Assistant Professor
Ph.D.  
  

13 Mulford Hall
Berkeley, California 94720
brashares@nature.berkeley.edu
office: 510-643-6080   lab: 510-643-6080   fax:  510-643-5098

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My research focuses broadly on the ecology, management and conservation of larger vertebrates, particularly mammals. Much of my work is field-based and incorporates elements of population, community, landscape and behavioral ecology to investigate impacts of over-exploitation, isolation and habitat loss on vertebrate populations and communities. I am actively involved in three areas of research:

• Causes and ecological consequences of bushmeat hunting in Africa
• Ecology and conservation of small populations
• Inter- and intra-specific variation in ecology and behavior

My work in these areas relies on data from long-term monitoring of animal abundance and distribution as well as information gained in the study of individually identified animals. My fieldwork currently is conducted in West Africa, East Africa and western North America.

In 1999, my collaborators in the Ghana Wildlife Division and I compiled 32 years of census data for 42 species of larger mammals occurring in Ghanaian savanna reserves. To date, we have used these data to identify a) behavioral, ecological, and life-history correlates of population persistence in reserves, b) the influence of human population density around reserves and reserve size on persistence of large mammal populations, and c) links between human livelihoods, food security and the conservation of wild vertebrates. Forthcoming work based on this unique data set includes research to identify: 1) species that regulate diversity and stability in intact and altered ecosystems as predators and/or competitors, and 2) changes in interactions among species that result from shifts in relative abundance and distribution. Future research also will delve further into links between human poverty and the conservation of biological diversity in Africa.

A second project focuses on the Vancouver Island marmot, Marmota vancouverensis. This species of marmot is North America’s most endangered mammal with an estimated wild population of 20-26 adult animals. In 2001, my collaborators and I began a multi-year, field-based study of the ecology and behavior of this imperiled species. Our primary objective is to test hypotheses for the decline of the V.I. marmot while identifying ecological or other factors essential to the successful reintroduction of captive-born animals. In 2003, our research was extended to include a study of the ecology and behavior of captive-reared V.I. marmots following their release into the wild.

A third group of projects focuses on the population and behavioral ecology of small antelope in Ghana and Tanzania. This research has been active since 1994 and has three major components: a) field-based studies of antelope populations subject to natural and experimentally induced variation in resource availability, habitat structure and predation pressure, b) laboratory-based studies employing molecular and fecal steroid analyses of samples collected from known animals in the field, and c) phylogenetic analyses and evolutionary reconstruction across multiple taxa to examine hypotheses about the evolution of coadaptation in ecology, life-history and behavior.

Brashares, J.S., P. Arcese, M.K. Sam, P.B. Coppolillo, A.R.E. Sinclair & A. Balmford. 2004. Bushmeat hunting, wildlife declines and fish supply in West Africa. Science 306, 1180-1183.

Brashares, J.S. & M.K. Sam. In press. How much is enough?: Estimating the minimum sampling required for effective monitoring of African reserves. Biodiversity and Conservation

Sinclair, A.R.E., S. Mduma & J.S. Brashares. 2003. Patterns of predation in a diverse predator-prey system. Nature 425: 288-290.

Brashares, J.S. 2003. Behavioral, ecological, and life-history correlates of mammal extinctions in West Africa. Conservation Biology 17: 733-743.

Milner-Gulland, E.J., E. Bennett, K, Abernethy, M. Bakarr, R. Bodmer, J.S. Brashares, G. Cowlishaw, P. Elkan, H. Eves, J. Fa, C. Peres, C. Roberts, J. Robinson, M. Rowcliffe & D. Wilkie. 2003. Wild meat: The big picture. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 18: 351-357. Brashares, J.S. & P. Arcese. 2002. Role of forage, habitat and predation in the behavioral plasticity of a small African antelope. Journal of Animal Ecology 71: 626-638.

Brashares, J.S., P. Arcese & M.K. Sam. 2001. Human demography and reserve size predict wildlife extinction in West Africa. Proceedings Royal Society of London: B 268: 2473-2478.

Brashares, J.S., T Garland jr. & P. Arcese. 2000. Phylogenetic analysis of coadaptation in behavior, diet, and body size in the African antelope. Behavioral Ecology 11: 452-463.

Brashares, J.S. & P. Arcese. 1999. Scent marking in a territorial African antelope: I. The maintenance of borders between male oribi. Animal Behaviour 57: 1-10.