David J. Anderson – WFU Biology

Dave Anderson, Research Professor

Professor of Biology (Emeritus)
& Research Professor

Teacher-Scholar Legacies: David Anderson

B.A. Denison University (1980)
M.S. University of Michigan (1986)
Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania (1989)
Assistant Prof. 1992-1998
Associate Prof. 1998-2004
Professor 2004-2024
Research Professor 2024-present

246 Winston Hall
(336) 758-5319
email: djanders at wfu.edu

Lab Website (click here)

Areas of Interest

Behavioral and Evolutionary Ecology, Avian Siblicide, Evolution of Reproductive Rates, Sex Allocation, Conservation Biology in the Galápagos Islands

Research

Our group’s research is on the evolutionary and behavioral ecology of birds. Of particular interest is the evolution of life histories and conservation biology of seabirds like boobies and albatrosses. We ask questions about the influence of variables such as reproductive effort and environmental heterogeneity on the evolution of characters like clutch size, offspring sex ratio, and sibling competition. Since 1984 we have pursued a major field research effort in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador on boobies, taking advantage of their tolerance of humans for comparative and experimental approaches to issues in evolutionary and behavioral ecology.

Prospective grad students: I’m approaching retirement so I’m not taking any new students. Sorry!

Recent Publications

(grad students in bold) (link to all publications)

TJ Maness, JK Grace, MR Hirchak, EM Tompkins, and DJ Anderson. 2023. Circulating corticosterone predicts near-term, while H/L ratio predict long-term, survival in a long-lived seabird. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 11–2023 doi: 10.3389/fevo.2023.1172904

JL Howard, EM Tompkins, and DJ Anderson. 2023. Age effects on Nazca booby foraging performance are constant across variation in the marine environment: results from a 5-year study in Galápagos. Ecology and Evolution doi:10.1002/ece3.10138

E Nourani, K Safi, S de Grissac, DJ Anderson, NC Cole, A Fell, D Grémillet, M Lerma, J McKee, NC Rattenborg, PG Ryan, DC Santos, S Schoombie, V Tatayah, B Voirin, H Weimerskirch, M Wikelski and ELC Shepard. 2023. Seabird morphology determines operational wind speeds, tolerable maxima and responses to extremes. Current Biology 33: 1–6.

EJ Rebol and DJ Anderson. 2022. Sex-specific aging in bite force in a wild vertebrate. Experimental Gerontology 159: 111661.

EM Tompkins and DJ Anderson. 2021. Breeding responses to environmental variation are age- and trait-dependent in female Nazca boobies. Ecology 102: e03457

M Beal, MP Dias, RA Phillips, S Oppel, C Hazin, EJ Pearmain, J Adams, DJ Anderson, and 74 other co-authors. 2021. Global political responsibility for the conservation of albatrosses and large petrels. Science Advances 7 (10): eabd7225.

JL Howard, EM Tompkins, and DJ Anderson. 2021. Effects of age, sex, and ENSO phase on foraging and flight performance in Nazca boobies. Ecology and Evolution 11:4084-4100.

EM Tompkins and DJ Anderson. 2019. Sex-specific patterns of reproductive senescence in Galápagos Nazca boobies linked to mating system. Journal of Animal Ecology 2019;88:986-1000.

J Champagnon, J-D Lebreton, H Drummond, and DJ Anderson. 2018. Pacific Decadal and El Niño oscillations shape survival of a seabird. Ecology 99:1063-1072.

SA Taylor, M Jenkins, M Manghani, T Birt, DJ Anderson, G Jiménez-Uzcátegui, and V Friesen. 2018. Genetic distinctiveness of brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) from the Galápagos Islands compared to continental North America. Conservation Genetics 19: 629-636, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-017-1041-8.

JK Grace and DJ Anderson. 2018. Early-life maltreatment predicts adult stress response in a long-lived wild bird. Biology Letters 14:20170679.

EM Tompkins, HM Townsend, and DJ Anderson. 2017. Decadal-scale variation in diet forecasts persistently poor breeding under ocean warming in a tropical seabird. PLoS ONE https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0182545

DJ Anchundia, JF Anderson, and DJ Anderson. 2017. Overland flight by seabirds at Isla Isabela, Galápagos. Marine Ornithology 45:139-141.

TJ Maness and DJ Anderson. 2017. Serum chemistry of free-ranging Nazca boobies (Sula granti). Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 48:1234-1238.

FA Estela, M López-Victoria, and DJ Anderson. 2016. Sula granti. in: LM Renjifo, MF Gómez, J Velásquez-Tibata, AM Amaya-Villareal, GH Kattan, JD Amaya-Espinel, and J Burbano-Girón (eds). Libro Rojo de Aves de Colombia, Volumen 2. Editorial Pontificia Universidad Javeriana e Instituto Alexander von Humboldt, Bogotá D. C., Colombia.

J Morris-Pocock, DJ Anderson, and VL Freisen. 2016. A complex history of isolation and gene flow in red-footed boobies (Sula sula): the role of biogeographic barriers to gene flow. Journal of Biogeography. DOI: 10.1111/jbi.12780

HA Thomassen, EM Tompkins, O Thalmann, DJ Anderson, and K Foerster. 2015. Development and characterization of SNP markers in Nazca boobies using Ion Torrent sequencing and high resolution melt analysis. Conservation Genetics Resources, doi 10.1007/s12686-015-0458-y.