Broadly speaking, my research interests include landscape ecology and community ecology in grasslands and urban ecosystems.  More specifically, my interests focus on examining how human activity affects the abundance, distribution, and behaviors of animals by altering the spatial distribution of resources in heterogeneous and dynamic landscapes.  The research projects conducted by me and my students typically focus on arthropods and birds, but the focal organism is not as important as the research question being asked. 

Main Research Projects of the McIntyre Lab 

Influence of anthropogenic land use on animal diversity, distributions, and extinction risk

Of all the anthropogenic activities that affect organisms, landscape change stemming from land conversion (primarily agriculture and urbanization) is the most intensive and cosmopolitan.  This topic is the main focus of my lab.  Within this broad category, there are several areas of concentration.

Effects of anthropogenic land use on odonates of the playas of the Llano Estacado:

Of all the habitats being affected by anthropogenic land use, wetlands are among the most impacted.  In the U.S., for example, it has been estimated that about 50% of wetlands have been lost to land conversion in the past 200 years.  Indeed, freshwater wetlands are among the most imperiled habitats on Earth, being vulnerable to direct human activities (e.g. drainage, infill) as well as to indirect human actions such as those inducing global climate change.  Such effects are particularly hard-felt in arid areas, where water is already a limited resource.  For example, in the southernmost Great Plains (known as the Llano Estacado), the main source of aboveground freshwater is from ephemeral, runoff-fed wetlands known as playas.  These wetlands are oases for wildlife but are highly subject to anthropogenic inputs (chemicals, sediments).  For more info on playas, check out the Playa Lakes Joint Venture website. 

Little is known about the diversity of odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) of the playas of the Llano Estacado, or how that diversity is impacted by human activity.  We are using odonates as model organisms with which to examine how human activity influences individual ontogeny, population distributions, and community diversity; odonates are serving as representatives of any organism that is living in habitat of diminishing quality.  Furthermore, we are using this model system to predict the impacts of projected regional trends of human activity and global climate change on wetlands.  Former HHMI Research Scholars Kyle Hernandez and Crystal Craig and current Ph.D. candidate Bryan Reece are involved in this long-term project.

References:

Urban ecology:

I have a long-standing interest in urban ecology (i.e., how the abundance, diversity, distribution, and behaviors of organisms are altered by conversion of native habitat to urban forms of land-use).  I am affiliated with the Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research project in urban ecology.  My work with the CAP-LTER has focused primarily on arthropods; my more recent work in urban ecology has been on Burrowing Owls (details below).  

References:

Impact of urbanization on Western Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) in Texas:

This project, recently completed, was conducted in collaboration with colleagues in the Dept. of Biological Sciences (Dr. Rich Strauss), the Dept. of Natural Resources Mgmt. (Dr. Mark Wallace), the Texas Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit (Dr. Clint Boal), and BWXT Pantex L.L.C. (Dr. Jim Ray).  Western Burrowing Owls typically nest in burrows excavated by prairie dogs, which occur within urban (e.g. within the city limits of Lubbock) and rural or agricultural settings.  Thus, although the owls’ local environment may be constant (a prairie dog colony), the landscape context of their local environment may be differentially impacted by human activity.  We monitored the behaviors and foraging efficiency of owls in urban and agricultural settings over two years.  In so doing, we also evaluated the effects of radio-transmitters on the owls’ behaviors.  Grad student Erica Chipman recently completed her M.S. degree as part of this project.

References:

Landscape genetics of tarantulas

Despite their abundance and importance in arid and semi-arid ecosystems, the ecology and population structure of tarantulas are poorly understood.  It is unknown, for example, whether tarantula colonies represent genetic lineages, which has important implications for tarantula conservation.  There is also little baseline information on the overall genetic diversity of tarantulas throughout their range.  This lack of knowledge stems directly from a lack of information on dispersal characteristics of this group.  With assistance from HHMI Research Scholar Crystal Craig, recent Ph.D. recipient Donna Hamilton used both direct (PIT tags and radio-telemetry) and indirect (mtDNA) measures of dispersal to examine population structure in the tarantula genus Aphonopelma.  This project was co-advised by Dr. Lou Densmore.  

Manuscripts are currently in preparation.

Ornithological curation

I am the Curator of Birds at the Natural Science Research Laboratory (NSRL) at The Museum of Texas Tech University. Click here for more information (will redirect you to the NSRL website).

Ecology of the Great Plains

Inspired by William Least Heat-Moon's PrairyErth, my long-standing love affair with the prairie has led me to collect quotes about the region. 

References:

For other recent or current projects: see publications page.