Bats and Birds in Natural and Semi-Natural Ecosystems
Tropical and Mediterranean Biodiversity - TMB

Inês Lacerda

MSc Student

Conservation Tropical Ecology Africa Avifauna Biodiversity

Inês Lacerda is conducting a MSc in Conservation Biology by the University of Lisbon starting in 2021 within the Tropical and Mediterranean Biodiversity group of cE3c. She is conducting the thesis "Conserving biodiversity and enhancing food security: insectivorous birds as potential suppressors of rice pests in Guinea-Bissau (West Africa)", integrated in the "Eco Pest Supression" Project, under the supervision of Ana Rainho (FCUL). Inês' MSc aim is to assess the potential contribution of bird-mediated suppression of insect pests of rice in Guinea-Bissau, by: 1) assessing which species of insectivorous birds regularly forage on rice fields relative to surrounding habitat types; 2) determining which traits characterize species that use rice crops; and 3) identifying landscape features that may attract insectivorous birds to rice fields.