caribbean and have a number of research ideas for the future. I would like to focus on understanding basic ecology, distribution, taxonomy, and natural history of other endangered, endemic birds. In my opinion, more tropical research is sorely needed and it has the most potential to impact conservation.

Examining full annual cycles of migratory birds

Migratory birds are dependent on habitat in different locations throughout their life cycles, and there is a growing acknowledgment that more research is needed outside of the breeding season to effectively manage for and conserve migratory populations. I first started research on non-breeding ecology as an undergraduate student, in which I focused on avian habitat use during the post-fledging period. For my Ph.D., I conducted extensive work examining seasonal carry-over effects in prairie warblers, using stable isotope analysis in collaboration with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. In the past few years, I have continued working on this prairie warbler project, collaborating with researchers at the Albany Pine Bush to examine migratory routes and connectivity using geolocators. Our research is helping managers better understand the ecology of migratory birds throughout their entire lifecycle, and how processes such as habitat degradation and climate change influence avian populations.

Natural history, evolution, ecology, and citizen science

I am also interested in natural history, evolution, and ecology. Over the past 10 years, I have been collaborating with other researchers in examining avian natural history and evolution, such as studying bird song, male quality, female selection, and nest structure and insulation. Recently, I have been exploring research using citizen science. Working with the USGS and the Northeast Climate Science Center, I conducted statistical analyses on a project to examine biodiversity and invasive species in U.S. National Parks, using data collected with the citizen science iNaturalist platform during a year-long Bioblitz. I am also working with the USFS and the Smithsonian’s Neighborhood Nestwatch, which is a citizen science project in which volunteers study backyard birds and find and monitor nests along an urban to rural gradient. Citizen science is a great way to obtain large, novel datasets while conducting outreach and educating society about science and conservation.