Profile photo of Karen Lips
Contact Info
Phone: 301.405.5030
Skype: karenlips
Fax: 301.314.9358
Mail Address: 1210 Biology-Psychology Bldg
Karen Lips
Professor

Graduate Program Affiliations

  • BISI - Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, & Systematics (BEES)
  • Marine Estuarine and Environmental Sciences (MEES)

Research Interests

The work of my lab is focused on the conservation and ecology of amphibians (and reptiles), with interests at multiple scales – including population, community, and ecosystems – especially as they are affected by emerging infectious disease and global change.  In my lab we have three major research sites: Panama, Illinois, and Appalachia.  Much of this work is multidisciplinary, involving various collaborators from various fields. Many of the Lab’s projects examine the interactions among amphibian hosts (tropical frogs, Illinois amphibians and Appalachian salamanders), the frog-killing fungus, and the environment to determine why some species decline, some go extinct, and others are not affected.  Another group of projects determines the ecological impacts of amphibian population declines on other components of the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems (TADS).  A third group of interests involves science communication, policy and educational outreach (Aldo Leopold Leadership Program, CONS Program) aspects of these scientific projects.

Population Biology and Community Ecology
My research interests center on the population biology and community ecology of amphibians.  I am particularly interested in determining the spatiotemporal variation in diversity and abundance of amphibians in various communities, studying comparative population demography, and quantifying the role of adult and larval amphibians in tropical and temperate ecosystems.  Most of my recent research involves field work across the Appalachians to quantify variation in species richness, abundance and ecology in the context of global change.  My historic research focuses on comparative ecology of diverse tropical faunas with the goal of using these data to understand differential patterns of decline. 

A. Host-pathogen Ecology
We have been working on determining the geographic and ecological patterns of amphibian declines in our three study areas.  By analyzing patterns of decline among species and across many sites, we hope to predict future declines of other populations at other sites and to prioritize research and conservation actions.  In Latin America, amphibian populations have suffered tremendous losses, many of which were apparently caused by disease from an aquatic frog-killing fungus,Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (“Bd”).  Bd is present in Illinois, but the effects on populations are not known. In both regions we are studying the prevalence of Bd in natural populations of amphibians and how ecology and environmental conditions vary individual and population responses to the fungus. 

B.  Climate Change
In the Appalachians areas we are interested in understanding how disease and climate change may have affected population biology and community composition of plethodontid salamanders.  We have established a 400 km long transect from MD to NC along which we have been surveying populations and communities.  We are interested in quantifying changes in those parameters and determining whether disease and/or climate are involved in observed changes.  Lab members are working on quantifying disease, symbiotic microbes, and climate change across communities and population ranges.

C.  Ecosystem Ecology
Given the abundance and diversity of frogs and tadpoles at tropical sites, the dual role of amphibians in the food web (insectivorous adults and herbivorous tadpoles), and the bimodal life cycle (terrestrial adults and aquatic larvae) the loss of a large portion of the amphibian biomass might have big impacts on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. As part of an interdisciplinary team, we compared tropical mountain stream foodweb structure pre-and post-decline to determine the impact of amphibian declines on these ecosystems.  We conducted small-scale removal experiments, quantified spatio-temporal variation in adult and larval amphibian assemblages, and are quantifying the trophic links among amphibians, lizards and snakes.


Awards

2012 Sabin Award for Amphibian Conservation 
2005 Aldo Leopold Leadership Program Fellow
2000 CSIRO Australia Medal for Research Achievement: Investigating Amphibian Mortality,
1999–2001 Biodiversity Leadership Award: Bay & Paul Foundation
1998 President’s Award: Chicago Zoological Society


Education

1995, Ph.D., Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida
1989, Tropical Biology: an Ecological Approach 89-3. Organization for Tropical Studies
1988, B.S., Zoology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida


All Publications

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Latest Publications via PubMed

