The research thrust of the Terrestrial Research in Ecology and Evolution Laboratory TREE lab is focused on taxonomy, conservation ecology, and phylogenetics in terrestrial systems. Current activities include research on avian biology and ecology, terrestrial community ecology, biocultural diversity conservation, ethnobotany, plant-animal mutualistic networks in urban green spaces, recruitment limitation of tree species in reforested landscapes, forest succession after disturbances in geothermal sites, ecology and evolution of Philippine fig-wasp systems, diversity and taxonomy of Philippinev Brachyceran True Flies (Diptera), succession of carrion-related insects especially in Dipterans and Coleopterans. Funding sources include the National Science Research Institute (NSRI), Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Development (OVCRD) PhD Incentive Awards, Energy Development Corporation (EDC), and Research Microgrant from the Philippine Tropical Forest Conservation Fund, Inc (PTFCF).
Carmela P. Española, Ph.D. (Head)
Assistant Professor 6
Ph.D. Conservation Ecology
Conservation Ecology; Wildlife Biology; Ornithology; Avian Frugivore Ecology
Lillian Jennifer V. Rodriguez, Ph.D. (Head)
Assistant Professor 5
Ph.D. Biodiversity and Evolutionary Science
Plant-Insect Interactions
Jelaine L. Gan
Instructor 3
B.S. Biology
Migration ecology of birds
Ronniel D.C. Pedales
Instructor 1
B.S. Biology
Insect Ecology, Taxonomy and Systematics
Gizelle A. Batomalaque, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor 5
Ph.D. Environmental Science
Phylogeny and biogeography of Philippine land snails; Molluscan systematics; Evolutionary ecology of land snails; Natural History Museum curation
Research Projects
- January – December 2014. Ecology and conservation of cavity-nesting birds at Subic Watershed Forest Reserve and adjacent forests of Bataan National Park, Luzon, Philippines.
- April 2013 – March 2014. Biodiversity Conservation and Monitoring Program – Forest Succession. Energy Development Corporation.
- January 2012- December 2013. Interactions between fleshy-fruited plants and avian frugivores across different temporal and spatial scales in urban green spaces. Natural Sciences Research Institute.
- January – December 2013. Community patterns and processes affecting the recruitment of tree species in a reforested landscape. Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Development.
- Oct 2013-Oct 2014. Philippine ethnobotany in the past 25 years: trends, gaps and directions for future research. Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Development.
- January 2013-January 2014. Forest Dynamics Plots: Topographic, Edaphic and Atmospheric Conditions and their Influence on Species Distributions, Phenology, and Seed-Seedling Dynamics (under Biodiversity and Resilience R&D, Communications and Capability Building Program). Commission on Higher Education.
- November 2012-April 2013. Project Leader (for Plant Ecology), Assessment and Inventory of Biodiversity Resources of Mt. Tapulao. New Conservation Areas in the Philippines Project, Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau, Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
- March-December 2012. Long-Term Monitoring of Ecosystems (under From Genes to Ecosystems: Understanding Biodiversity at Various Scales, Knowledge Generation and Knowledge Management for Science-Based Conservation Policy). Center for Integrative and Development Studies.
- Bascos EMA, Rodriguez LJV, Duya MV, Fernando ES, Ong PS. 2019. Philippine Rafflesia: Emerging patterns in floral morphology and distribution. Flora 257: 151409.
- Hogan JA, Zimmerman JK, Thompson J, Uriarte M, Swenson NG, Condit R, Hubbell S, Johnson DJ, Sun IF, Chang-Yang C-H, Su S-H, Ong P, Rodriguez L, Monoy CC, Yap S, Davies SJ. 2018. The frequency of cyclonic wind storms shapes tropical forest dynamism and functional trait dispersion. Forests 9:404.
- Pedales, R.D. and Fontanilla, I.K.C., 2018. Forensic entomology in the Philippines: Establishing Baseline Data on the Forensically Important Blow Fly Species Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius, 1794). Philippine Journal of Science, 147(1), pp.17-25.
- Compton SG, Chen X-Y, Chen Y, Hatcher MJ, Peng Y-Q, Quinnell RJ, Rodriguez LJ, Yu H, Ouyang A, Wei F-L, Cai Z-T, Wang R. 2018. Host-parasitoid relationships within figs of an invasive fig tree: a fig wasp community structured by gall size. Insect Conservation and Diversity 11:341-351.
- Rodriguez LJ, Bain A, Chou LS, Conchou L, Cruaud A, Gonzales R, Hossaert-McKey M, Rasplus JY, Tzeng HY, Kjellberg F. 2017. Diversification and spatial structuring in the mutualism between Ficus septica and its pollinating wasps in insular South East Asia. BMC Evolutionary Biology 17:207. doi.org/10.1186/s12862-017-1034-8
- Rodriguez LJ, Young F, Rasplus J-Y, Kjellberg F, Compton SG. 2017. Constraints on convergence: hydrophobic hind legs allow some male pollinator fig wasps early access to submerged females. Journal of Natural History 51, 761-782. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2017.1293746
- Cruaud P, Rasplus J-Y, Rodriguez LJV, Cruaud A. 2017. High throughput sequencing of multiple amplicons for barcoding and integrative taxonomy. Scientific Reports 7, 41948
- Molina, J., McLaughlin, W., Wallick, K., Pedales, R., Marius, V.M., Tandang, D.N., Damatac, A., Stuhr, N., Pell, S.K., Lim, T.M. and Novy, A., 2017. Ex Situ Propagation of Philippine Rafflesia in the United States: Challenges and Prospects. Sibbaldia: the Journal of Botanic Garden Horticulture, (15), pp.77-96.
