Beth Kaplin

Last updated
Beth Kaplin
NationalityUnited States
Alma mater University of Wisconsin–Madison
Occupations
  • Conservation scientist
  • professor
  • researcher
Scientific career
Fields Conservation biology
Institutions

Beth Kaplin is an American conservation scientist, professor and researcher. She is professor of conservation science in the College of Science and Technology at the University of Rwanda. [1] [2] She is also a research professor in the School for the Environment and a senior fellow at the Centre for Governance and Sustainability, both at the University of Massachusetts Boston. [1]

Contents

Education

She received a Ph.D. Dept of Zoology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1998; an M.Sc., department of Zoology; University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1994; and B.Sc Wildlife biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, 1986. As an undergraduate, she studied Biological Sciences at Purdue University, 1981-83 with a focus on ecology and conservation science. [3]

Career

From 2006 to 2015, Kaplin raised over US$1 million from the MacArthur Foundation to develop BSc and MSc programs in biodiversity conservation at the National University of Rwanda. [2]

From 1998 to 2018, Kaplin served as a faculty member in the Environmental Studies Department at Antioch University New England in the U.S. During her tenure, she held the position of program director for the Ph.D. program. [4]

Kaplin serves as the Director of the Centre of Excellence in Biodiversity and Natural Resource Management (CoEB) at the University of Rwanda. The CoEB focuses on advancing research and knowledge exchange and sustainable practices in biodiversity conservation and natural resource management. Under Kaplin's leadership, the centre has become a prominent hub of conservation and sciences in the region. [5] [1]

Research

Much of Kaplin's research focuses on tropical ecology and conservation [6] [7] the main area of the study is Biodiversity information system [8] ,protected areas conservation, [9] seed dispersal ecology and many more.

Kaplin recently studied the golden monkey, [10] a subspecies of the blue monkey, [11] residing in the Virunga volcanic mountains of the central Africa. Found in national parks such as Volcanoes , Virunga, and Kahuzi. The golden monkey lives in social groups of up to 30 individuals and feeds on bamboo leaves fruits and probably insects. [12] Kaplin in her publication concluded that "unfortunately due to habitat destruction and recent conflicts in their limited range, the golden monkey is classified as endangered species on the IUCN Red list".

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cloud forest</span> Type of rainforest

A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level, formally described in the International Cloud Atlas (2017) as silvagenitus. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and vegetation, in which case they are also referred to as mossy forests. Mossy forests usually develop on the saddles of mountains, where moisture introduced by settling clouds is more effectively retained.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests</span> Habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Cameroon</span> Active volcano in Cameroon near the Gulf of Guinea

Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in the South West region of Cameroon next to the city of Buea near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako or by its indigenous name Mongo ma Ndemi. Mount Cameroon is ranked 22nd by topographic isolation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain gorilla</span> Subspecies of the eastern gorilla

The mountain gorilla is one of the two subspecies of the eastern gorilla. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN as of 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volcanoes National Park</span> National park in Rwanda

Volcanoes National Park is a national park in northwestern Rwanda. It covers 160 km2 (62 sq mi) of rainforest and encompasses five of the eight volcanoes in the Virunga Mountains, namely Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga and Sabyinyo. It borders Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. It is home to the mountain gorilla and the golden monkey, and was the base for the primatologist Dian Fossey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virunga National Park</span> National park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Virunga National Park is a national park in the Albertine Rift Valley in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was created in 1925. In elevation, it ranges from 680 m (2,230 ft) in the Semliki River valley to 5,109 m (16,762 ft) in the Rwenzori Mountains. From north to south it extends approximately 300 km (190 mi), largely along the international borders with Uganda and Rwanda in the east. It covers an area of 8,090 km2 (3,120 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bwindi Impenetrable National Park</span> National park in Uganda

The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a national park in southwestern Uganda. It is part of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and is situated along the Democratic Republic of the Congo border next to the Virunga National Park and on the edge of the Albertine Rift. Composed of 321 km2 (124 sq mi) of both montane and lowland forest, it is accessible only on foot. It is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization-designated World Heritage Site.

