Richard Buchholz
Professor of Biology and Director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation Research
Dr. Buchholz studies animal behavior with an emphasis on sexual selection and host-parasite interactions.
Research Interests
Dr. Buchholz's research interests include:
- Animal Behavior
- Host-Parasite Interactions
- Conservation Biology
Publications
Journal of Morphology 276 (4): 378–384
Iridescent colors in feathers are some of the brightest in nature, and are produced by coherent light scattering from periodic arrangements of melanosomes (melanin-containing organelles). Hollow melanosomes, an evolutionary innovation largely restricted to birds, contain an optically powerful combination of high and low refractive indices (from the melanin and air, respectively) that enables production of brighter and more saturated colors than solid melanosomes. However, despite their significance to avian color and potential utility as optical biomaterials, little is known about the ontogeny of either the melanosomes themselves or the nanostructures they comprise. We used light and electron microscopy to characterize nanostructural development in regenerating feathers of wild turkeys, a species with iridescent color produced by a hexagonally close-packed array of hollow melanosomes. We found that melanosomes form as solid bodies in melanocytes. Later in development, largely after placement in developing barbules, their interiors dissolve and leave hollow cores. These now hollow melanosomes are initially disorganized in the barbule, but become close-packed as they are pulled to the edge of the barbule, likely through a combination of forces including depletion-attraction. These data suggest that these structurally colored tissues are self-assembled and represent novel pathways of development.
Werner, S.J., Buchholz, R., Tupper, S.K., Pettit, S.E., & Ellis, J.W. 2014. Functional significance of ultraviolet feeding cues in wild turkeys. Physiology & Behaviour 123: 162-167
Cooke, S. J, Blumstein, D. T., Buchholz, R., Caro, T., Fernandez-Juricic, E., Franklin, C. E., Metcalfe, J., O’Connor, C. M., St. Clair, C., Sutherland, W. J., and Wikelski, M. 2014. Populations in peril: a call for integration of physiology and behaviour to advance conservation practice. Physiological & Biochemical Zoology, 87(1):1-14.
Buchholz, R. & Hanlon, E. 2012. Ecotourism, Wildlife Management, and Behavioral Biologists: Changing Minds for Conservation; Chapter 17 (pp. 234-249) in Behavioural Responses to a Changing World: mechanisms and consequences. Bob Wong & Ulrika Candolin, (Editors), Oxford University Press.
Buchholz, R. 2007. Behavioural biology: an effective and relevant conservation tool. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 22(8): 401-407
Buchholz, R. and Bertsch, C. 2006. Yellow-knobbed Curassow (Crax daubentoni). Pp. 91-94 In: Conserving Cracids: the most Threatened Family of Birds in the Americas (D.M. Brooks, Ed.). Misc. Publ. Houston Mus. Nat. Sci., No. 6, Houston, TX.
Buchholz, R. 2004. Effects of parasitic infection on mate sampling by female wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo): Should infected females be more or less choosy? Behavioral Ecology 15(4): 687-694
Grants
National Geographic Society
Mating Strategies of Male Ocellated Turkeys in Disturbed and Undisturbed Forests, 2013-2015, $19,800
National Science Foundation
Investigating the Causes of Mate Sampling Changes in Infected Females, 2006-2010. $290,000
US Department of Agriculture.
Developing a PCR Test to Identify Turkey Coccidia, 2001-2005. $37,073
Education
B.S. Biology, Binghamton University (SUNY) (1986)
M.S. Zoology, University of Florida (1989)
Ph.D. Zoology, University of Florida (1994)