Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr Ralf Mullers PhD (Groningen, the Netherlands) John Day Building: 2.11 Tel: +27 (0)21 650 3298 Fax: +27 (0)21 650 3295 E-mail: ralf.mullers@uct.ac.za

Ralf studied biology at the University of Groningen in the north of the Netherlands. During the final years of his study he focused on the foraging ecology of different bird species, mainly working in the Dutch Waddensea area. From the north of the Netherlands he went to the south of Africa, participating in a project with the Avian Demography Unit (now the Animal Demography Unit) at the University of Cape Town. This resulted in a PhD project studying the foraging behaviour, energetics and breeding performance of Cape gannets at two colonies; Malgas Island (South Africa) and Ichaboe Island (Namibia). The aim of the PhD project was to understand the behavioural mechanisms underlying the population dynamics of Cape gannets. In Ralf’s opinion, it is crucial to understand the factors that drive population dynamics of vulnerable species, especially in the context of current global changes.

In 2011 Ralf joined the FitzPatrick Institute after receiving a post-doctoral fellowship from the Institute. His research focuses on understanding the breeding and feeding ecology of the shoebill population living at the Bangweulu Wetlands in Zambia (Arjun Amar coordinator). Very little is known about this enigmatic species and this project is aimed at filling this gap. The Bangweulu Wetlands are used  intensively by the local community and this project aims to understand whether human activities – especially through over fishing or disturbance – could be a limiting factor for the long term viability of the shoebill population. In the end, all partners (African Parks Network, Kasanka Trust and the Percy FitzPatrick Institute) would like to develop a management plan for the wetlands to ensure the conservation of the shoebills.

Ralf believes that conservation policies should be based on both reliable scientific data and active intervention. Although Ralf is not trained as a conservation biologist, as an ecologist he hopes that the data he collects will be of use for conservation management of vulnerable species and areas.

Research Programmes

Rarity & Conservation of African Birds

Recent peer-reviewed publications

2010

Grémillet D., Mullers R.H.E., Moseley C., Pichegru L., Coetzee J.C., Sabarros P.S., van der Lingen C.D., Ryan P.G., Kato A. and Ropert-Coudert Y. 2010. Seabirds, fisheries, and cameras. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 8:401-402.

Mullers R.H.E. and Navarro R.A. 2010. Foraging behaviour of Cape gannets as an indicator for colony health status. Endangered Species Research 12:193-202.

2009

Mullers R.H.E., Navarro R.A., Daan S., Tinbergen J.M. and Meijer H.A.J. 2009. Energetic costs of foraging in breeding Cape gannets Morus capensis. Marine Ecology-Progress Series 393:161-171.

Mullers R.H.E., Navarro R.A., Crawford R.J.M. and Underhill L.G. 2009. The importance of lipid-rich prey for Cape gannet chick growth: are fishery discards an alternative? ICES Journal of Marine Science 66(10):2244-2252.

Bijleveld A.I. and Mullers R.H.E. 2009. Reproductive effort in bi-parental care: an experimental study in long-lived Cape gannets. Behavioral Ecology 20:736-744.

Mullers R.H.E. and Tinbergen J.M. 2009. Parental provisioning behaviour predicts survival of Cape gannet chicks under poor conditions. Ardea 97(1):89-98.