Harald Beck, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Curator of the Mammal Museum
Department of Biological Sciences
Towson University
Towson, MD 21252 USA
Office: Smith 249
Phone: 410-704-3125
Fax: 410-704-2405
email: hbeck@towson.edu
Education:
Postdoctoral
Duke University, NC (Dr. John Terborgh)
University of Miami, FL (Dr. Michael Gaines)
Ph.D. University of Miami, FL
M.S. University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
Courses Taught:
BIOL 213 Human Anatomy & Physiology I
BIOL 458/558 Mammalogy
Courses in Development:
BIOL 446/546 Tropical Ecology and Conservation
BIOL 447/547 Tropical Field Ecology (Summer 2008)
BIOL 486 Biology Seminar (Spring 2008)
View complete curriculum vitae
Research Interests:
My current research focuses on understanding how disturbances, either natural (i.e. treefalls, ecosystem engineers) or anthropogenic
(i.e. habitat destruction, overhunting) affect the population dynamics and species richness of mammals and plants in the Amazon. For
instance, the dramatic impact of peccaries (a pig-like creature) on the forest ecology is apparent to anyone who has watched a
300-strong herd of these animals thunder through the understory (animal mediated disturbance). But because of habitat destruction
and hunting (anthropogenic disturbance), the species has been driven to local extinction and a new generation of trees is maturing
without the massive seed predation, dispersal (mammal-plant interactions), soil disturbance, or physical damage wrought by peccaries. To test some of these hypotheses, I have set up several long-term experiments in Cocha Cashu and Los Amigos, two sites within the Peruvian Amazon. Furthermore, in collaboration with colleagues from the IUCN Tapir Specialists Group, we are currently testing the impact of tapir disturbances on the seedling and sapling communities using hundreds of exclosures across five Neotropical countries and in Malaysia.
Another “hot topic” in my lab is to quantify the role of ecosystem engineers. These species physically modify and create new habitats
and thereby control the availability of resources to species. However, unlike most mammalian ecosystem engineers (i.e. beavers), I
posit that peccaries have two distinct engineering mechanisms. First, while foraging for below-ground resources they “bulldoze” through the soil, creating germination sites for “leaf litter-gap dependent” plant species, and thus potentially increasing plant richness. Second, peccaries can function as ecosystem engineers by creating and maintaining wallows that may be critical habitats for aquatic species. Since 2003 I have been studying the effects of peccaries as ecosystem engineers.
Other research projects include experiments on different mechanisms of seed dispersal, predation by peccaries and tapirs.
Results from these studies are crucial for understanding the role of mammals within their ecosystem, and help us to develop new
conservation and management strategies.
Curator of the TU Mammal Collection:
I am revitalizing and expanding the mammal museum collection and welcome students who are interested in helping!
Publications:
Beck, H., S. McKean and J.S. Carrillo. 2007. Liophis reginae (Reticulated Snake). Diet. Herpetological Review. In press.
Paine, C.E.T. and H. Beck. 2007. Seed predation by Neotropical rainforest mammals increases diversity in seedling recruitment. Ecology. In press.
Beck, H. 2006. A review of peccary-palm interactions and their ecological ramifications across the Neotropics.
Journal of Mammalogy 87:519-530.
Beck, H. 2005. Seed predation and dispersal by peccaries throughout the Neotropics and its consequences: a review and
synthesis. Pages 77-115. In P-M. Forget, J. E. Lambert, P.E. Hulme and S. B. Vander Wall (eds.). Seed fate: predation, dispersal
and seedling establishment. CABI Publishing, Wallingfort, UK.
Beck, H., M. S. Gaines, J. E. Hines and J. D. Nichols. 2004. Comparative dynamics of small mammal populations in treefall gaps and surrounding understorey within Amazonian rainforest. Oikos 106:27-38.
Leite-Pitman, R., H. Beck and P.M. Velazco. 2003. Mamíferos terrestres y arbóreos de la selva baja de la Amazonía peruana: entre los ríos Manu y Alto Purús. Pages 109-122. In R. Leite-Pitman, N. Pitman and P. Alvarez (eds). Alto Purús: Biodiversidad, Conservación y Manejo. Impresso Grafica S.A. Lima, Peru. Pp. 350.
Nassar J. M., H. Beck, L. da S. L. Sternberg and T. H. Fleming. 2003. Dependence on cacti and agaves in nectar-feeding bats from Venezuelan arid zones. Journal of Mammalogy 84:106-116.
Gaines, M.S., J.E. Diffendorfer, C.R. Sasso and H. Beck. 2002. Effects of tree island size and hydroperiod on the population dynamics of small mammals in the Everglades. Pages 429-444. In F.H.Sklar and A. van der Valk (eds). Tree Islands of the Everglades. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Pp. 541.
Beck, H. and J. Terborgh. 2002. Groves vs. isolates: how spatial aggregation of Astrocaryum murumuru palms affects seed removal.
Journal of Tropical Ecology 18:275-288.
Beck-King, H., O. v. Helversen and R. Beck-King. 1999. Home range, Population density, and food resources of Agouti paca (Rodentia:Agoutidae) in Costa Rica: a study using alternative methods. Biotropica 31:675-685.
Graduate Students:
Chara Batchelder
Project: Tracking infection rates of Borrelia burgdorferi in wild mammal species
My project is centered on spatial/temporal hypotheses where detecting infection rates of Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, in the present will be compared to infection rates of previous studies thereby determining changes in the distribution of the bacteria. There have been correlations shown between infection rates of B. burgdorferi in ticks and the wild mammal population. I will compare past and present infection rates and using GIS and create a predictive model to test where future human cases may occur based on the distribution of B. burgdorferi.
Melissa Cameron
Project: Do peccaries function as ecosystem engineers?
I am working in the Peruvian Amazon where I am testing the impact of peccaries on frog diversity. Peccaries (Tayassuidae), pig-like ungulate, create and maintain wallows that may contain water year-round. Thus they may be crucial breeding habitat for frogs, particularity during the dry season. If this is true, peccaries may maintain and increase frog diversity and could be considered ecosystem engineers. Peccaries have been heavily impacted by habitat deforestation and hunting, leading to extirpation over much of their range. If peccaries act as ecosystem engineers, frog diversity may decrease in areas without peccaries.
Undergraduate Students:
Kristin Farris (Honors Student)
Honors Thesis: The impact of large tropical mammals on the seedling community
Jennifer Li
Project: Partitioning sources of physical damages on seedling survival.
I am currently working with Dr. Beck to study the effect of physical disturbances, both direct (i.e. falling canopy debris) and indirect (i.e. herbivory), on the seedling community of temperate broad leaved forests. For this study, locations of varying deer densities (both high and moderate) have been located within George Washington National Forest and Shenandoah National Forest. Exclosures within the forests of Front Royal Virginia, that have been maintained for the past 12 years by the Front Royal Smithsonian Research Center, will be utilized as zero deer density controls.
Starting in May 2007, we set up 900 artificial seedlings at each site along 12 transects and will monitor those over the course of a year for damage. For each “seedling” that is damaged, the cause of damage will be determined and recorded in order to ascertain and quantify the frequency of different physical disturbance types. This study will help the community at large to better understand the ecological impact of uncontrolled deer populations on the succession of temperate broad leaved forests.
I cordially invite undergraduate and graduate students to work with me in my lab. I envision an intellectually
stimulating and fun lab environment.