Departmental Mission Statement
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| Jim Armacost
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| Assistant Professor of Biology
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Office:
205-15 Hayes
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Phone:
(409) 880-1756
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| Email: jim.armacost@lamar.edu |
Education
2007 Ph.D. Biology Illinois State University
1998 M.S. Biology Mississippi State University
1993 B.S. Zoology Louisiana State University
Courses Taught: Anatomy and Physiology I (Biol 2401), Anatomy and Physiology II (Biol 2402), Ornithology (Biol 4409), Conservation Biology (Biol 4300), and Tropical Forest Ecology (Biol 4400).
Research Interests
I’m a broadly trained naturalist with interests in ecology, natural history, biodiversity, and conservation biology. My research deals with avian ecology and conservation. I’ve conducted ornithological fieldwork in the United States, Peru, and Japan. My primary interest is in habitat use by birds, and most of my research has addressed this interest. Habitat use is of fundamental importance because it is both central to understanding wildlife ecology and central to the management and conservation of wildlife, including birds. A secondary interest, which is reflected in much of my research, is the effect of human habitat modification on bird communities. My students and I are currently involved in three research projects.
M.S. student Andrea Ayers is studying the impact of an electrical transmission line on avian populations in the J. D. Murphree State Wildlife Management Area, Jefferson County, Texas. Birds may be injured or killed in collisions with manmade structures, including transmission lines. Andrea is characterizing patterns of avian mortality associated with the transmission line at the J. D. Murphree State Wildlife Management Area in order to develop recommendations to minimize the impact of future transmission lines on avian populations. The J. D. Murphree State Wildlife Management Area is dominated by coastal marshes and provides important habitat for resident and migrant waterbirds throughout the year.
M.S. student Katy Gifford is studying the use of Chinese tallow tree stands by resident and migrant birds of Southeast Texas throughout the year. Chinese tallow is an invasive species that can form dense, monotypic stands. Several species of North American birds have been documented to feed on Chinese tallow fruit and disperse its seeds, but relatively little research has been done on the suitability of monotypic stands of Chinese tallow as habitat for birds, especially during the breeding season. Monotypic stands of invasive plants often differ from the surrounding habitat in vegetation structure and availability of food for birds, affecting the species richness, species composition, and population densities of the local avian community. Katy is comparing the avian communities of forest stands dominated by either Chinese tallow or native tree species at multiple study sites on public and private land in coastal prairie and mixed pine-hardwood habitats in Jefferson and Hardin Counties, Texas.
Finally, I’m studying changes in the avian community in response to vegetative succession following Hurricane Rita in Village Creek State Park, Hardin County, Texas. Village Creek State Park is dominated by a mix of pine and hardwood forest and provides important habitat for resident and migrant landbirds throughout the year. The vegetative structure of the forest was significantly altered by Hurricane Rita in 2005 and will continue to change as the forest recovers. I’m characterizing changes in the composition and structure of the avian community in response to vegetative succession in order to predict the future distributions and abundances of different bird species in the park. This research is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Paul Nicoletto, a professor in the Biology Department at Lamar University, who is monitoring changes in the reptile and amphibian communities at the same study site.
Ash-breasted
Antbird (female)
Yellow Warbler (male)
Depto. Loreto, Peru
Illinois, USA
PUBLICATIONS
Armacost, Jr., J. W. 2007. Ecology and conservation of Amazonian river-island birds. Ph.D. Dissertation. Illinois State University. Normal, Illinois.
Armacost, Jr., J. W. 2005. Birds of palm-dominated terra firme forest: habitat heterogeneity and avian diversity in the Neotropics. Cotinga 25: 33-37.
Armacost, Jr., J. W. 2004. The nest, eggs, and nestlings of the Castlenau’s Antshrike (Thamnophilus cryptoleucus), with notes on its ecology and conservation. Wilson Bulletin 116: 262-266.
Fujioka, M., Armacost, Jr., J. W., Yoshida, H. and T. Maeda. 2001. Value of fallow farmlands as summer habitats for waterbirds in a Japanese rural area. Ecological Research 16: 555-567.
Wood, D. R., Vilella, F. J., Burger, Jr., L. W., and J. W. Armacost, Jr. 2001. Surveying nocturnal bird communities of the Southeast with silent and playback methods. Proceedings of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies 55: 528-533.
Armacost, Jr., J. W. 1998. Habitat use by the Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) in Mississippi. M.S. Thesis. Mississippi State University. Starkville, Mississippi.
Cedar Waxwing
Illinois, USA
A member of the Texas State University System