|
Heydon-Laurence Building, A08 University of Sydney NSW 2006 Room: 447 Ph: (02) 9351 8679 Fax: (02) 9351 5609 e-mail: dpik7708@usyd.edu.au |
 |
|
| Back to Current Students | Back to Shine Lab |
|
Heydon-Laurence Building, A08 University of Sydney NSW 2006 Room: 447 Ph: (02) 9351 8679 Fax: (02) 9351 5609 e-mail: dpik7708@usyd.edu.au |
|
|
My dissertation focuses on reptile conservaiton on a landscape-scale, namely trying to create optimal habitat for reptiles in a fire-suppressed landscape. My two main study species are the broad-headed snake Hoplocephalus bungaroides, an endangered elapid endemic to the Sydney region, and the main preyof juvenile snakes, velvet geckos Oedura lesueurii. These two species overwinter underneath rocks on open cliff edges that have very little vegetation. This allows them to thermoregulate during winter, and their shelter sites normally stay quite warm because the sun hits the rocks during most of the day.
However, following European settlement of Australia, the amount of vegetation (i.e., canopy shading) in many habitats has increased. The most likely causes for this change are the prevention of natural disturbance events, such as wildfires, and the cessation of aboriginal fire-stick farming, which aboriginal peoples used to effectively managed habitat for wildlife and food plants. In more recent times vegetation has encroached upon crucial habitat for the broad-headed
snake, which is already restricted in distribution. This has caused a decrease in the amount of suitable overwintering habitat, and potentially has contributed to a range-wide decline. My main focus is on trying to determine whether removing shady vegetation will increase vital rates of broad-headed snakes and velvet geckos. Rather than using fire to attempt this restoration (which is often an unsuccessful strategy in severely overgrown habitats), I am directly manipulating canopy cover by removing shade trees. In this way I can directly determine whether canopy shading is a causal factor in reptile declines while controlling for other unwanted effects, such as fire. This is a landscape scale experiment and my sampling plots are distributed along a 5km stretch of cliffline. I have equal replicates of canopy removal plots, open canopy controls, and shady controls. This study is the first to examine whether landscape-scale habitat manipulations can improve habitat quality for an endangered reptile.
Gopher tortoises: During my Master’s degree I worked on hatchling tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus, pictured left) in Florida USA, mainly looking at their ecology and behaviour. These little tortoises move around the environment and dig burrows, in which they spend most of their time and use as a central refuge. However, when the mood arises, they take off and dig another burrow in a new location. In this way hatchlings learn how to navigate through their environment, and learn the location of resources, such as burrows they previously used (Pike, 2005). Interestingly, the burrows are so small that soon after the tortoise moves locations, the burrow caves in and disappears. So, these little guys are able to find their way back to areas they used previously and dig another burrow where the first one was (even though no sign of the burrow was left)! So, you can imagine the knowledge that a tortoise that is 30, 40, or perhaps 100 years old has regarding its surroundings.
Sea turtles: I have written several papers on the ecology of sea turtles (e.g., Pike et al., 2006; Antworth et al., 2006; Pike and Stiner, 2007a,b; Pike 2008, in press), and continue to use long-term datasets and literature reviews to assess the impacts of climate change (warming ocean temperatures, increasing cyclones/hurricanes) and coastal development on nesting populations.
2008 PhD Biology, in progress, University of Sydney (expected December 2009). Supervisors: Professor Richard Shine and Dr. Jonathan Webb2004 MSc Biology, magna cum laude, Towson University. Supervisor: Dr. Richard A. Seigel
2002 BSc Zoology with Honors, Spanish Minor, cum laude, North Carolina State University
Publications
Some papers
are available as pdf files. To read these you will need Adobe
Acrobat Reader.
