Wallace Coffee Talks - 3rd November 2020

 Wallace Coffee Talks - Autumn 2020

3rd November- 12pm - Online (Zoom)

Fancy a cup of coffee or tea and learning more about the researchers at Swansea university? Come join us at the Wallace coffee talks: an informal seminar series where students, staff and others related to Swansea university speak about their research or personal interests.

Holly Stokes

Nesting ecology of sea turtles in the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT): Combining UAV and Biologging technology to estimate the population of foraging immature turtles at an important developmental site

Density and abundance estimates are key to understanding population dynamics and trends for use in conservation planning. Sea turtle population estimates can be challenging due to their elusive nature. Subsequently, current assessments are largely based on female adults using egg, nest, and track counts. The overarching aims of my PhD concentrate on data collection from nesting females and hatchlings, however, I was unable to conduct fieldwork due to COVID-19 this year. So, this first chapter concentrates on using available data to investigate immature foraging population estimates. There are several research gaps in our understanding of immature sea turtles, particularly critically endangered hawksbills in the Indian Ocean. We will explore how two techniques can be combined (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and biologging tags) to estimate the immature foraging population of green and hawksbill turtles at an important developmental site in BIOT. In this talk, I will introduce my PhD objectives and in relation to the first chapter, discuss the methods used and preliminary results along with what I plan to do next. 

@hollystokes94

https://www.marine.science/scientist/stokes-holly/

Sarah Weil

Life-history traits and long distance dispersal outcomes: the success of fast-paced chameleons 

A pressing challenge in ecology is establishing the mechanisms that underlie the distribution of life at a global scale. Why do some species have populations in many different geographical areas, while others are highly restricted in range? A key determinant is presumably a species’ ability to disperse over long distances to form populations away from its core range; and this ability likely varies between species according to their traits. In my PhD, I am using macroecological and macroevolutionary approaches to investigate how dispersal and life-history traits facilitate long-distance dispersal, tieing together patterns observed over evolutionary time, dispersal in the present, and future responses under climate change scenarios. In this talk, I focus on the first chapter of my PhD in which I analyse the role of life-history traits in the outcome of natural long-distance dispersals in the past. Using chameleons (Chamaeleonidae) as an example family, I test whether species with fast life-history traits have a higher probability of long-distance dispersal success. Employing trait-dependent biogeographic models, I find that in the past, fast chameleons, characterized by early sexual maturity, large clutches and short gestation time, were more successful long-distance dispersers than slow species. These results help us to better understand the role of life-history traits in global biogeography and the establishment of new populations.