Kim R. McConkey
E-64 Sainikpuri
Secunderabad 500094,
India
Phone: 91-40-27117175
Fax: 91-40-27175605
E-mail: [email protected]
Nationality: New Zealand
Visa status in India: PIO Card (Person of Indian Origin).
Educational background
Ph.D. (Ecology): 1999, Anatomy Department, University of Cambridge, U.K. Dissertation:
Gibbons as Seed Dispersers in the Rain-forests of Central Borneo.
B.Sc hons (1st class; Zoology): 1994, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of
Wellington, New Zealand.
B.Sc. (Zoology): 1993, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, New
Zealand.
Research interests:
Plant-animal interactions, particularly the role of medium and large mammals in forest
regeneration and its relevance to forest and wildlife conservation in Asia and the tropical
Pacific
Professional and Research Experience
Researcher, from April 2004
 In collaboration with Warren Brockelman and Chanpen Wongsriphuek at Mahidol
University, Thailand
 Evaluating the regeneration process of fruit species favoured by gibbons in Khao Yai
National Park, Thailand
Consultant, November 2001 – November 2002
 UNEP – World Conservation monitoring Centre
 Development of book proposal and contributing author of GRASP (Great Ape Survival
Project) book
Researcher, May / June 2002.
 In collaboration with Janet Franklin at San Diego State University
 Assessing consequences of a cyclone on vegetation and flying fox populations in Tonga
Postdoctoral Fellow, 1999-2001.
 School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, NZ
 Assessing the consequences of flying fox decline for forest regeneration in Tonga
Teaching assistant, 1994-1995. School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington,
NZ
Research assistant,1994-1995. School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington,
NZ
Grants and Prizes Received
2011: Rufford Small Project Grants (with Firmann Aldy and Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz); seed
dispersal by Sumatran rhinoceros in Sumatra
2004 – 2005: Percy Sladen Memorial Trust Fund; British Ecological Society, small project
grants: seed dispersal by gibbons
1999 – 2001: Wildlife Conservation Society Research Fellowship, Percy Sladen Memorial
Trust: relationship between flying fox abundance and seed dispersal role
1995 – 1999: Leakey Foundation, Primate Conservation Inc., New Zealand Embassy in
Jakarta, New Zealand Federation of University Women, Selwyn College, Cambridge
University, Sophie Danforth Conservation Biology Fund of the Roger Williams Park Zoo and
Rhode Island Zoological Society: seed dispersal by gibbons
1995 – 2001: Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, Prince of Wales Scholarship for Ph.D. study
at Cambridge University, ORS Award for Ph.D. study in the United Kingdom
1993 – 1995: Helen Stewart Royle Scholarship, for Ph.D. study, Graduate Award, Dr. F. G.
Maskell prize in Zoology, Victoria University, NZ
Presentations at Conferences
McConkey, K. R. (2010). Big fruit for small mouths: the ability (or inability) of gibbons and flying
foxes to disperse megafaunal fruits. 5th International Symposium/Workshop on Frugivores and
Seed Dispersal (1985-2010), Montpellier, France.
McConkey, K.R. & Drake, D.R. (2001). Extinct pigeons and declining bat populations: are large
seeds still being dispersed in the tropical Pacific? The Ecology of Insular Biotas, Wellington,
New Zealand.
Drake, D.R. & McConkey, K.R. (2001). Does seed predation by introduced rats threaten or
enhance the recruitment of Pandanus tectorius trees in Tonga? Ecology of Insular Biotas,
Wellington, New Zealand.
McConkey, K.R. & Bricknell, S. (2001). Fruit selection by hybrid gibbons (Hylobates agilis x H.
muelleri) in the rainforests of Borneo. The XVIIIth Congress of the International Primatological
Society, Adelaide, Australia.
McConkey, K.R. & Drake D.R. (2000). Extinct pigeons and declining bat populations: are large
seeds still being dispersed in the tropical Pacific? Invited paper, 3rd International SymposiumWorkshop on Frugivores and Seed Dispersal, São Pedro, Brasil.
McConkey, K.R. (1999). Seed dispersal by gibbons in the rain-forests of central Borneo. Invited
paper, British Ecological Society Tropical Ecology meeting, Cambridge, UK.
Publications
McConkey, K. R., Prasad, S., Corlett, R. T., Campos-Arceiz, A., Brodie, J. F., Rogers, H.,
Santamaria, L. (in press) Seed dispersal in changing landscapes. Biological Conservation.
McConkey, K. R. (2011) Non-redundancy in the dispersal network of a generalist tropical forest
tree. Ecology 92(7): 1492-1502.
McConkey, K. R. (2011) Contributor to All the World’s Primates.
McConkey, K. R. (2009) The seed dispersal niche of gibbons in Bornean dipterocarp forests. In
D. J. Whittaker, S. M. Lappan, and T. Geissmann (eds). The Gibbons: New perspectives on small
ape socioecology and population biology. Springer, New York. Pp 189 – 210.
Marshall, A. J., Ancrenaz, M., Brearley, F. Q., Fredriksson, G., Ghaffar, N., Heydon, M., Husson,
S., Leighton, M., McConkey, K. R, Morrogh-Bernard, H., Proctor, J., van Schaik, C. P., Yeager, C.
P., and Wich, S. A. (2009) The effects of forest phenology and floristics on populations of
Bornean and Sumatran orangutans: are Sumatran forests more productive than Bornean
forests? In S. A. Wich, S. Utami, T. Mitra Setia, and C. P. van Schaik (eds). Orangutans:
Geographic variation in behavioral ecology and conservation. Oxford University Press, New
York. Pp. 97–117.
