Home > About > Faculty Profiles > Kevina Vulinec, Ph.D.

Kevina Vulinec, Ph.D.

Vulinec   kevina vulinec

Professor, Department of Agriculture & Natural Resources

Campus Address: 210D Ag Annex
Phone: 302.857.6457
Email: kvulinec [at] desu.edu

Education

  • Ph.D., University of Florida, 1999
  • M.S., University of Chicago, 1993
  • M.S., University of Cincinnati, 1983
  • B.A., Kent State University, 1978
  • Postdoctoral Training: Wildlife and Prescribed Fire, University of Florida, 2001; Seed Dispersers and Fragmented Forests in Uganda, Africa, University of Florida 2001

Research Interests

Biodiversity conservation, anthropogenic change, and ecosystem function; Bat ecology in the US, Neotropics, and South Pacific, including habitat use, ecosystem services, and conservation; bats and wind turbines; bats and coastal habitats, bats and migration patterns; white-nose syndrome in North American bats; Tropical ecology; seed-dispersal communities in the Amazon; community structure, hunting, and environmental disturbance; the value of secondary forest for seed dispersers, reforestation using natural dispersal agents; conservation, ecology, and behavior of Neotropical primates and dung beetles; butterfly ecology.

Areas of expertise

  • Biodiversity
  • Wildlife Ecology
  • Tropical Ecology
  • Entomology

Consultation experience

  • University of Delaware/First State Wind LLC; “Bat Mortality and Curtailment of the Wind Turbine at the University of Delaware Lewes Wind Turbine.” 2013 - 2015

Consultation Expertise

Wildlife and entomological field techniques; Expertise in Tropical Ecology; Teaching in Field Courses

Selected Publications

(*Denotes student coauthor)

  • Mora-Aguilar, E. F., A. Arriaga-Jiménez, C. M.A. Correa, P. G. da Silva, V. Korasaki, P. A. López-Bedoya, M. I. Medina Hernández, J. D. Pablo-Cea, R. P. Salomão Raquel L. Carvalho, Angelica F. Resende, Jos Barlow, Filipe M. Franc¸ Mario R. Moura, Rafaella Maciel, Fernanda Alves-Martins, Jack Shutt, Cassio A. Nunes, Fernando Elias, Juliana M. Silveira, Lis Stegmann, Fabricio B. Baccaro, Leandro Juen, Juliana Schietti, Luiz Araga, Erika Berenguer, Leandro Castello, Flavia R.C. Costa, Matheus L. Guedes, Cecilia G. Leal, Alexander C. Lees, Victoria Isaac, Rodrigo O. Nascimento, Oliver L. Phillips, Fernando Augusto Schmidt, Hans ter Steege, Fernando Vaz-de-Mello, Eduardo M. Venticinque, Ima Celia Guimaraes Vieira, Jansen Zuanon, The Synergize Consortium, and Joice Ferreira. 2023. Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research. Current Biology. Open Access Published:July 19, 2023. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.06.077

  • Mora-Aguilar, E.F., A. Arriaga-Jiménez, C. M. A. Correa, P. Giovâni da Silva, V. Korasaki, P. A. López-Bedoya, M. Isabel Medina Hernández, J. D. Pablo-Cea, R. Portela Salomão, G. Valencia, K. Vulinec, F. A. Edwards, D. P. Edwards, G. Halffter, and J. A. Noriega. 2023. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 11:1096208. Towards a standardized methodology for sampling dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) in the Neotropics: A critical review. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1096208

  • Medina-Van Berkum, P, D. Haelewaters, J.R.E. Thompson, E. Uribe, K. Vulinec, T. E. Martin. 2021. Bat assemblages and their ectoparasites in a Honduran cloud forest: Effects of disturbance and altitude. Revista Mesoamericana de Biología 1:51-69. http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8733862

  • Noriega, J. A. and K. Vulinec. 2021. Perching behavior by Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): A spatial segregation mechanism to dilute interspecific competition in highly rich assemblages? Annals of the Entomological Society of America 114:17-26, https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saaa040

  • Medina-Van Berkum, P. K. Vulinec, D. Crace, Z. Lopez Gallego, and T. E. Martin. 2020. Community composition of bats in Cusuco National Park, a Mesoamerican cloud forest, including new regional and altitudinal records. Neotropical Naturalist 3:1-24.

  • Noriega, J. A., M. March, L. R. Pertiera, and K. Vulinec. 2020. Spatial partitioning of perching on plants by tropical dung beetles depends on body size and leaf characteristics: a sit and wait strategy for food location. Ecological Entomology 45:1108-1120. https://doi.org/10.1111/een.12898

  • Sturgis, B. E., A. A. Aispuro, and K. Vulinec. 2019. Stable deuterium isotope analysis of Mid-Atlantic Eptesicus fuscus bats. Northeastern Naturalist 26:202-213.