Longo AV,Lips KR,Zamudio KR
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2023 Jul 31;378(1882):20220130. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0130. Epub 2023 Jun 12
Friday B,Holzheuser C,Lips KR,Longo AV
J Exp Zool A Ecol Integr Physiol. 2020 Dec;333(10):829-840. doi: 10.1002/jez.2427. Epub 2020 Nov 10
McDonald CA,Longo AV,Lips KR,Zamudio KR
Mol Ecol. 2020 Sep;29(17):3173-3186. doi: 10.1111/mec.15452. Epub 2020 Jun 3
Scheele BC,Pasmans F,Skerratt LF,Berger L,Martel A,Beukema W,Acevedo AA,Burrowes PA,Carvalho T,Catenazzi A,De la Riva I,Fisher MC,Flechas SV,Foster CN,Frías-Álvarez P,Garner TWJ,Gratwicke B,Guayasamin JM,Hirschfeld M,Kolby JE,Kosch TA,La Marca E,Lindenmayer DB,Lips KR,Longo AV,Maneyro R,McDonald CA,Mendelson J 3rd,Palacios-Rodriguez P,Parra-Olea G,Richards-Zawacki CL,Rödel MO,Rovito SM,Soto-Azat C,Toledo LF,Voyles J,Weldon C,Whitfield SM,Wilkinson M,Zamudio KR,Canessa S
Science. 2020 Mar 20;367(6484):. pii: eaay2905. doi: 10.1126/science.aay2905. Epub
Zipkin EF,DiRenzo GV,Ray JM,Rossman S,Lips KR
Science. 2020 Feb 14;367(6479):814-816. doi: 10.1126/science.aay5733. Epub
Ossiboff RJ,Towe AE,Brown MA,Longo AV,Lips KR,Miller DL,Carter ED,Gray MJ,Frasca S Jr
Front Vet Sci. 2019;6:304. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2019.00304. Epub 2019 Sep 12
Medina D,Ibáñez R,Lips KR,Crawford AJ
Zookeys. 2019;859:117-130. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.859.32869. Epub 2019 Jul 2
Muletz-Wolz CR,Fleischer RC,Lips KR
Mol Ecol. 2019 Jun;28(11):2917-2931. doi: 10.1111/mec.15122. Epub 2019 Jun 5
Scheele BC,Pasmans F,Skerratt LF,Berger L,Martel A,Beukema W,Acevedo AA,Burrowes PA,Carvalho T,Catenazzi A,De la Riva I,Fisher MC,Flechas SV,Foster CN,Frías-Álvarez P,Garner TWJ,Gratwicke B,Guayasamin JM,Hirschfeld M,Kolby JE,Kosch TA,La Marca E,Lindenmayer DB,Lips KR,Longo AV,Maneyro R,McDonald CA,Mendelson J 3rd,Palacios-Rodriguez P,Parra-Olea G,Richards-Zawacki CL,Rödel MO,Rovito SM,Soto-Azat C,Toledo LF,Voyles J,Weldon C,Whitfield SM,Wilkinson M,Zamudio KR,Canessa S
Science. 2019 Mar 29;363(6434):1459-1463. doi: 10.1126/science.aav0379. Epub
Muletz-Wolz CR,Barnett SE,DiRenzo GV,Zamudio KR,Toledo LF,James TY,Lips KR
J Evol Biol. 2019 Mar;32(3):287-298. doi: 10.1111/jeb.13413. Epub 2019 Feb 8
DiRenzo GV,Zipkin EF,Grant EHC,Royle JA,Longo AV,Zamudio KR,Lips KR
Ecol Appl. 2018 Dec;28(8):1948-1962. doi: 10.1002/eap.1792. Epub 2018 Oct 3
DiRenzo GV,Tunstall TS,Ibáñez R,deVries MS,Longo AV,Zamudio KR,Lips KR
Ecohealth. 2018 Dec;15(4):815-826. doi: 10.1007/s10393-018-1358-x. Epub 2018 Aug 20
Kiemnec-Tyburczy KM,Tracy KE,Lips KR,Zamudio KR
Genetica. 2018 Apr;146(2):125-136. doi: 10.1007/s10709-018-0016-0. Epub 2018 Feb 15
Muletz Wolz CR,Yarwood SA,Campbell Grant EH,Fleischer RC,Lips KR
J Anim Ecol. 2018 Mar;87(2):341-353. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.12726. Epub 2017 Aug 21
Lips KR
PLoS Biol. 2018 Feb;16(2):e2003080. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2003080. Epub 2018 Feb 6
Burbrink FT,Lorch JM,Lips KR
Sci Adv. 2017 Dec;3(12):e1701387. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1701387. Epub 2017 Dec 20
Muletz-Wolz CR,Almario JG,Barnett SE,DiRenzo GV,Martel A,Pasmans F,Zamudio KR,Toledo LF,Lips KR
Front Microbiol. 2017;8:1551. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.01551. Epub 2017 Aug 21
Bower DS,Lips KR,Schwarzkopf L,Georges A,Clulow S
Science. 2017 Aug 4;357(6350):454-455. doi: 10.1126/science.aao0500. Epub
Muletz-Wolz CR,DiRenzo GV,Yarwood SA,Campbell Grant EH,Fleischer RC,Lips KR
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2017 May 1;83(9):. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00186-17. Epub 2017 Apr 17