The Nyungwe Forest is located in southwestern Rwanda, on the border with Burundi, where it is contiguous with the Kibira National Park to the south, and Lake Kivu and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. The Nyungwe rainforest is probably the best preserved montane rainforest in Africa. It is located in the watershed between the basin of the Congo River to the west and the basin of the river Nile to the east. From the east side of the Nyungwe forest comes also one of the branches of the Nile sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mgahinga Gorilla National Park</span> National Park in Uganda

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is a national park in southwestern Uganda. It was created in 1991 and covers an area of 33.9 km2 (13.1 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afromontane</span> Subregion of the Afrotropical realm

The Afromontane regions are subregions of the Afrotropical realm, one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms, covering the plant and animal species found in the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The Afromontane regions of Africa are discontinuous, separated from each other by lower-lying areas, and are sometimes referred to as the Afromontane archipelago, as their distribution is analogous to a series of sky islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albertine Rift</span> Western branch of the East African Rift

The Albertine Rift is the western branch of the East African Rift, covering parts of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. It extends from the northern end of Lake Albert to the southern end of Lake Tanganyika. The geographical term includes the valley and the surrounding mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albertine Rift montane forests</span> Ecoregion in east-central Africa

The Albertine Rift montane forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in east-central Africa. The ecoregion covers the mountains of the northern Albertine Rift, and is home to distinct Afromontane forests with high biodiversity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of Rwanda</span>

The wildlife of Rwanda comprising its flora and fauna, in prehistoric times, consisted of montane forest in one third the territory of present-day Rwanda. However, natural vegetation is now mostly restricted to the three national parks and four small forest reserves, with terraced agriculture dominating the rest of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden monkey</span> Subspecies of Old World monkey

The golden monkey is a subspecies of the blue monkey. It is an Old World monkey found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central Africa, including four national parks: Mgahinga, in south-west Uganda; Volcanoes, in north-west Rwanda; and Virunga and Kahuzi-Biéga, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is restricted to highland forest, especially near bamboo.

The Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve, whose site is historically known as Majang, is situated on the Mambilla Plateau in North East Nigeria, covering 46 km2. It can be reached on foot from Yelwa village past the Mayo Jigawal, from where it is less than half an hour’s walk to the upper edge of the forest. The elevation ranges from 1,400 metres (4,593 ft) to 1,600 metres (5,249 ft). Ngel Nyaki was formally gazetted a local authority Forest Reserve under Gashaka - Mambilla Native Authority Forest order of April 1969, but presently it is under the management of the Taraba State Government and the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), with the Nigerian Montane Forest Project (NMFP) as a project partner.

The Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary in Cross River State in southern Nigeria covers 104 km2 (40 sq mi). The wildlife sanctuary was founded in 2000 to provide refuge for endangered animal species, including the Cross River gorilla, the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee, the drill and the gray-necked rockfowl.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montane ecosystems</span> Ecosystems found in mountains

Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial factor in shaping plant community, biodiversity, metabolic processes and ecosystem dynamics for montane ecosystems. Dense montane forests are common at moderate elevations, due to moderate temperatures and high rainfall. At higher elevations, the climate is harsher, with lower temperatures and higher winds, preventing the growth of trees and causing the plant community to transition to montane grasslands and shrublands or alpine tundra. Due to the unique climate conditions of montane ecosystems, they contain increased numbers of endemic species. Montane ecosystems also exhibit variation in ecosystem services, which include carbon storage and water supply.

