University Research Associate and Adjunct Professor,
Centre for Wildlife Ecology
Behavioral Ecology Research Group
FAX: (778) 782-3496
Specific interests include (1) alternative breeding strategies, including a genetic dimorphism in the mating behavior of male Ruffs, a lekking sandpiper, (2) year-round population biology of shorebirds, including breeding, migration, and non-breeding systems (Western Sandpiper, Dunlin, Red-necked phalarope, Temminck's stint), with with basic biological and conservation applications, and (3) conservation biology of Marbled Murrelets and the Tuamotu Sandpiper in French Polynesia.
Jaatinen K., A. Lehikoinen and D.B. Lank. In press.
Female-biased sex ratios and the proportion of cryptic male morphs of migrant juvenile ruffs (Philomachus pugnax) in Finland.
Ornis Fennica . 00:000-000.
Burger, A.E., I.A. Manley, M. Silvergieter, D.B. Lank, K.M. Jordan, T.D. Bloxton and M.G. Raphael. In press. Re-use of nest sites by Marbled Murrelet Brachyramphus marmoratus) in British Columbia.
Northw. Natur. 00:000–000.
Fernández, G. and D.B. Lank. 2010. Do sex and habitat differences in anti-predator behavior of Western Sandpipers Calidris mauri reflect cumulative or compensatory processes?
J. Ornithol. 151:665–672.
Burger, A.E., R.A. Ronconi, M.P. Silvergieter, C. C., V. Bahn, I.A. Manley, A. Cober and D.B. Lank. 2010.
Factors affecting the availability of thick epiphyte mats and other potential nest platforms for Marbled Murrelets in British Columbia.
Can. J. Forest Res. 40:727-746.
Waterhouse F.L., A.E. Burger, P.K. Ott, A. Donaldson, D.B. Lank. 2010.
Does interpretation of Marbled Murrelet habitat change with different classification methods?
B. C. J. Ecosyst. Manage. 10:20-34. www.forrex.org/publications/jem/ISS52/vol10_no3_art4.pdf
Ydenberg, R.C., D. Dekker, G. Kaiser, P.C.F. Shepherd, L.J. Evans Ogden, K Rickards and D.B. Lank. 2010.
Winter body mass and over-ocean flocking as components of danger management by Pacific dunlins.
BMC Ecology 10:1. www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6785/10/1. doi:10.1186/1472-6785-10-1
Malt J.M. and D.B. Lank. 2009. Marbled Murrelet nest predation risk in managed forest landscapes:
dynamic fragmentation effects at multiple scales. Ecol. Applic. 19:1274–1287.
Waterhouse, F.L., A.E. Burger, D.B. Lank, P.K. Ott, E.A. Krebs, and N. Parker. 2009. Using the low-level aerial survey method to identify nesting habitat of Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus). BC J. Ecosyst. Manage. 10:80-96.
www.forrex.org/publications/jem/ISS50/vol10_no1_art8.pdf
Burger, A.E., F.L. Waterhouse, A. Donaldson, C. Whittaker and D.B. Lank. 2009.
New methods for assessing nesting habitat: air photo interpretation and low-level aerial surveys.
BC J. Ecosys. Manage.10:4-14. www.forrex.org/publications/jem/ISS50/vol10_no1_art8.pdf.
Franks S.E., D.B. Lank, D.R. Norris, B.K. Sandercock, C.M. Taylor and T.K. Kyser. 2009.
Feather isotope analysis discriminates age-classes of Western, Least, and Semipalmated Sandpipers when plumage methods are unreliable.
J. Field Ornithol. 80:51-63.
Zharikov Y., R.W. Elner, P.C.F. Shepherd and D.B. Lank. 2009.
Interplay between physical and predator landscapes affects transferability of shorebird distribution models.
Landcape Ecol. 24: 129-144. DOI 10.1007/s10980-008-9291-y
Fernández, G. and D.B. Lank. 2008. Foraging behaviour of non-breeding Western Sandpipers Calidris mauri as a function of sex, habitat and flocking.
Ibis 150: 518-526.
Evans Ogden, L.J., S. Bittmann, D.B. Lank and F.C. Stevenson. 2008.