If you have
any difficulties downloading files please contact Mel.
| 1. | Pike, D.A. and L. Pierpont. 2003. Gopherus polyphemus. Nesting. Herpetological Review 34:240-241. |
| 2. | Pike, D.A. 2003. Book Review: Amphibians and Reptiles of Delmarva. Herpetological Review 34:275-276. |
| 3. | Pike, D.A., A. Dinsmore, T. Crabill, R.B. Smith, and R.A. Seigel. 2005. Short-term effects of handling and permanently marking gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) on recapture rates and behavior. Applied Herpetology 2:139-147. |
| 4. | Pike, D.A., and R.L. Antworth. 2005. Gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus). Juvenile burrow cohabitation. Herpetological Review 36:58. |
| 5. | Pike, D.A., and R.B. Smith. 2005. American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). Mortality. Herpetological Review 36:61-62. |
| 6. | Pike, D.A., D.G. Cooper, and D.A. Jackan. 2005. Ambystoma maculatum. Geographic distribution. Herpetological Review 36:330. |
| 7. | Pike, D.A. 2005. Spatial learning in a hatchling Chelonian, Gopherus polyphemus. Florida Scientist 68:267-271. |
| 8. | Pike, D.A. 2005. Apalone ferox. Predation. Herpetological Review 36:440. |
| 9. | Pike, D.A. 2005. Book Review: Amphibians and Reptiles: Status and Conservation in Florida. Florida Scientist 68:281-282. |
| 10. | Pike, D.A., and J.M. Ray. 2005. Book Review: Cusco Amazónico: The Lives of Amphibians and Reptiles in an Amazonian Rainforest. Herpetological Review 36:344-345. |
| 11. | Antworth, R.L., D.A. Pike, and, E.E. Stevens. 2005. Hit and run: effects of scavenging on estimates of roadkilled vertebrates. Southeastern Naturalist 4:647-656. |
| 12. | Pike, D.A. 2006. Movement, habitat use, and growth of hatchling gopher tortoises, Gopherus polyphemus. Copeia 2006:68-76. |
| 13. | Pike, D.A., and A. Grosse. 2006. Daily activity of immature gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) with notes on commensal species. Florida Scientist 69:92-98. |
| 14. | Pike, D.A., R.L. Antworth, and J.C. Stiner. 2006. Earlier nesting contributes to shorter nesting seasons for the loggerhead seaturtle, Caretta caretta. Journal of Herpetology 40:91-94. |
| 15. | Antworth, R.L., D.A. Pike, and J.C. Stiner. 2006. Nesting ecology, current status, and conservation of sea turtles on an uninhabited beach in Florida, USA. Biological Conservation 130:10-15. |
| 16. | Pike, D.A., and R.A. Seigel. 2006. Variation in hatchling tortoise survivorship at three geographic localities. Herpetologica 62:125-131. |
| 17. | Meyers, J.M., and D.A. Pike. 2006. Herpetofaunal diversity of Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina. Southeastern Naturalist 5:235-252. |
| 18. | Pike, D.A., and R.A. Seigel. 2007. Is survivorship related to body size or behavior in a hatchling turtle? Russian Journal of Herpetology 14:81-86. |
| 19. | Pike, D.A., and J.C. Stiner. 2007. Sea turtle species vary in their susceptibility to tropical cyclones. Oecologia 153:471-478. |
| 20. | Pike, D.A., K.S. Peterman, and J.H. Exum. 2007. Use of altered habitats by the endemic sand skink (Plestiodon reynoldsi Stejneger). Southeastern Naturalist 6:715-726. |
| 21. | Pike, D.A., and J.C. Stiner. 2007. Fluctuating reproductive output and environmental stochasticity: do years with more reproducing females result in more offspring? Canadian Journal of Zoology 85:737-742. |
| 22. | Pike, D.A., and J.M. Ray. In press. Aggressive behavior in Ceratophrys cornuta. Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society. |
| 23. | Pike, D.A., K.S. Peterman, R.S. Mejeur, K.D. Nelson, M.D. Green, and J.H. Exum. 2008. Sampling techniques and methods for determining the spatial distribution of sand skinks (Plestiodon reynoldsi). Florida Scientist 71:93-104. |
| 24. | Webb, J.K., D.A. Pike, and R. Shine. 2008. Population ecology of the velvet gecko, Oedura lesueurii in southern Australia: implications for the persistence of an endangered snake. Austral Ecology: in press. |
| 25. | Radder, R.S., M. Elphick, D.A. Warner, D.A. Pike, and R. Shine. 2008. Reproductive modes of lizards: measuring the fitness consequences of prolonged uterine retention of eggs. Functional Ecology 22:332-339. |
| 26. | Pike, D.A., L. Pizzatto, B.A. Pike, and R. Shine. 2008. Estimating survival rates of uncatchable animals: the myth of high juvenile mortality in reptiles. Ecology 89:607-611. Online Appendices: Environmental Management 41:461-464. |
