José Rafael Ferrer-Paris

José Rafael Ferrer-Paris PhD.

Email: jferrer@ivic.gob.ve / jr.ferrer.paris@gmail.com

Research interest

I am an ecologist with strong interest in biodiversity, informatics and entomology.

I was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, obtained my first degree in Germany (Diplom Biologe, Universität Bayreuth), and my PhD in Ecology at the Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, in Caracas Venezuela. Between 2011-2013 I was a postdoctoral fellow at the South African National Biodiversity Institute and the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

Biodiversity inventory and monitoring requires a combination of skills to link together data and information from different sources. Besides my studies in animal ecology and entomology, I have a keen interest in statistical analysis, biodiversity informatics and geographic information systems.

My projects have different scopes, from local to global, but they are usually aimed at:

  • Compiling and merging available information about taxa of interest.
  • Linking together taxa, habitat and climate data for the analysis of species distributions.
  • Designing and implementing strategies for monitoring species in changing environments.
  • Analyzing macroecological patterns of species diversity.

My main research is focused in butterflies, dung beetles, and other insect groups, but I collaborate with projects involving birds, mammals and plants.

Publications

Ferrer-Paris, JR, Sánchez-Mercado, A, Viloria, AL, Donaldson, J, (2013). Congruence and diversity of butterfly-host plant associations at higher taxonomic levels. PLoS ONE, 8, e63570. doi:63510.61371/journal.pone.006357.

Ferrer-Paris JR, Rodríguez JP, Good T, Rodríguez-Clark KM & Sánchez-Mercado A (2013) Systematic, large-scale national biodiversity surveys: NeoMaps as a model for tropical region. Diversity and Distributions. Diversity and Distributions, 19, 215–231.

Ferrer-Paris JR, Sánchez-Mercado A & Rodríguez JP (2013) Optimización del muestreo de invertebrados tropicales: Un ejemplo con escarabajos coprófagos (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) en Venezuela. Revista de Biología Tropical 61: 89-110.

Rodríguez GA, Rodríguez JP, Ferrer-Paris JR & Sánchez-Mercado A (2012) A nation-wide standardized bird survey scheme for Venezuela. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 124: 230-244.

Sánchez-Mercado A & Ferrer-Paris JR (2010). Mapping species distributions: Spatial inference and prediction by Janet Franklin (2009), xviii + 320 pp., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. ISBN 9780521876353 (hbk), GBP 70.00; 9780521700023 (pbk), GBP 35.00. Oryx 44: 615-615.

Rodríguez, JP, Ferrer-Paris JR, Mavárez, J, Rodríguez-Clark KM & Sánchez-Mercado, AY (2010). Más y mejor información científica para 2010: Año Internacional de la Diversidad Biológica. Interciencia 35: 160-160.

Sánchez-Mercado, A, Ferrer-Paris, JR, Yerena, E, García-Rangel, S & Rodríguez-Clark, KM (2008). Factors affecting poaching risk to Andean bears in the Cordillera de Mérida, Venezuela: Space, parks, and people. Oryx, 42 (3): 437–447.

Ferrer-Paris, JR & Vitoria, AL [sic]. [2004]. Mariposas altiandinas (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae, Satyrinae) y la conservación de los páramos en Venezuela. En: Jaramillo, C. A.; C. Castaño Uribe; F. Arjona Hincapie; J. V. Rodríguez & C. L. Duran (eds.): Congreso Mundial de Páramos. Memorias Tomo I. Bogotá: Conservación Internacional Colombia, pp. 626-633.

Viloria, AL, Pyrcz, TW, Wojtusiak, J, Ferrer-Paris, JR, Beccaloni, GW, Sattler, K & Lees, DC (2003) A brachypterous butterfly? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B (Suppl.). 270, S21-S24 DOI 10.1098/rsbl.2003.0015

Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith