Position: Graduate Student

Current Interests

I am interested in the use of remote-sensing and GIS techniques to develop and manage tools and spatial data for conservation planning. I am specifically interested in the application of these data to assess the distribution of threats to species of conservation concern, and patterns of vegetation and land-use within areas of high biodiversity, with the aim of informing conservation action.

My research interests lie in investigating the population and resource ecology of endangered animal species, encompassing intra- and inter-specific interactions, and human-induced impacts at local to landscape scales.

I have a growing interest in monitoring and evaluation of conservation programmes, and will develop my skills in this area after completion of my DPhil. I have a strong commitment to developing the capacity of national conservation practitioners and scientists, and intend to continue my role in training conservationists in GIS and biological survey techniques.

During my PhD I produced a map of Afro-alpine vegetation in the Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP), for use by WWF and Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) in updating the BMNP management plan and developing plans for natural resource use management. I am currently compiling a GIS database for the National Park and FZS, to organise and standardise the wealth of spatial data that we have accrued over the years.

DPhil Thesis: Resource availability and reproductive success of Ethiopian wolves

My thesis aims to assess how the spatial distribution of prey determines territory configurations, pack compositions and reproductive success in the Ethiopian wolves, the rarest canid in the world. I am modelling prey densities and distribution throughout the Bale Mountains by means of my Landsat-derived vegetation map. I am also exploring the impact of a catastrophic rabies-induced population decline on spatial partitioning of resources by Ethiopian wolves.

My work with my field team and the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme has given me invaluable experience in training staff in field and IT techniques, managing teams and budgets, and negotiating and liaising with national and local government organisations. Deborah Randall and I have worked together on managing the flow of data on wolves, livestock, vegetation and rodents, and designing databases for efficient storage of and access to this data.

Career/Research history

After my MRes, I worked with Fauna and Flora International in Vietnam for one year, investigating the status of an Endangered primate species, the western black-crested gibbon Nomascus concolor, in northern Vietnam. I was employed to train staff in gibbon monitoring techniques, and work with them in determining the population size, structure and distribution of N. concolor. My team and I also assessed the threats to the gibbons, and worked with a team of sociologists to develop a community-based conservation programme for the forests of Che Tao.

I was awarded a distinction for the MRes in Ecology and Environmental Management at the University of York, during which I submitted three research projects. The first investigated ranging behaviour in house-mice on British farms, and the second revealed an increase in phylogenetic diversity of Tanzanian rainforest trees going up an altitudinal gradient. My final project examined the behaviour of captive gibbons at the Cuc Phuong Primate Rescue Centre, Viet Nam.

I graduated from the University of Oxford in 1999 with 1st class BA Hons degree in Biological Sciences. My research thesis found that Eurasian badgers in areas which had been subjected to culls to control bovine TB were more likely to emerge later in response to human disturbance than badgers in an area which had not been culled, demonstrating that culling impacts the behaviour of badgers many months after the event.

lucy.tallents@zoo.ox.ac.uk

Recent Publications

Randall, D.A., Marino, J., Haydon, D.T., Sillero-Zubiri, C., Knobel, D.L., Tallents, L.A., Macdonald, D.W., Laurenson, M.K. In Press. An integrated disease management strategy for the control of rabies in Ethiopian wolves. Biological Conservation.

Randall, D.A., Marino, J., Haydon, D.T., Sillero-Zubiri, C., Knobel, D.L., Tallents, L.A., Macdonald, D.W., Laurenson, M.K. In Press. An integrated disease management strategy for the control of rabies in Ethiopian wolves. Biological Conservation. .

Randall, D.A., Tallents, L.A., Williams, S.D., Tefera, Z., Nelson, A.P.W., Marino, J., Malcolm, J., Laurenson, M.K., Thirgood, S., Macdonald, D.W., and Sillero-Zubiri, C. In Press. Current status and future protocols of the Ethiopian wolf monitoring programme in the Bale Mountains. Walia.

Haydon, D. T., Randall, D. A., Mathews, L., Knobel, D. L., Tallents, L. A., Gravenor, M. B., Williams, S. D., Pollinger, J. P., Sillero-Zubiri, C., Marino, J., and Laurenson, M. K. Submitted. Disease and endangered species: how and when to intervene? Nature.

Randall, D.A., Williams, S.D., Kuzmin, I.V., Rupprecht, C.E., Tallents, L.A., Tefera, Z., Argaw, K., Shiferaw, F., Knobel, D.L., Sillero-Zubiri, C., and Laurenson, K.M. 2004. Rabies in Endangered Ethiopian Wolves. Emerging Infectious Diseases 10(12) 2214-2217. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol10no12/04-0080.htm

Tallents, L.A., Lovett, J.C. and Hamilton, A.C. 2005. Phylogenetic diversity of forest trees in the Usambara mountains of Tanzania: correlations with altitude. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 149: 217-228.

Internal reports for Fauna and Flora International

http://www.fauna-flora.org/asia_pacific/hoangen.html

Tu Minh Tiep and Tallents L. 2002. Community land-use mapping and participatory boundary gazettement of the Mu Cang Chai gibbon sanctuary and buffer zones. Ed. Buckingham S. Fauna & Flora International Indochina Programme, Ha Noi, Viet Nam.

Tallents, L, Le Trong Dat, Luong Van Hao and La Quang Trung, Trinh Dinh Hoang. 2001. A survey for Western Black Crested Gibbon in Nam Pam, Hua Trai and Ngoc Chien Communes, Che Tao-Nam Pam forest. Fauna & Flora International Indochina Programme, Ha Noi, Viet Nam.

Le Trong Dat, Tallents L, Trinh Dinh Hoang and Luong Van Hao. 2001. Report on the third survey for Western Black Crested Gibbon Nomascus concolor and other animals in Che Tao Commune, Mu Cang Chai district, Yen Bai Province . Fauna & Flora International Indochina Programme, Ha Noi, Viet Nam.

Long B, Tallents L and Tran Dinh Nghia. 2001. The biological diversity of the Che Tao forest, Mu Cang Chai district, Yen Bai & Muong La district, Son La (2001). Fauna & Flora International Indochina Programme, Ha Noi, Viet Nam.

Tallents, L., Le Trong, Dat., La Quang, Trung. and Trinh Dinh, Hoang. 2000. Survey for Western black crested gibbon Nomascus concolor, Che Tao Commune, Mu Cang Chai district, Yen Bai Province. Fauna & Flora International Indochina Programme, Ha Noi, Viet Nam.

Tallents L, Le Trong Dat, La Quang Trung and Trinh Dinh Hoang. 2000. Report on the 2nd survey for Western Black Crested Gibbon in Che Tao forest. Fauna & Flora International Indochina Programme, Ha Noi, Viet Nam.