Amaris is a Red Raider in the great city of Lubbock, Texas. She earned her undergraduate degree in Natural Resources Management with a concentration in Wildlife Biology before deciding to pursue a master’s degree at Tech as well. Throughout her time as an undergrad and after graduation, she worked on an array of different research projects on topics such as White-Tailed fawn survival, grazing studies with NRCS, Juniper titmice and invasive plant encroachment, quail escape cover preference and endoparasite analysis, and microplastic consumption in suckermouth catfish species. Of the many species she has worked with, her favorite species to handle has been the Sandhill Crane, and her current target species: owls. Aside from wildlife biology, she enjoys learning new languages, sharpening her hunting and fishing skills, two-stepping, and picking up new crafting hobbies.
Texas Tech University
Major Advisor:
Clint W. Boal, Ph.D.
Habitat Associations, Resource Partitioning, and Community Structure of Owls
As a taxonomic group, owls are some of the poorest understood avian species in North America due to their nocturnal behavior. Far less is understood for multi-species owl community structure in terms of species overlap, exclusion, or resource partitioning. My study objectives are to determine owl species-specific densities, assess nesting habitat associations, spatial distributions, and extent of overlap of owl species on the Welder Wildlife Refuge. Additionally, I will determine nesting success and compare prey use among species. I will use call playback methods to locate areas occupied by owls, then use ground searches for nest location, and subsequent productivity monitoring, nesting habitat assessments, and extent of overlap of owl species. Regurgitated pellet dissections will facilitate understanding prey use and partitioning among species. By systematically collecting these data, a clearer understanding of the owl community structure and roles within the local ecosystem can be obtained and used to assess regional population trends, and questions of fluctuations in distribution or phenology associated with a changing climate.
welderwildlife.org 