| 28. | Pike, D.A., K.S. Peterman, and J.H. Exum. 2008. Habitat structure influences the presence of sand skinks (Plestiodon reynoldsi) in altered habitats. Wildlife Research 35:120-127. |
| 29. | Pike, D.A. 2008. Environmental correlates of nesting in loggerhead turtles, Caretta caretta. Animal Behaviour 76:603-610. |
| 30. | Pike, D.A., and E.A. Roznik. 2008. Drowning in a sea of development: conservation status and distribution of a sand-swimming lizard, Plestiodon reynoldsi. Herpetological Conservation and Biology: in press. |
| 31. | Croak, B.M., D.A. Pike, J.K. Webb, and R. Shine. 2008. Using artificial rocks to restore non-renewable shelter-sites in degraded ecosystems: colonization by fauna. Restoration Ecology: in press. |
| 32. | Croak, B.M., D.A. Pike, J.K. Webb, and R. Shine. 2008. Three-dimensional crevice structure affects retreat-site selection by reptiles. Animal Behaviour: in press. |
| 33. | Pike, D.A. 2008. Natural beaches confer fitness benefits to nesting marine turtles. Biology Letters: in press. |
| 34. | Pike, D.A. In press. Do green turtles modify their nesting seasons in response to environmental temperatures? Chelonian Conservation and Biology: in press. |
| 2001 | North Carolina Herpetological Society Fall meeting: Snakes of Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, Dare County, North Carolina. |
| 2003 | Towson University Research Expo: Long-term changes in the demography of the gopher tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus. |
| 2003 | Towson University Department of Biological Sciences: Survivorship and activity patterns of hatchling gopher tortoises, Gopherus polyphemus. |
| 2004 | Towson University Department of Biological Sciences: Patterns of movement and survival in gopher tortoises during the first year of life. |
| 2004 | Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles Annual Meeting: Survivorship characteristics of hatchling tortoises. |
| 2004 | Disney’s Animal Kingdom Research Center: The importance of hatchlings: a bottom-up approach to tortoise conservation. |
| 2004 | Gopher Tortoise Council Annual Meeting: Saving individuals or wasting populations? A population-level life history approach to relocations. |
| 2005 | Lake County Florida Audubon Society: Florida’s hidden biodiversity and the large-scale importance of gopher tortoises. |
| 2005 | Gopher Tortoise Council Annual Meeting: Ecology and conservation of tortoises: the importance of hatchlings and juveniles. |
| 2005 | Savannah River Ecology Lab: Unseen mysteries: the ecology and behavior of hatchling tortoises. |
| 2005 | Glatting Jackson, Inc.: Why should we care about gopher tortoises and other protected species? |
| 2005 | Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles Annual Meeting: Does earlier nesting result in a longer nesting season? The effects of warming sea temperatures on sea turtle nesting. |
| 2005 | Southeastern Ecology and Evolution Conference: Does earlier nesting result in a longer nesting season? |
| 2005 | North Carolina Herpetological Society: Are diversity and natural history mutually exclusive? A case study from Peru. |
| 2006 | Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles Annual Meeting: Do neighborhood conservation areas work? A drastic reduction in lizard occupancy coinciding with improved habitat quality and surrounding development. |
| 2006 | Florida Academy of Sciences Annual Meeting: Preconceived notions of rare species occurrence: the case of the endemic sand skink, Plestiodon reynoldsi. |
| 2007 | University of Sydney Postgraduate Excellence Prize Competition: The effects of vegetation overgrowth on communal nest site selection in a nocturnal gecko, Oedura lesueurii. |
| 2007 | Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles Annual Meeting: Estimating survival rates of uncatchable animals: the myth of high juvenile mortality rates in reptiles. |
| 2007 | University of Sydney Introductory Dissertation Seminar: Chainsawing for conservation: can habitat manipulation help save an endangered snake (Hoplocephalus bungaroides)? |
| 2007 | University of Sydney Guest Lecture: Ecology and conservation of sea turtles: climatic and anthropogenic disturbances. |
| 2007 | Australian Society of Herpetologists Meeting: Chainsawing for conservation: the effects of large-scale habitat manipulation on a community of saxicolous reptiles. |