Colin A. Chapman is a professor at the Vancouver Island University in British Columbia, Canada. In addition, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, an Honorary Lecturer at Makerere University in Uganda, a Member of the Committee of Research and Exploration at National Geographic, and an Associate Scientists of the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York. Prior to taking on his position at McGill University, he was at the University of Florida in the Department of Zoology from 1993 to 2004. He is internationally recognized for his 30+ years of research into primate ecology, population regulation, nutrition, and disease dynamics and for his contribution to conservation globally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leaf flushing</span>

Leaf flushing or leaf out is the production of a flush of new leaves typically produced simultaneously on all branches of a bare plant or tree. Young leaves often have less chlorophyll and the leaf flush may be white or red, the latter due to presence of pigments, particularly anthocyanins. Leaf flushing succeeds leaf fall, and is delayed by winter in the temperate zone or by extreme dryness in the tropics. Leaf fall and leaf flushing in tropical deciduous forests can overlap in some species, called leaf-exchanging species, producing new leaves during the same period when old leaves are shed or almost immediately after. Leaf-flushing may be synchronized among trees of a single species or even across species in an area. In the seasonal tropics, leaf flushing phenology may be influenced by herbivory and water stress.

Julie Sloan Denslow is an American botanist, ecologist and biologist. She grew up in South Florida, and always loved nature. She graduated from Coral Gables Senior High School in 1960. She has contributed to the field of ecology through her work with and research of tropical ecosystems. Earlier in her career, she spent significant time in the field in tropical locations such as Costa Rica and Panama, as well as in temperate locations in Louisiana. and later on in her career she worked more in the office and classroom, but still spent the occasional day in the field. She has focused on research involving the ecology of exotic invasive plant species, and on ecosystem reactions and recovery following disturbances. Denslow is also a strong supporter of gender equality in the natural sciences, pushing for equal representation of women involved in tropical research and leadership during a 2007 Gender Committee Meeting within the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC). Her most notable contribution to tropical research is her paper "Gap Partitioning among Tropical Rainforest Trees", published in 1980.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "RBIS | Beth A. Kaplin". rbis.ur.ac.rw. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  2. 1 2 "UMass Boston". www.umb.edu. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  3. https://bethkaplin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Kaplin-CV-2019-academic.pdf bethkaplin.org (PDF)
  4. "Beth Kaplin | Antioch University New England - Academia.edu". antiochne.academia.edu. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  5. "Center of Excellence in Biodiversity and Natural Resources Management (CoEB)". coebiodiversity.ur.ac.rw. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  6. "Tree phenology in a tropical montane forest in Rwanda". scholar.google.com.
  7. Sun, Chin; Kaplin, Beth A.; Kristensen, Kurt A.; Munyaligoga, Viateur; Mvukiyumwami, Joseph; Kajondo, Kanyoyo Ka; Moermond, Timothy C. (1996). "Tree Phenology in a Tropical Montane Forest in Rwanda". Biotropica. 28 (4): 668–681. Bibcode:1996Biotr..28..668S. doi:10.2307/2389053. JSTOR   2389053.
  8. "Tree phenology in a tropical montane forest in Rwanda". scholar.google.com.
  9. "Tree phenology in a tropical montane forest in Rwanda". scholar.google.com.
  10. Kaplin, B. A.; Munyaligoga, V.; Moermond, T. C. (March 1998). "The Influence of Temporal Changes in Fruit Availability on Diet Composition and Seed Handling in Blue Monkeys ( Cercopithecus mitis doggetti ) 1". Biotropica. 30 (1): 56–71. Bibcode:1998Biotr..30...56K. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.1998.tb00369.x.
  11. Nokelainen, Ossi; Winters, Sandra; Rowe, Zeke; Campos, Fernando A.; Wikberg, Eva C.; Howell, Natasha; Caro, Tim (6 February 2024). "Black-and-white pelage as visually protective coloration in colobus monkeys". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 78 (2): 23. Bibcode:2024BEcoS..78...23N. doi: 10.1007/s00265-024-03434-x .
  12. Kaplin, B.A.; Moermond, T.C. (April 2000). "Foraging ecology of the mountain monkey (Cercopithecus l'hoesti): Implications for its evolutionary history and use of disturbed forest". American Journal of Primatology. 50 (4): 227–246. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-2345(200004)50:4<227::AID-AJP1>3.0.CO;2-S. PMID   10768348.