  • Souza-Alves, J. P., and T. Mourthe, R. R. Hilário, J. C. Bicca-Marques, J. Rehg, C. C. Gestich, A. C. Acero-Murcia, P. Adret, R. Aquino, M. Berthet, M. Bowler, A. M. Calouro, G. R. Canale, N. de A. Cardoso, C. B. Caselli, C. Cäsar, R. R. D. Chagas, A. Clyvia, C. F. Corsini, T. Defler, A. DeLuycker, A. Di Fiore, K. Dingess, G. Erkenswick, M. A. Ferreira, E. Fernandez-Duque, S. F. Ferrari, I. P. Fontes, J. D. Gomes, F. P. R. Gonçalves, M. Guerra, T. Haugaasen, S. Heiduck, E. W. Heymann, S. Hodges, R. Huashuayo-Llamocca, L. Jerusalinsky, C. B. Kasper, J. Lawrence, T. M. Lueffe, K. G. D. Lopes, J. Martínez, F. R. de Melo, M. R. Messias, M. B. Nagy-Reis, I. Nole, F. Paciência, E. Palacios, A. Poirier, G. Porfírio, A. Porter, E. Price, R. C. Printes, E. P. Quintino, E. A. Reis, A. Rocha, A. Rodríguez, F. Röhe, D. Rumiz, S. Shanee, M. M. Santana, E. Z. F. Setz, F. S. C. de Souza, W. Spironello, E. R. Tirado Herrera, L. Vinhas, K. Vulinec, R. B. Wallace, M. Watsa, P. C. Wright, R. J. Young, A. A. Barnett. 2019. Terrestrial behavior in Titi Monkeys (Callicebus, Cheracebus, and Plecturocebus): Potential correlates, patterns, and differences between genera. International Journal of Primatology: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-019-00105-x

  • *Sturgis, B. E., K. Vulinec, and A. Aispuro. In press. Stable deuterium isotope analysis of Mid-Atlantic Eptesicus fuscus bats. Northeastern Naturalist.
  • Stanbrook, R., C. Raisin, K. Vulinec. 2017. Observations on the nidification behavior and seed dispersal efficacy of Copris nubilosus (Kohlmann, Cano, and Delgado)(Scarabaeinae:Coprini). The Coleopterists Bulletin 71:777-780.
  • Vulinec, K., *K. Swift, V. Balke, *L. Sweitzer, B. Sturgis, D. Powell. 2017. Buckyballs and bats: Trace evidence points to trophic interactions. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fee.1467/full
  • Nichols, E., M. Uriarte, D. E. Bunker, J. N. C. Louzada, T. Larsen, F. Vaz de Mello, K. Vulinec, M. Favila, E. Slade, S. Naeem, and S. H. Spector. 2013. Trait-dependent response of dung beetle populations to tropical forest conversion at local and regional scales. Ecology 94: 180-189.
  • *Wolcott, K. A. and K. Vulinec. 2012. Bat activity at woodland/farmland interfaces in central Delaware. Northeastern Naturalist 19: 87-98.
  • *Massé, R, J. and K. Vulinec. 2010. Possible impact of multiflora rose on breeding bird diversity in riparian forest fragments of central Delaware. Northeastern Naturalist 17: 647–658.
  • Ferster, B. and K. Vulinec. 2010. Population size and conservation of the last remnants of the Eastern Regal Fritillary, Speyeria idalia idalia (Drury) [Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae]: implications for temperate grassland restoration. Journal of Insect Conservation 14: 31-42.
  • Stoner K. E., P. Riba-Hernández, K. Vulinec, and J. Lambert. 2007. The role of mammals in creating and modifying seedshadows in tropical forests and some possible consequences of their elimination. Special Section: The trickle down effects of hunting for plant regeneration in Neotropical forests. Biotropica 39: 316-327.
  • Stoner, K. E., K. Vulinec, S. J. Wright, and C. Peres. 2007. Hunting and plant community dynamics in tropical forests: a synthesis and future directions. Special Section: The trickle down effects of hunting for plant regeneration in Neotropical forests. Biotropica 39: 385-392.
  • Nichols, E., T. Larsen, S. Spector, A. Davis, F. Escobar, M. Favila, K. Vulinec. 2007. Global dung beetle response to tropical forest modification and fragmentation: A quantitative literature review and meta-analysis. Biological Conservation 137: 1-19. “Top-50 most cited articles” published in Biological Conservation 2007-2010.
  • Vulinec, K., J. Lambert, and D. J. Mellow. 2006. Primate and dung beetle communities in secondary growth rainforests: Implications for conservation of seed dispersal systems. International Journal of Primatology 27: 855-879.
  • Vulinec, K. 2002. Dung beetle communities and seed dispersal in primary forest and disturbed land in Amazonia. Biotropica 34: 297-309.

Grants

  • Graduate student support Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center (LMRCSC), Supervisor, 2019-2021 ($100,000), Delaware State University.

Honors & Awards

  • Fulbright Scholar Alumni Ambassador appointment 2016-2018
  • US Fish and Wildlife Service Faculty Fellowship to Puerto Rico, 2014
  • Fulbright Faculty Scholar to Brazil, 2011 “Seed-Dispersing Bats in Fragmented Tropical Rainforest; Nocturnal Wildlife Technology Workshops for Students.”
  • Faculty Excellence Award for Teaching, Delaware State University, 2008

Professional Memberships

  • Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation
  • Bat Conservation International
  • Coleopterists Society
  • Ecological Society of America
  • The Maryland-Delaware Chapter of the Wildlife Society
  • The Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Ecological Society of America (Chair 2012-2013)

Teaching

  • Mammalogy
  • Ornithology
  • Wildlife and Fisheries Management
  • Advanced Wildlife Biology (Undergraduate/Graduate)
  • Tropical Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Conservation (includes Field course in Neotropics)
  • Experimental Design (Graduate)
  • Conservation and Restoration Ecology (Graduate)
  • General Ecology