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Dr. Kathryn E. Stoner

Investigador Titular

Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Apartado Postal 27-3 (Xangari), 58089

Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico.

Tel. (52) 555-623 2712

Tel. (52) 443 322- 2710

Fax (52) 555 623-2719

E-mail: kstoner@oikos.unam.mx

Background

Dr. Stoner received her interdisciplinary B. S. degree in Zoology-Anthropology in 1986 from the University of Michigan. She obtained her M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Michigan in 1989 and received her Ph.D. in Ecology in 1993 from the University of Kansas, Department of Ecology and Systematics. She conducted her dissertation research on the mantled howler monkey in the tropical humid forest at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. One of the main contributions of her thesis was a pioneering study on the intestinal parasites in this Neotropical primate and the implications habitat disturbance have on parasitic infections in non-human primates. Upon completing her Ph.D. studies, Dr. Stoner returned to Costa Rica and worked as Co-Director of Palo Verde Biological Station in northwestern Costa Rica for 3 years. She then worked for two years as an Invited Professor in the Biology Department of the Universidad de Costa Rica in San José, Costa Rica where she taught graduate classes and participated in the development of a tropical field biology class for undergraduate students from U.S. universities.

Research interests

The scientific work that I have conducted has been focused on ecology and conservation of tropical mammals. The groups that I work with most are primates and bats. In particular I am interested in understanding and documenting foraging behavior of these animals in order to document their role in the process of tropical forest regeneration. Some of my recent work with bombacaceous trees has established how habitat disturbance can negatively affect bat pollinator activity and subsequently reduce reproductive success of the plants they pollinate, ultimately having negative consequences on the genetic structure of the tree populations they pollinate. Another recent research topic included determining the importance of trichromatic color vision for the selection of resources in primates.

My current research interests include documenting the role that bats and primates play in the natural process of tropical forest regeneration. I am conducting parallel studies in both tropical humid and tropical dry forests. In addition I am starting research on ecological and physiological constraints of nectar-feeding bats in tropical dry forest ecosystems. This project is designed to determine the most important characteristics that affect resource selection in nectar-feeding bats. This information will be used to help better understand the evolutionary relationship between plants and their pollinators.

Selected Publications

• Stoner, K. E. 1996. The prevalence and intensity of intestinal parasites in mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) in a tropical rainforest in northeastern Costa Rica. Conservation Biology 10:539-546.
• Stoner, K. E. 2001. Differential habitat use and reproductive patters of frugivorous and nectarivorous bats in tropical dry forest of northwestern Costa Rica. Candian Journal of Zoology. 79:1626-1633.
• Stoner, K. E., Quesada, M., Rosas-Guerrero, V., y Lobo, J. A. 2002. Effects of forest fragmentation on Colima long-nosed bat foraging in tropical dry forest in Jalisco, Mexico. Biotropica 34:462-467.
• Stoner, K. E., O.-Salazar, K. A., y R.-Fernández, R. C., y Quesada. M. 2003. Population dynamics, reproduction, and diet of the lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae) in Jalisco, Mexico: implications for conservation. Biodiversity and Conservation 12:357-373.
• Lobo, J. A., Quesada, M., Stoner, K. E., Fuchs, E. J., Herrerías-Diego, Y. 2003. Latitudinal variation of phenological patterns of bombacaceous species in seasonal forests in Costa Rica and Mexico. American Journal of Botany. 90:1054-1063.
• Quesada, M., Stoner, K. E., Rosas-Guerrero, V., Palacios-Guevara, C. y Lobo, J. A. 2003. Effects of habitat disruption on the activity of nectarivorous bats (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in a dry tropical forest: implications for the reproductive success of the neotropical tree Ceiba grandiflora. Oecología 135:400-406.
• Lucas, P. W., Dominy, N. J., Riba-Hernández, P., Stoner, K. E., Yamashita, N., Loría-Calderon, E., Petersen-Pereira, W., Rojas-Durán, Y., Salas-Pena, R., Solis Madrigal, S., Osorio, D., y Darvell, B. W. 2003. Evolution and function of routine trichromatic vision in primates. Evolution: 57: 2636-2643.
• Riba-Hernández, P., Stoner, K. E., Osorio, D. (2004) Effect of polymorphic colour vision for fruit detection in the spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi). Journal of Experimental Biology 207: 2465-2470.
• Quesada. M., Stoner, K. E., Lobo, J. A., Herrerías, Y., Palacios-Guevara, C., Munguía-Rosas, M. A. y A. O.-Salazar, K. 2004. Effects of forest fragmentation on pollinator activity and consequences for plant reproductive success and mating patterns in bat pollinated bombacaceous trees. Biotropica 36: 131-138.
• Lobo, J. A., M. Quesada, y K. E. Stoner. 2005. Effects of pollination by bats on the mating system of Ceiba pentandra populations in two tropical life zones in Costa Rica. American Journal of Botany 92:370-376.
• Riba-Hernández, P. y Stoner, K. E. 2005. Massive destruction of Symphonia globulifera (Clusiaceae) flowers by the Central American spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) in a tropical humid forest, Costa Rica. Biotropica 37: 274-278.
• Stoner, K. E. (2005) Phyllostomid bat community structure and abundance in two contrasting tropical dry forests. Biotropica 37: 591-599.
• Sánchez-Azofeifa, A., Quesada, M., Rodríguez, J. P., Nassar, J. M., Stoner, K.E., Castillo, Garvin, T., Zent, E. L. Calvo, J., Kalacska, M., Fajardo, L., Gamon, J. y Cuevas-Reyes, P. (2005) Research priorities for Neotropical dry forests. Biotropica 37: 477-485.
• Yamashita, N., Stoner, K. E., Riba-Hernández, P., Dominy, N. J., y P. W. Lucas. (2005) Light levels used for feeding by primate species with different capacities to distinguish colors. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 58: 618-628.
• Stoner, K. E., P. Riba-Hernández y P. W. Lucas. (2005) Comparative use of color vision for frugivory by sympatric species of platyrrhines. American Journal of Primatology 67: 399-409.
• Riba-Hernández, K. E. Stoner, y P. W. Lucas. (2005) The sugar concentration of fruits and their detection via color in the Central American Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi). American Journal of Primatology 67: 411-423.
• Herrerías-Diego, Y., Quesada, M., Stoner, K. E., y Lobo, J. A. (in press) Effect of forest fragmentation and phenological patterns on reproductive success of the tropical dry forest tree Ceiba aesculifolia. Conservation Biology.
• Arias-Cóyot, E., Stoner, K.E. y Casas, A. (in press) Effectiveness of bats as pollinators of Stenocereus stellatus (Cactaceae) in wild, managed in situ, and cultivated populations in La Mixteca Baja, central Mexico. American Journal of Botany.