Factors influencing use of farmland habitat by shorebirds wintering in the Fraser River Delta, Canada. Agr. Ecosyst.. Environ. 124:252–258.
Taylor, C.M., D.B. Lank, A.C. Pomeroy and R.C. Ydenberg. 2008.
Relationship between stopover site choice of migrating sandpipers, their population status,
and environmental stressors.
Isr. J. Ecol. Evol. 53:245–261.
Malt, J.M., and D.B. Lank. 2007. Temporal dynamics of edge effects on nest predation risk for the marbled murrelet.
Biol. Conserv. 140:160-173.
doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2007.08.011
Zharikov Y., D.B. Lank, F. Cooke. 2007. Influence of landscape pattern on breeding distribution
and success in a threatened Alcid, the marbled murrelet: model transferability and management
implications.
J. App. Ecol. 44:748–759. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2007.01319.x
Lank, D.B. and Nebel S. 2006. Cross-cutting research on a flyway scale – beyond monitoring.
In: Waterbirds Around the World. G.C. Boere, C.A. Galbraith and D.A. Stroud, eds. pp. 107–112.
TSO Scotland Ltd., Edinburgh, UK..
Zharikov, Y., D.B. Lank, F. Huettmann, R.W. Bradley, N. Parker, P. P.-W. Yen, L. McFarlane Tranquilla and F. Cooke. 2006.
Habitat selection and breeding success in a forest-nesting Alcid, the marbled murrelet, in two landscapes with different logging histories in south-western Canada.
Landscape Ecol. 21:107–120. doi: 10.1007/s10980-005-1438-5
O'Hara, P.D., G. Fernández, F. Becerril, H. de la Cueva and D.B. Lank. 2005.
Life history varies with migratory distance in Western Sandpipers (Calidris mauri).
J. Avian Biol. 36:191-202.
Evans Ogden, L.J., K.A. Hobson, D.B. Lank and S. Bittmann. 2005.
Stable isotope analysis reveals that agricultural habitat provides an important dietary component for
nonbreeding Dunlin.
Avian Conservation and Ecology - Écologie et conservation des oiseaux 1 (1): 3. [online]
http://www.ace-eco.org/vol1/iss1/art3/
Fernández, G.,O'Hara, P.D. and D.B. Lank. 2004. Tropical and subtropical Western Sandpipers
(Calidris mauri) differ in life history strategies.
Ornitol. Neotrop. 15 (suppl.) 385-394.
Ydenberg, R.C., R.W. Butler, D.B. Lank, B.D. Smith and J. Ireland. 2004.
Western sandpipers alter migration tactics to mitigate danger from recovering peregrine falcon populations.
Proc. Roy. Soc. B, Lond. 271:1263-1269.
Lank, D.B., R.W. Butler, J. Ireland and R.C. Ydenberg. 2003.
Effects of predation danger on migration strategies of sandpipers.
Oikos 103:303-319.
Lank, D.B. and R.C. Ydenberg. 2003.
Death and danger at stopover sites: problems with "predation risk".
J. Avian Biol 34:225-228.
Lozano, G.A. and D.B. Lank. 2003. Seasonal trade-offs in cell-mediated immunosenescence in ruffs (Philomachus pugnax).
Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B. 270:1203-1208.
Lank, D.B. 2002. Diverse processes maintain plumage polymorphisms in birds.
J. Avian Biol. 33:327-330.
Ydenberg, R.C., R.W. Butler, D.B. Lank, C.G. Guglielmo and M. Lemon. 2002.
Trade-offs, condition dependence, and stopover site selection by migrating sandpipers.
J. Avian Biol. 33:47-55.
Lank, D.B., C.M. Smith, O. Hanotte, A. Ohtonen, S. Bailey and T. Burke.
2001. High frequency of polyandry in a lek mating system. Behavioral
Ecology 13:209-215.
Lank, D.B. and Dale, J. 2001. Visual signals for individual identification: the silent "song" of Ruffs.
Auk 118:759-765.
