Dr. Daniel Zuñiga
Main Focus
PhD thesis
On the ecology and evolution of partial migration: a field study on migrants and residents European blackbirds, with Jesko Partecke, Department of Migration and Immuno-Ecology, MPI for Ornithology Radolfzell
Curriculum Vitae
During my last year of Vet's School, I decided to make a change in
the direction of my career from veterinary medicine towards wildlife
research (animal behavior, behavioral ecology and ecology) so I did my
undergrad thesis studying the effect of biotic noise on the vocal
behavior of males of Batrachyla taeniata, a frog species that
inhabits the southern temperate austral forest in Chile.
In 2010 I moved to Panama and I started a series of internships in the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. I worked first collecting data for the Tungara frog project, which is focus to understand how sexual selection occurs in this frog species and which features of the male's advertisement calls are more attractive to females when they choose their mate. After that I worked on plant ecology, specifically on tree fall gaps. I measured the area of hundreds of tree fall gaps on Barro Colorado Island (BCI) and this data set was used to compared the accuracy of this measurements with LIDAR system. Finally I worked assessing an unusual increased mammals mortality phenomenon on BCI that happened during December 2010- January 2011. A particulary increased precipitation and lack of food triggered this dramatically event. During this time I joined the research group that is study a population of ocelots on the island, using camera traps. I still involved in this project.
On March 2011, I moved to Germany after receiving a scholarship from DAAD to work for 6 months on a research project under the supervision of Ralph Wanker (University of Hamburg), who worked extensively to understand the vocal communication system on of Spectacled parrotlets (Forpus conspicillatus). These birds develop individual contact calls to individual recognition. I worked on the development process that occur on juveniles.
On May 2012, I moved down south to Radolzell and I joined the Partecke's lab as a PhD student.
In 2010 I moved to Panama and I started a series of internships in the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. I worked first collecting data for the Tungara frog project, which is focus to understand how sexual selection occurs in this frog species and which features of the male's advertisement calls are more attractive to females when they choose their mate. After that I worked on plant ecology, specifically on tree fall gaps. I measured the area of hundreds of tree fall gaps on Barro Colorado Island (BCI) and this data set was used to compared the accuracy of this measurements with LIDAR system. Finally I worked assessing an unusual increased mammals mortality phenomenon on BCI that happened during December 2010- January 2011. A particulary increased precipitation and lack of food triggered this dramatically event. During this time I joined the research group that is study a population of ocelots on the island, using camera traps. I still involved in this project.
On March 2011, I moved to Germany after receiving a scholarship from DAAD to work for 6 months on a research project under the supervision of Ralph Wanker (University of Hamburg), who worked extensively to understand the vocal communication system on of Spectacled parrotlets (Forpus conspicillatus). These birds develop individual contact calls to individual recognition. I worked on the development process that occur on juveniles.
On May 2012, I moved down south to Radolzell and I joined the Partecke's lab as a PhD student.