wetland ecology and conservation
I am passionate about wetland ecosystems and wetland conservation. Wetlands are some of the most endangered habitats on earth. Loss of wetlands has been most severe in North America, with over 50% disappearing in the last two centuries. I have worked on wetland restoration projects in Florida and used historical maps to document landscape-scale wetland changes in Virginia.
Wetlands support a disproportionate amount of aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity, and thus their loss is of considerable conservation concern. I have a particular affinity for amphibians and reptiles that inhabit wetlands. Past projects include employing drift fences to investigate mechanisms of coexistence in amphibian communities, using call survey data to characterize the phenology and occupancy dynamics of the Florida Bog Frog, and building hydrology models to characterize the prefered habitat of the Bog Turtle.
Publications
Brooks,G. C., R. M. Moore, B. K. Rincon, T. A. Gorman, and C.A. Haas. Phenological differences help to maintain reproductive isolation and facilitate the coexistence of two sympatric frogs. in review
Brooks, G. C., T. A. Gorman, C. Proctor, B. K. Rincon, and C.A. Haas. Prescribed fire promotes site recolonization in the Florida Bog Frog, Rana okaloosae. in review
Chandler, H. C., N. M. Caruso, G. C. Brooks, and C. A. Haas. 2024. Wetland hydrology, not altered phenology, challenges Reticulated Flatwoods Salamander (Ambystoma bishopi) management under future climate change. Ichthyology and Herpetology 112:531-543. link
Feaga, J. B., J. Barron, G. C. Brooks, E. A. Frimpong, C. A. Haas, M. Holden, and E. Hultin. A hydrologic and land cover-based habitat model for use in bog turtle (Glyptemys muhlenbergii) conservation. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 34:e4215. link
Brooks, G. C., N. M. Caruso, H. C. Chandler, and C.A. Haas. 2023. Niche partitioning and the storage effect facilitate coexistence in an amphibian community. Ecology and Evolution 13:e10629. link
Brooks, G. C., T. A. Gorman, K. C. Jones, H. C. Chandler, B. K. Rincon, M. A. Sission, J. Himes, and C. A. Haas. 2023. Removing duff layers in fire-suppressed wetlands can aid habitat restoration efforts. Wetlands 43:95. link
Chandler, H. C., N. M. Caruso, D. L. McLaughlin, Y. Jiao, G. C. Brooks, and C. A. Haas. 2023. Forecasting the flooding dynamics of flatwoods salamander breeding wetlands under future climate change scenarios. PeerJ 11:e16050. link