| 2008 | University of Sydney Invited Lecture: Turtles in the tropics: marine turtles, climate, and human development. |
| 2008 | Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists: Landscape-scale reptile conservation: Experimentally manipulating canopy cover to restore a reptile assemblage. |
| 2008 | University of Sydney Postgraduate Excellence Prize Competition: Landscape-scale conservation: Experimentally manipulating canopy cover to restore a reptile assemblage. |
| 2001 | NCSU Undergraduate Research Symposium: A novel approach for assessing open-habitat corridor use by a variety of insect orders. |
| 2003 | Gopher Tortoise Council Annual Meeting: Long-term changes in the demography of the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus). |
| 2003 | Society for Conservation Biology Annual Meeting: Long-term changes in the demography of the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus). |
| 2004 | Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles Annual Meeting: Handling and permanently marking gopher tortoises has no short-term effect on rates of recapture. |
| 2005 | Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles Annual Meeting: Defensive behaviors in neotropical snakes. |
| 1997 | Boy Scouts of America: Eagle Scout Award |
| 1999 | Gamma Sigma Delta: recognition as an outstanding freshman |
| 1999 | NCSU Study Abroad Scholarship: $500 to study abroad in Mexico |
| 2000 | NCSU Study Abroad Scholarship: $500 to study abroad in Ecuador |
| 2001 | NCSU Zoology Department Harkema Award: $500 travel grant to attend the 2001 SSAR/HL meeting in Indianapolis, IN |
| 2001 | NCSU Undergraduate Research Grant: $2000 to observe thermoregulatory behavior and coloration variation in Amblyrhynchus cristatus on the Galápagos Islands |
| 2003 | Towson University Department of Biological Sciences Research Grant: $500 to study thermoregulation in Gopherus polyphemus |
| 2003 | Towson University Graduate Student Association Research Grant: $200 to study thermoregulation in Gopherus polyphemus |
| 2004 | Towson University Graduate Student Association Research Grant: $200 to study how changing nest depths during incubation affect offspring sex in gopher tortoises |
| 2006 | Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarship: $90,000 towards degree at University of Sydney |
| 2006 | University of Sydney International Postgraduate Award: $64,000 towards degree at University of Sydney |
| 2006 | Shine Top-Up Award: $20,000 towards dissertation research |
| 2007 | Ethel Mary Reid Research Grant (Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales) $750 towards dissertation research |
| 2007 | University of Sydney Postgraduate Excellence Prize: Finalist |
| 2007 | University of Sydney Postgraduate Research Support Scheme $1,100 |
| 2007 | American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Travel Grant $250 to present at the annual meeting |
| 2007 | Environmental Futures Network: Species’ Distribution Modelling Workshop $500 scholarship |
| 2008 | Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles Travel grant $200 to present at the annual meeting |
| 2008 | University of Sydney, Faculty of Science, Postgraduate Prize for Outstanding Academic Achievement $500 |
| 2008 | Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Seibert Conservation Award: best student presentation at the annual meeting $200 |
| 2008 | University of Sydney Postgraduate Excellence Prize: Finalist |
Professional AffiliationsAmerican Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
Australian Society of Herpetologists
Central European Journal of Biology (English language editor)
Chelonian Conservation Organization
Ecological Society of America
Herpetological Conservation and Biology (Assistant Editor)
Herpetological Review (English language editor)
Herpetologists’ League
Journal of Herpetology (English language editor)
Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation
Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales
Sigma Xi (Associate Member)
Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles
Southeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation
Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia
World Wildlife Fund Australia: Sea turtle workshop coordinator
| Back to Current Students | Back to Shine Lab |
