Rebecca Rowe

Rebecca Rowe

Professor
Natural Resources and the Environment
Phone: (603) 862-2810
Office: Natural Resources & the Environment, James Hall Rm 136, Durham, NH 03824
Websites:
Pronouns: She/her/hers

I am interested in questions at the interface of community ecology, historical ecology, and landscape ecology, and in promoting the use of natural history collections data in ecology and conservation. I conduct field surveys and use historical records and geospatial data to investigate the impact of climate change and land use on species’ distributions and community dynamics, and the processes shaping patterns of diversity along both spatial gradients and disturbance gradients. Work to date has focused on small mammals in mountainous regions. My research is motivated by the need for synthesis across ecological disciplines spanning a range of spatial and temporal scales to provide the necessary framework to better understand and forecast the chronic and cumulative effects of anthropogenic environmental change. Central to this work is the question of how patterns of biodiversity, both their detection and attribution, vary across spatial scales.

Courses Taught

  • INCO 790: Advanced Research Experience
  • NR 603: Landscape Ecology
  • NR 642: Introduction to Biogeography
  • NR 712: Mammalogy
  • NR 712/812: Mammalogy
  • NR 903: Approach to Research

Education

  • Ph.D., Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago
  • B.A., Biology and Anthropology, Bowdoin College

Research Interests

  • Conservation Biology
  • Ecology
  • Global Change
  • Mammalogy

Selected Publications

  • Lisi, M. K., Stephens, R. B., Steketee, J., Hobbie, E. A., & Rowe, R. J. (2025). Annual and seasonal variability in tundra vole (
    Microtus oeconomus
    ) diet in northern Alaska. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 57(1). doi:10.1080/15230430.2024.2444044

  • Thompson, M. C., Ducey, M. J., Gunn, J. S., & Rowe, R. J. (2025). A post‐processing framework for assessing BirdNET identification accuracy and community composition. Ibis, 167(2), 530-542. doi:10.1111/ibi.13357

  • Willems, J. S., Moll, R. J., Yamasaki, M., Costello, C., Ducey, M. J., & Rowe, R. J. (2025). Drivers of small mammal population dynamics in hardwood forests of northeastern USA. Journal of Mammalogy. doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyae152

  • Stephens, R. B., Willems, J. S., Yamasaki, M., Costello, C. A., & Rowe, R. J. (2024). Resource availability alters breeding strategies in a small mammal community.. J Anim Ecol, 93(9), 1303-1315. doi:10.1111/1365-2656.14148

  • Min, E., Boelman, N. T., Gough, L., McLaren, J. R., Rastetter, E. B., Rowe, R. J., . . . Griffin, K. L. (2024). The give and take of Arctic greening: differential responses of the carbon sink-to-source threshold to light and temperature in tussock tundra may be influenced by vegetation cover.. Commun Biol, 7(1), 950. doi:10.1038/s42003-024-06600-z

  • Rowe, R. J., & Terry, R. C. (2014). Small mammal responses to environmental change: integrating past and present dynamics. JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY, 95(6), 1157-1174. doi:10.1644/13-MAMM-S-079

  • Rowe, R. J., Terry, R. C., & Rickart, E. A. (2011). Environmental change and declining resource availability for small-mammal communities in the Great Basin. ECOLOGY, 92(6), 1366-1375. doi:10.1890/10-1634.1

  • Rickart, E. A., Balete, D. S., Rowe, R. J., & Heaney, L. R. (2011). Mammals of the northern Philippines: tolerance for habitat disturbance and resistance to invasive species in an endemic insular fauna. DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS, 17(3), 530-541. doi:10.1111/j.1472-4642.2011.00758.x

  • Rowe, R. J., Finarelli, J. A., & Rickart, E. A. (2010). Range dynamics of small mammals along an elevational gradient over an 80-year interval. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 16(11), 2930-2943. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02150.x

  • Rowe, R. J. (2009). Environmental and geometric drivers of small mammal diversity along elevational gradients in Utah. ECOGRAPHY, 32(3), 411-422. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0587.2008.05538.x

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  • Most Cited Publications