Oxford Long-Term Ecology Lab

Long-Term Ecology, Biodiversity Conservation, and Environmental Stewardship Technologies

Ana Prohaska D.Phil. Candidate

Previous Work

Resilience of Southeast Asian Lowland Rainforest to large-scale climatic changes

Ana’s research interests lie at the interface of ecology, biogeography and global change biology. More specifically, she is interested in understanding the long-term dynamics of species and ecosystems in response to environmental changes.

Ana was a DPhil student and Clarendon Scholar in the Oxford Long-term Ecology Lab and Biodiversity Institute, at the University of Oxford. She received her BSc (Hons) in Ecology from the University of Zagreb in 2008 and MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management (Distinction) from the University of Oxford in 2009. Her honours project focused on the usage pattern of Croatian wildlife passages (“green bridges”) by large mammals. The MSc thesis developed a framework for incorporating long-term ecological resilience, as informed by the palaeoecological records, into conservation planning with the Caledonian forest in Scotland as a case study. In 2010, Ana worked as a research assistant in the Wilson Conservation Ecology Lab at the University of Queensland on projects relating to climate change adaptation and invasive species management.

Ana’s DPhil project examined the ecological responses of mixed Dipterocarp forests of Southeast Asia to past climatic changes using pollen and leaf wax biomarkers preserved in the sedimentary sequences from Lake Bulusan, a small crater lake in the Philippines.


Selected Publications

  • Traill L.W., Perhans K., Lovelock C.E., Prohaska A., Rhodes J. and K.A. Wilson (2011) Managing for global change: Wetland transitions under sea level rise and outcomes for threatened species. Diversity and Distributions, 17: 1225–1233.
  • Kusak J., Prohaska A., Huber D. and I. Vuksic (2009) Highway constructions and habitat  connectivity for large mammals – a Croatian experience, In: Włodzimierz Jdrzejewski and Dorota Ławreszuk (eds.) Proceedings of the International conference on Implementation of the Concept of Ecological Corridors, 20‐22 November 2008, Zakład Badania Ssaków Polskiej Akademii Nauk Białowieža.

Selected presentations

  • Prohaska A.: Resilience planning in the Great Bear Rainforest – conceptual framework and practical implementation, Regional Data Integration Workshop, Alaska Coastal Rainforest Centre & Southeast Alaska GIS Library at University of Alaska Southeast, 16-17 February 2011, Juneau, USA.
  • Prohaska A., Froyd C.A., Davies A.L. and K.J. Willis: Incorporating long-term natural variability into conservation planning: A case study of ecological restoration of the Caledonian forest, Scotland, IUFRO Landscape Ecology International Conference, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, 21-27 September 2010, Bragança, Portugal.

Selected posters

  • Prohaska A., Froyd C.A., Davies A.L. and K.J. Willis: Using long-term records to integrate ecosystem resilience into conservation prioritization, 2012 PAGES Focus 4 Workshop, Biodiversity Institute & University of Oxford, 9-11 January 2012, Oxford, United Kingdom.
  • Prohaska A., Kusak J. and D. Huber: Brown Bear habitat suitability in Croatia, 19th International Bear Conference, International Association for Bear Research and Management (IBA), 16-22 May 2010, Tbilisi, Georgia.
  • Kusak J., Prohaska A., Gomercic T. and D. Huber: Ranges and movements of Brown Bear in Croatia: Comparison of calculation methods, 19th International Bear Conference, International Association for Bear Research and Management (IBA), 16-22 May 2010, Tbilisi, Georgia.
  • Kipson M.,  Medvedovic J.,  Kovac D., Drakulic D., Fressel N., Zrncic V., Josic D., Jagarinec A., Prohaska A. and D. Jakovic: Bat fauna at two remote Croatian islands: island of Vis and island of Lastovo, 11th European Bat Research Symposium, 18-22 August 2008, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.