Frederico Manuel Vaz Pontes Vitorino Mestre
PhD Student
I completed my graduation in Biology at the Évora University by 2003. My thesis was on the application of line transect techniques to estimate the population density of red deer (Cervus elaphus). In 2006, I concluded an MS in Conservation Biology during which I worked on the distribution modelling of a carnivore species, the polecat (Mustela putorius).
I was, for a few years, at the Évora University as research fellow collaborating in several projects, where my main activities where field sampling and distribution modelling of terrestrial mammals. In 2006, I started to work in a NGO, CEAI (Centro de Estudos da Avifauna Ibérica) where I developed a project of wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) population recovery in southern Portugal. After this, I worked for three years at a rehabilitation center for marine wildlife, mainly marine turtles and cetaceans, in southern Portugal.
Currently, I’m working on my PhD project, entitled "Synergistic effects of climate change and habitat fragmentation on species range shifts and metapopulation persistence" (Ref. SFRH /BD/73768/2010), which focuses on the effects of landscape and climate change on the species persistence.
My main research interests are biogeography, ecological niche modelling and spatial ecology. Mainly I’m interested in the theoretical issues contributing to the understanding of species distributions and resource use and in ways to improve ecological niche modelling (particularly considering future range shifts).