Sean MacDonald
erroll4@illinois.edu
2014 B.S. Humboldt State University; Arcata, California
Research interests: I joined the Sperry Lab in the fall of 2015. I am broadly interested in Conservation Biology, Community Ecology, Wildlife Management, Ethology.
My current project is focused on monitoring the avian communities of several restoration sites for two critically endangered Hawaiian plants (i.e. Cyanea superba superba, Delissea waianaeensis) across the Waianae range on the island of Oahu, HI. More specifically, I am attempting to determine if non-native fruit eating birds readily consume the fruit of these two plant species thereby facilitating the seed dispersal role left vacant by extinct native birds (i.e. ‘O’O, Moa Nalo). Additionally, I am investigating the interactions between heterospecifics and conspecifics of both native and non-native bird species via playback experiments.
