Paul Leberg

Paul Leberg
  • Faculty
  • Department Head
  • Professor
Dr. Paul Leberg is the Department Head and a professor in the Department of Biology and his research focuses on environmental and conservation biology.

Biography

Dr. Paul Leberg's special interests are in the application of theory from ecology, evolution, and population genetics to questions in wildlife management and conservation biology. Dr. Leberg's work employs experimental approaches to gain understanding of interactions between genetic diversity, environmental variation, and population viability under natural conditions. Students in Dr. Leberg's laboratory are evaluating how well theory and laboratory observations involving founder effects, bottlenecks, inbreeding, and outbreeding predict viability of experimental populations of vertebrates. They are also assessing how genetic diversity on population level processes is affected by fluctuating and stressful environments. Environmental stresses include parasitism, competition, predation, heavy metals, temperature, and salinity. This research adds to their understanding of how genetic variation influences a population's ability to survive in the face of biotic and abiotic threats and provides insight into the management of vertebrates in small populations and the restoration of species to areas from which they have been extirpated.

Dr. Leberg's research interests also include the effects of human activities on the genetics, evolution, and ecology of vertebrates. Genetic diversity is assessed in wildlife species whose population structures have been altered by humans, and in experimentally manipulated populations maintained in simulated natural conditions. As part of this work, Dr. Leberg is evaluating the relative power of different biochemical and molecular techniques to assess variation in genetic diversity within and among populations, as well as to serve as tags for the study of individual movement and estimation of population size. Dr. Leberg and his students are also examining the effects of habitat change, such as wetland loss and forest alteration, on a diverse group of vertebrates including fish, seabirds, songbirds, and bats.

Education

Ph.D. in Ecology, 1990
欧美三级片 of Georgia

M.S. in Biology, 1985
欧美三级片 of Memphis

B.S. in Wildlife and Biology, 1982
欧美三级片 of Wisconsin, Stevens Point

Student Research/Collaboration

  • Environmental Biology
  • Conservation Biology
  • Ecology, Biometrics
  • Molecular Ecology
  • Coastal Ecology and restoration
  • Biotic Consequences of Climate Variation

Opportunities for Student Research/Collaboration:

Field and laboratory work in association with Graduate Student research in coastal Louisiana

Publications

  • Byerly, P.A, R. T. Chesser, R. C. Fleischer 4 , N. McInerney, N. A. S. Przelomska, and P.L. Leberg 2022. Museum genomics provide evidence for persistent genetic differentiation in a threatened seabird species in the Western Atlantic. Integrative and Comparative Biology
  • Byerly, P.A, S. Zaluski, D. Nellis, and P.L. Leberg 2022. Effects of Colony Disturbance on Reproductive Success and Nest Defense Behaviors in Caribbean Roseate Terns. Waterbirds in press. 
  • Jones, LR, E. Godollei, , A Sosa, K Hucks, ST Walter, PL Leberg, and J. Spring. 2021. Validating an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) approach to survey colonial waterbirds. Waterbirds, 43, 263-270. doi.org/10.1675/063.043.0304
  • Hauser, S. S., Athrey, G., & Leberg, P. L. 2021. Waste not, want not: Microsatellites remain an economical and informative technology for conservation genetics. Ecology and Evolution, 11, 15800鈥15814. doi. org/10.1002/ece3.8250
  • Byerly, P.A, S. Zaluski, D. Nellis, and P.L. Leberg 2021. Colony characteristics influence nest survival of Caribbean Roseate Terns. Ornithological Applications, 123: doi.org/10.1093/ornithapp/duaa069
  • Hauser S., and P.L. Leberg P. 2020. Riparian areas potentially provide crucial corridors through fragmented landscape for black-capped vireo (Vireo atricapilla) source-sink system. Conservation Genetics, 22:1-10.
  • Byerly, P.A, H. Waddle, A. Romero Premeaux, and P.L. Leberg. 2020. Effects of barrier island salt marsh restoration on marsh bird occurrence in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Restoration Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.13222
  • Geary, B., S.T. Walter, P.L. Leberg, J. Karubian. 2020. Breeding Brown Pelicans improve foraging performance as energetic needs rise. In press, Scientific Reports. Doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-58528-z
  • Klerks P.L,, G.N. Athrey, and P.L. Leberg 2019. Response to Selection for Increased Heat Tolerance in a Small Fish Species, With the Response Decreased by a Population Bottleneck. Front. Ecol. Evol. 7:270. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00270
  • Geary, B., S.T. Walter, P.L. Leberg, J. Karubian. 2019. Condition-dependent foraging strategies in a coastal seabird: evidence for the rich get richer hypothesis, Behavioral Ecology, https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ary173
  • Schulz, J.L. and P.L. Leberg. 2019. Factors Affecting Prey Availability and Habitat Use of Nonbreeding Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) in Coastal Louisiana. Journal of Coastal Research. 35: 861鈥871 ISSN 0749-0208. doi: 10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-17-00147.1
  • Hauser, S.S., L. Walker, and P.L. Leberg. 2018. Asymmetrical gene flow of the recently delisted passerine black鈥恈apped vireo (Vireo atricapilla) indicates source鈥恠ink dynamics in central Texas. Ecology and Evolution, DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4764
  • Hauser, S., K. Wakeland, and P.L. Leberg. 2018. Inconsistent use of multiple comparison corrections in studies of population genetic structure: Are some Type I errors more tolerable than others? Molecular Ecology Resources. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.12947.
  • Baker, A.D., and P.L. Leberg. 2018. Impacts of human recreation on carnivores in protected areas. PLOS ONE. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195436
  • Geary, B., S. M. Longest, K. Ottewell, S. M. Lantz, S. T. Walter, J. Karubian and P. L. Leberg. 2017. Genetic structure of brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) in the northern Gulf of Mexico in the context of human management and disturbance. PLOS ONE 12:e0185309.
  • Jones, L., D. M. Johnson, S. M. Duke-Sylester, and P. L. Leberg. 2017. Closing the gaps for animal seed dispersal: separating the effects of habitat loss on dispersal distances and seed aggregation. Ecology and Evolution. 7(14):5410-5425 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.3113/full)
  • Hutchison, N.L., R.F. Lance, C.E. Pekins, M.E. Noble, and P.L. Leberg. 2016. Influence of geomorphology and surface features on the genetic structure of an important trogloxene, the secret cave cricket (Ceuthophilus secretus). Conservation Genetics 17:969-983

Awards & Recognition

  • 2012-present John Chance Board of Regents Support Fund Professorship, 欧美三级片 of Louisiana 
  • 2007 Foundation Distinguished Professor, 欧美三级片 of Louisiana Foundation 
  • 2006-2012 Fritz Lang Board of Regents Support Fund Professorship in Environmental Biology, 欧美三级片 of Louisiana