Dale, J., D.B. Lank and H.K. Reeve. 2001. Signaling
individuality vs. quality: a model and case studies with ruffs, queleas
and house finches. Am. Nat. 158:75-86
Lank, D.B., Coupe, M. and Wynne-Edwards, K.E.. 1999.Testosterone-induced
male traits in female ruffs (Philomachus pugnax): autosomal inheritance and gender differentiation.
Proc. Roy. Soc. B, Lond. 266:2323-2330.
Hugie, D.M. and Lank, D.B. 1996. The resident's dilemma: a female choice
model for the evolution of alternative mating strategies in lekking male
ruffs (Philomachus pugnax). Behav. Ecol. 8:218-225.
[[pdf, 3.5 mb]]
Lank, D.B., C.M. Smith, O. Hanotte, T.A. Burke, and F. Cooke. 1995.
Genetic polymorphism for alternative mating strategies in lekking male
ruff, Philomachus pugnax. Nature,
378, 59-62. [[pdf, 1.4mb]]
Cooke F., Rockwell, R.F., and Lank, D. B. 1995. The Snow Geese of
La Perouse Bay: Natural Selection in the Wild. Oxford University Press.
Lank, D.B. and C.M. Smith. 1992. Females prefer larger leks: an experimental
study with ruffs Philomachus pugnax. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
30:323-329.
Lank, D.B., M.A. Bousfield, F. Cooke and R.F. Rockwell. 1991. Why do
snow geese adopt eggs? Behav. Ecol. 2:181-187.
Lank, D.B., R.F. Rockwell and F. Cooke. 1990. Frequency-dependent fitness
consequences of intraspecific nest parasitism in snow geese. Evolution
44: 1436-1453.
Lank, D.B. 1989. Why fly by night? Inferences from tidally induced migratory
departures of sandpipers. J. Field Ornithol. 60:154-161.
Lank, D.B., L.W. Oring and S.J. Maxson. 1985. Mate and nutrient limitation
of egg-laying in a polyandrous shorebird. Ecology 66:1513-1524.
[[pdf, 1.8mb]]
Current Graduate Students
Graduated Students
Lesley is a freelance science writer, researcher, and environmental education consultant
Patrick is now with Environment Canada
Doug returned to his professorship job at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, but died tragically in 2004.
Pippa is now an endangered species biologist with Parks Canada.
Brett is an Associate professor at Kansas State University
Research Associates
Biography
David Lank, a.k.a. Dov, has asked questions about human and animal behavior
for as long as he can remember. His memories begin around the summer of
1969, during which he went to Bethel, NY (quiz time.. why?
), Merrit Island, FL (quiz again), and hitch-hitchhiked across North America.
After 2 years of coursework in psychology and anthropology at Columbia
University, he concluded that neither field had satisfactory paradigms
and tools for studying behavior, so he changed locations (to
Marlboro College,
VT) and organisms. The summer of 1972 spent at Bowdoin College's research
station at Kent Island
, Bay of Fundy, transformed him into a field biologist
and began his inordinate interest in sandpipers. In approximate chronological
order, he has subsequently investigated orientation mechanisms, migratory
ecology, breeding biology, mating and parental care systems, population
biology and behavior genetics of various sandpiper species,
and the conservation biology of Marbled Murrelets. While doing
so, he obtained a MS degree from the University of Minnesota, a PhD from
Cornell, with Steve Emlen, and hung out in North Dakota with Lew Oring,
The Ohio State University with Jerry Downhower, at Queen's University,
Kingston, with Fred Cooke, and at Simon Fraser University with the Behavioural
Ecology Research Group and the Centre
for Wildlife Ecology . Since 1984, he and his spouse
Connie
Smith have delved into the maintenance of a behavioral polymorphism
in male mating strategy of Ruffs, a peculiar Old World sandpiper, which he always considered to be the
most interesting bird in the world, but recently became even more interesting with the discovery of
permanent "female mimic" males in the species. The ruff work included 6 field seasons in
Finland and the maintenance of a pedigreed
breeding flock since 1985, currently numbering 198 birds spanning 9 generations.
He has organized the "Western Sandpiper Research Network" and is active in the conservation biology of Marbled Murrelets.