McConkey, K. R. and Chivers, D. J. (2007) Influence of gibbon ranging patterns on seed
dispersal distance and deposition site in a Bornean forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 23: 269275.
McConkey, K. R. and Drake D. R. (2007) Indirect evidence that flying foxes track food resources
among islands in a Pacific archipelago. Biotropica 39(3): 436-440.
Moura, A. C. de A. and McConkey, K. R. (2007) The capuchin, the howler and the Caatinga:
seed dispersal by monkeys in a threatened Brazilian forest. American Journal of Primatology
69: 220-226.
McConkey, K. R. and Drake, D. R. (2006) Flying foxes cease to function as seed dispersers long
before they become rare. Ecology 87(2): 271-276.
Caldecott, J. and McConkey, K. R (2006). Orangutan Overview. In J. Caldecott and L. Miles
(eds). World Atlas of Great Apes and their Conservation. UNEP-WCMC and University of
California Press, London, pp. 153-160.
McConkey, K. R (2006). Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). In J. Caldecott and L. Miles
(eds). World Atlas of Great Apes and their Conservation. UNEP-WCMC and University of
California Press, London, pp. 161-184.
McConkey, K. R (2006). Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii). In J. Caldecott and L. Miles (eds).
World Atlas of Great Apes and their Conservation. UNEP-WCMC and University of California
Press, London, pp. 185-204.
McConkey, K. R. Caldecott, J. and McManus, E. (2006). Republic of Indonesia. In J. Caldecott
and L. Miles (eds). World Atlas of Great Apes and their Conservation. UNEP-WCMC and
University of California Press, London, pp. 417-424.
McConkey, K. R. Caldecott, J. and McManus, E. (2006). Malaysia. In J. Caldecott and L. Miles
(eds). World Atlas of Great Apes and their Conservation. UNEP-WCMC and University of
California Press, London, pp. 425-430.
Meehan, H.J., McConkey, K.R. and Drake, D.R. (2005) The early fate of Myristica hypagyraea
seeds dispersed by Ducula pacifica in Tonga. Austral Ecology 30: 374-382.
McConkey, K. R. and Bell, B. D. (2005) Activity and habitat use of waders are influenced by tide,
time and weather. Emu 105: 331-340.
McConkey, K. R. (2005) The influence of gibbon primary seed shadows on post-dispersal seed
fate in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Journal of Tropical Ecology 21(3):255-262.
McConkey, K. R. (2005). Influence of faeces on seed removal from gibbon dungs in a
dipterocarp forest in central Borneo. Journal of Tropical Ecology 21: 117-120.
McConkey, K. R., Meehan H. J. and Drake, D. R. (2004). Seed dispersal by Pacific pigeons
(Ducula pacifica) in Tonga, Western Polynesia. Emu 104: 369-376.
McConkey, K. R. and Chivers, D. J. (2004) Low mammal and hornbill abundance in the forests
of Barito Ulu, Central Kalimantan. Oryx 38(4): 439-447.
McConkey, K. R., Drake, D. R., Franklin, J. and Tonga, F. (2004). Effects of Cyclone Waka on
flying foxes (Pteropus tonganus) in the Vava`u Islands of Tonga. Journal of Tropical Ecology 20:
555-561.
Franklin, J., Drake, D. R., McConkey, K. R. and Tonga, F. (2004). The effects of Cyclone Waka on
the structure of lowland tropical rain forest in Vava`u, Tonga. Journal of Tropical Ecology 20:
555-561.
McConkey, K.R. Ario, A., Aldy, F. and Chivers, D.J. (2003). The influence of forest seasonality on
gibbon food choice in the rain-forests of central Borneo. International Journal of Primatology
24: 19-32.
Bull, L., McConkey, K.R. and Tonga, F. (2002). Abundance and breeding habitat of noddies and
white terns on a relatively unmodified island in the Kingdom of Tonga. Emu.102: 373-376.
McConkey, K.R., Drake D.R., Meehan, H. J. and Parsons, N. (2002). Husking stations provide
evidence of seed predation by introduced rodents in Tongan rain forests. Biological
Conservation 109(2): 221-225.
Meehan, H.J., McConkey, K.R. and Drake, D.R. (2002). Potential disruptions to seed dispersal
mutualisms in Tonga, Western Polynesia. Journal of Biogeography 29: 695-712.
McConkey. K.R., Aldy, F., Ario, A. and Chivers, D.J. (2002). Selection of fruit by gibbons
(Hylobates mulleri x agilis) in the rain forests of central Borneo. International Journal of
Primatology, 23 (1): 123-145.
McConkey, K.R. and Drake, D.R. (2002). Extinct pigeons and declining bat populations: are large
seeds still being dispersed in the tropical Pacific? in D. Levey, W. Silva, and M. Galetti (eds.),
Frugivory and Seed dispersal: Ecological, Evolutionary and Conservation Perspectives. CAB
International, Wallingford, UK.
McConkey. K.R. (2000). The primary seed shadow generated by gibbons in the rain forests of
Barito Ulu, central Borneo. American Journal of Primatology, 52: 1-17.
McConkey, K. & Galetti, M. (1999). Seed dispersal by the sun bear Helarctos malayanus in
Central Borneo. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 15: 237-241.
Galetti, M. & McConkey, K. (1998). Black hornbill Anthracoceros malayanus following Gibbons
in Central Borneo. Ibis, 140 (4): 686–687.
Bell, B.D., Borowiec, M., McConkey, K. & Ranoszek, E. (1997). A comparison of settlement
song repertoires and breeding success in monogamous and polygynous sedge warblers
Acrocephalus shoenobaenus. Die Vogelwarte, 39: 87-94.