LEE FITZGERALD

Associate Professor
Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences

Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences
Texas A&M University
TAMU 2258
College Station, TX 77843-2258
Office: 210 Nagle Hall (map)
Phone: 979.862.7480
Fax: 979.845.4096
E-mail: lfitzgerald (AT_NO_SPAM)--tamu--edu Fitzgerald Lab

Keywords: Community-based conservation in Latin America, Herpetofauna of the Gran Chaco Ecoregion, Population and community ecology of lizards and snakes, Ecology of alligators and caimans, Invasive species problems involving herps, Rattlesnake conservation

Interests:
My program is best described as evolutionary ecology and conservation biology of amphibians and reptiles. I use reptiles and amphibians as study systems at the community and landscape level. I draw heavily from the fields of community ecology, ecological morphology, physiological ecology, foraging ecology, and simulation modeling to address the general questions, “What are mechanisms influencing the fit between organism and environment?”, and “How do community-level processes influence species persistence and distribution of species across the landscape?” This program addresses various conservation issues, for example, habitat requirements of single species, determinants of local and regional diversity, or mechanisms determining the fate of invasive and native species.

Disciplines: Community Ecology & Population Biology, Conservation Biology

Selected publications:

Chan, L., L.A. Fitzgerald, Zamudio K. 2008. The scale of genetic differentiation in the Dunes Sagebrush-Lizard (Sceloporus arenicolus), an endemic habitat specialist. Conservation Genetics.

Mieres, M.M. and L.A. Fitzgerald 2006. Managing and monitoring the tegu trade in Paraguay. Journal of Wildlife Management 70(6): 1723-1734.

Saenz, D., L.A. Fitzgerald, K.A. Baum, R.N. Conner. 2006. Abiotic correlates of anuran calling phenology: the importance of rain, temperature, and season. Herpetological Monographs 20:64-82.

Dayton, G. and L.A. Fitzgerald. 2006. Habitat suitability models for desert anurans.Biological Conservation 132: 40-49.

Dayton, G. and L.A. Fitzgerald. 2005. Priority effects and desert anuran communities.Canadian Journal of Zoology 83(8)1112-1116.

Cruz, F.B., L.A. Fitzgerald, R.E. Espinoza, J.A. Schulte II. 2005. The importance of phylogenetic scale in tests of Bergmann's and Rapoport's rules: lessons from a clade of South American lizards. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 18:1559-1574.

Hibbitts, T.J. and L.A. Fitzgerald. 2005. Morphological and ecological convergence in two Natricine snakes. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 85(3): 363-371.

Dayton, G.H. and L.A. Fitzgerald. 2001. Competition, predation, and the distribution of four desert anurans Oecologia 129:430-435.

Vega L.E., P.J. Bellagamba, and L.A. Fitzgerald*. 2000. Long-term effects of anthropogenic habitat disturbance on a lizard assemblage inhabiting coastal dunes in Argentina. Canadian Journal of Zoology 78:1653-1660.
(* corresponding author)

Fitzgerald, L.A. and C.W. Painter. 2000. Rattlesnake commercialization: long-term trends, issues, and implications for conservation. Wildlife Society Bulletin 28 (1):235-253.