Robert Brooks

Title: Research Wildlife Biologist
Unit: Center for Research on Ecosystem Change
Previous Unit: Wildlife and Fish Habitat Relationships in New England Ecosystems
Address: Northern Research Station
201 Holdsworth NRC, Univ. of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003-9285
Phone: 413-545-0357
E-mail: Contact Robert Brooks

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Education

• Ph.D., Wildlife Management, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, 1984
• M.S., Wildlife Ecology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, 1974
• B.S., Wildlife Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1968

Civic & Professional Affiliations

• Member and officer, The Wildlife Society
• Member, Society of American Foresters
• Member, Society of Wetland Scientists
• Member, Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles

Current Research

• Currently, I am assessing the effectiveness of Massachusetts’ forestry Best Management Practices in conserving vernal pool fauna; assessing bat community composition in the principal habitats of the Quabbin Reservoir watershed; and assessing the recovery of forest floor temperature and relative humidity following timber harvesting
• My plans are to study the effects of active forest management on the northern myotis, our most forest-dependent bat. I also plan to continue my association with the Northeastern Forest Inventory and Analysis program, focusing on temporal changes in snag tree dynamics and the effects of urbanization on forest area characteristics

Why is This Important

• Best Management Practices are the most common legal or regulatory protection for vernal pools during forestry operations. BMP guidelines for vernal pools have been developed in various states but their effectiveness for protecting the pools and pool fauna have not been assessed.
• The composition and ecology of bats in New England are poorly understood. The Quabbin watershed is an excellent location to conduct bat research. The abundance of still and flowing water resources (important foraging sites) and of mature trees (day and maturnity roost sites) provides ideal potential habitat. The active forestry program, including extensive reserves, offers the almost unique opportunity to study the effects of forestry on bats in southern New England.

Future Research

• Continue seasonal forest pool research: litter processing, pool hydrology and climate change, land use history and pool crustaceans.
• Continue bat acoustic monitoring; initiate study of northern myotis.
• Design and implement a system of gradients to document the effects of urbanization on northeastern forests.
• Analyze long-term standing-dead (snag) dynamics of northeastern forests.

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