Expertise

Foraging Ecology, Spatial Ecology and Animal Tracking

CV

2011

MSc Biological Sciences, University of Amsterdam

2007

BSc Earth Sciences, University of Amsterdam

2003

VWO (pre-university education), Stichtse Vrije School,  Zeist

Employed Record

2010-present

PhD student at NIOZ

2012

Nature guide Staatsbosbeheer

2010

Student assistant in Quantitative Population Ecology and Spatial Ecology, University of Amsterdam.

2008 – 2009

WIWO expedition to Oman. Subject: abundance and ecology of Siberian shorebirds wintering in the Middle-East.

2009

Nature guide at Svalbard.

2004-2006, 2008

Scientific expeditions to Taimyr, Northern Siberia (Russia) organized by Alterra, The Netherlands. Subject: breeding ecology of shorebirds and geese.

2005-2008

Project “Ganzen op de Klei” for Alterra, The Netherlands. Activity: responsible for quantifying wintering goose presence in SE Netherlands by dropping distribution.

Research Interest

My PhD project focuses on the pristine intertidal mudflats of Barr al Hikman, Oman where I study the foraging movements of crab plovers Dromas ardeola in relation to the distribution and behaviour of their prey. I aim to answer simple, fundamental questions as where do crab plovers forage, how much prey do they eat, how is the spatial distribution of the prey and how does the prey respond to the presence of the crab plover. 

With regard to the predator, I will answer these questions by tracking crab plovers with GPS loggers (the UvA bird tracking system). Besides location, these loggers measure acceleration, which enables a prediction of behaviour, for instance attack rates, handling times and resting rates. These loggers thus enables a study of the behaviour of crab plovers in space and time in the finest possible scale.

 The prey of the crab plovers  contains of swimming crabs and burrowing sentinel crabs. I measure the spatial distribution and the response to both crabs in relation to the presence of a foraging crab plover; the latter ideally is done using an experimental approach.

Combining the studies of the predator and the prey should lead to a prediction how Barr al Hikman would look without crab plovers, aiming to shed light on the hypothesis that Barr al Hikman turns into a biodiverse poor  ‘crab city’ when crab plovers are absent. Finally, I hope that my work can contribute to a better appreciation of the role of predators within ecosystems.

Internships and BSc/MSc projects

Are you an enthusiastic MSc. student in biology? There certainly are possibilities for internships.

Publications

Downloads

Shamoun-Baranes J, Bom R, van Loon EE, Ens BJ, Oosterbeek K, et al. (2012) From Sensor Data to Animal Behaviour: An Oystercatcher Example. PLoS ONE 7(5)

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