- Española, CP, NJ Collar, NAD Mallari and SJ Marsden. 2016. Large avian frugivores in the Philippines show linear responses to improvements in forest quality. Forest Ecology and Management 375: 127-133.
- Pedales, R.D., Damatac, A.M., Limbo, C.A., Marquez, C.M.D., Navarro, A.I.B. and Molina, J., 2016. DNA Barcoding of Philippine Herbal Medicinal Products. Journal of AOAC International, 99(6), pp.1479-1489.
- Yong DL, Liu Y, Low BW, Española CP, Choi C and Kawakami K. 2015. Migratory songbirds in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway: a review from a conservation perspective. Bird Conservation International 25: 1-37.
- Wang R, Aylwin R, Barwell L, Chen X-Y, Chen Y, Chou L-S, Cobb J, Collette D, Craine L, Giblin-Davis RM, Ghana S, Harper M, Harrison RD, McPherson JR, Peng Y-Q, Pereira RAS, Reyes-Betancort A, Rodriguez LJV, Strange E, van Noort S, Yang H-W, Yu H, Compton SG. 2015. The fig wasp followers and colonists of a widely introduced fig tree, Ficus microcarpa. Insect Conservation and Diversity. 8(4): 322–336. DOI: 10.1111/icad.12111.
- Rodriguez BFPJ, Gonzales RS, Rodriguez LJV. 2015. Fig wasps of Philippine Ficus microcarpa L.: diversity and trophic structure in an urban setting. Philippine Agricultural Scientist 98(1): 15-22.
- Conchou L, Cabioch L, Rodriguez LJV, Kjellberg F. 2014. Daily rhythm of mutualistic pollinator activity and scent emission in Ficus septica: ecological differentiation between co-occurring pollinators and potential consequences for chemical communication and facilitation of host speciation. PLoS ONE 9(8): e103581.
- Pedales, R.D. and Batomalaque, G.A., 2014. An Account of the Accessioned Collections of the UP Biology Invertebrate Museum. Science Diliman, 26(2).
- Española CP, Collar N and Marsden S. 2013. Are populations of large-bodied avian frugivores on Luzon, Philippines facing imminent collapse? Animal Conservation 16(4): 467 – 479.
- Anticamara, J.A., Pasion, B.O., Gonzales, R.S., Duya, M.R.M, and Ong, P.S. 2012. Understanding high altitude reforestation in Mount Apo, Philippines. Eurasian Journal of Forest Research 15-1: 31-43.
- Abog MKFN, de Rivera JJLC, Estacio SCW, Fidelino JS, Lavilla OJY, Pilapil JCA and MDC Tongco. 2012. Assessment of acute toxicity of thiamethoxam (Actara® 25WG) to Achatina fulica and its potential ecological applications. Science Diliman 24:21-27.
- Gonzales, R.S. and T. Nakashizuka. 2010. Broad-leaf species composition in Cryptomeria japonica plantations with respect to distance from natural forest. Forest Ecology and Management 259: 2133-2140.
- Gonzales, R.S., D.A. Lagunzad, N.R. Ingle, T. Nakashizuka, 2009. Seed dispersal by birds and bats in lowland Philippine forest successional area. Biotropica 41: 452-458.
- Chave J, Condit R, Muller-Landau HC, Thomas SC, Ashton PS, Bunyavejchewin S, Co LL, Dattaraja HS, Davies SJ, Esufali S, Ewango CEN, Feeley KJ, Foster RB, Gunatilleke N, Gunatilleke S, Hall P, Hart TB, Hernández C, Hubbell SP, Itoh A, Kiratiprayoon S, LaFrankie JV, Loo de Lao S, Makana J-R, Md. Nur Supardi Noor, Kassim AR, Samper C, Sukumar R, Suresh HS, Tan S, Thompson J, Tongco MDC, Valencia R, Vallejo M, Villa G, Yamakura T, Zimmerman JK and EC Losos. 2008. Assessing evidence for a pervasive alteration in tropical tree communities. PLoS Biology 6:1-8.
- Tongco MDC. 2007. Purposive sampling as a tool for informant selection. Ethnobotany Research & Application. 5: 147-158.
- Co LL, LaFrankie JV, Lagunzad DA, Pasion KAC, Consunji HT, Bartolome NA, Yap SL, Molina JE, Tongco MDC, Ferreras UF, Davies SJ and PS Ashton. 2006. Forest Trees of Palanan, Philippines: a study in population ecology. Megatone Printhauz, Inc., Quezon City, Philippines, 313 p.
- Allen, D., Española, C., Broad, G., Oliveros, C. and Gonzalez, J. C. T. 2006. New bird records for the Babuyan Islands, Philippines, including two first records for the Philippines. Forktail 22:57-70.
- Allen, D., Oliveros, C., Española, C., Broad, G. and Gonzalez, J.C.T. 2004. A new species of Gallirallus from Calayan island, Philippines. Forktail 20:1-7.
- Tongco MDC, Lagunzad DA, Co LL and RA Tabbada. 2004. Minimum area for rapid estimates of tree diversity in a permanent plot in Palanan, Isabela, Philippines. Agham Mindanaw 2: 25-34.
