Hello and welcome to the website for Dr. Tim O’Connell’s lab in the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University.
The next few pages will provide some information of research, teaching, and other activities of mine at OSU.
Mission Statement
Applying principles of landscape ecology to advance the conservation of native birds.
As a lifelong birder, I could not help but develop a strong conservation ethic. Native birds face various challenges as they struggle to survive and reproduce in an increasingly human-dominated world. Today, nearly all of my research reflects some facet of conservation biology, i.e., the use of science, education, and management to protect, maintain, and restore global biodiversity.
The magnificent Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, state bird Oklahoma. While common and conspicuous in our state, the global breeding distribution of this species is restricted to portions of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and adjacent states.
Of the myriad factors contributing to the global decline in species richness and diversity, habitat loss and degradation is the most serious and most pervasive. Because the fortunes of species are so closely tied to the availability of appropriate habitat, conservation biology is inherently spatial. Concern for the spatial distribution, condition, and pattern of habitats across broad scales is what draws me to the field of landscape ecology. Regarding habitat, landscape ecologists strive to learn:
• How much is out there?
• What is its size and shape?
• Where is it on the landscape?
• How well connected is it?
• How is it maintained?
Land cover image of a portion of Centre County, PA. Image courtesy of the Penn State Cooperative Wetlands Center.
The answers to these questions can determine the degree to which the full complement of native species can thrive in a given landscape. Much of my work involves assessing the integrity of landscapes based on the species they support. Additional research in my lab addresses such topics as inventory and population assessment of rare species, ecological influences of invasive plants on native birds, and estimates of bird and bat mortality from collisions with human structures.
Female Black-and-White Warbler. This ground-nesting forest songbird breeds widely across the temperate forests of eastern North America, ranging even into western Oklahoma in cross timbers forest patches.
