Tara Cornelisse

Graduate Student 2008-2013

Project Description:

My research focuses on relating climate change to metapopulation dynamics and habitat restoration of the endangered Ohlone tiger beetle (Cicindela ohlone) in Santa Cruz County. Tiger beetles are found across the global and are known indicator species of fragile habitats. By focusing my work on the Ohlone tiger beetle, I can not only provide detailed management recommendations to prevent the loss of this important endangered species, but also scale up my findings to shed light on climate change effects on ecosystems worldwide. Specifically, I am asking the questions:

• Does a warmer climate and reduced precipitation affect species habitat choice?
• Does climate change affect habitat choice more in small or isolated patches?
• Will movement into new habitat patches depend on the size and connectivity of the nearest patch?
• How do small or isolated habitat patches, like those predicted to be the result of climate change, affect population viability and individual genetic health relative to the metapopulation as a whole?

By creating new habitat and manipulating microclimate conditions in the new and current habitat, I can test both the effects of climate manipulations, namely increased temperature and reduced precipitation in the form of fog, on habitat choice as well as on movements into new habitat. By analyzing the survivorship of OTB populations in different patches and in my climate manipulated plots using a stage-class Population Viability Analysis, I can determine whether patch size and isolation affects the status of the local population and whether climate affects the survivorship of the larvae. Finally, when habitat is fragmented as a result of climate change, local populations are separated further from the metapopulation and species adapted to more connected habitat lack the dispersal capability to keep gene flow at levels that avoid inbreeding depression and local extinction. Thus, I am measuring inbreeding depression, using allozyme analysis, of the different populations to elucidate how the size and isolation of patches affects their genetic health relative to the overall metapopulation.

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