While the effects of disturbance on avian communities are well documented, how communities recover post-disturbance is not well understood, especially in the critically endangered habitat of the Chocó Rainforest. Currently, my field station is implementing a large-scale restoration project in this region (https://fcat-ecuador.org/conservation/). Assessments of bird communities through diversity surveys are often used as measures of restoration success. Thus, it is important to understand how avian communities reassemble as the forest recovers naturally so we can use these metrics as a baseline to compare the success of the restoration project. To do this, I am surveying communities across a chronosequence through mist-net and point count surveys, and am using functional traits of each species observed to understand differences in functional diversity metrics throughout the chronosequence. 

The Chocó Rainforest is a biodiversity hotspot located on the western slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes, where just a few acres of forest can contain more tree species than all of North America. However, this region is critically endangered, as less than 2% remains intact today due to deforestation from the increasing demand for cattle pasture and agricultural lands. FCAT (https://fcat-ecuador.org) is a community-led organization that is working to restore this ecosystem by implementing a unique restoration initiative that includes planting seed islands that will naturally expand through the promotion of dispersal agents. The seed islands include rapidly growing fruiting plant species aimed at attracting frugivorous species in hopes that they will visit the islands to eat the fruits, bringing outside seeds in, and then venture over un-restored habitats, dispersing the island seeds to new uncolonized areas. I am interested in aiding this effort by identifying how seed-dispersing animals can enhance forest restoration outcomes, where some species may have a more sufficient effect on enhancing forest restoration than others.