Dr Robert Jehle

Senior Lecturer Programme Leader, BSc Wildlife Conservation with Zoo Biology BSc Wildlife and Practical Conservation

• Peel Building Room 306
• T: +44 (0)161 295 2146
• E: r.jehle@salford.ac.uk
• SEEK: Research profile

Monday 10.00am – 12.00pm

I am a population biologist with an unexplainable fondness for amphibians, ponds, and rainforests. After completing my PhD in Zoology at the University of Vienna (Austria) I obtained an EU Marie Curie post-doctoral fellowship to conduct research at the Molecular Ecology Laboratory of the University of Sheffield. I then pursued my research and teaching with temporary academic positions at Sheffield and the University of Bielefeld (Germany), before arriving at the University of Salford in 2008.

My teaching reflects both my past education as well as my ongoing research interests, and covers areas ranging from classic zoology to conservation biology. I believe in a versatile approach to teaching, and have developed and delivered teaching activities which range from lectures, laboratory practicals and IT classes to residential rainforest fieldtrips.

My main research area revolves around the ecology, behaviour and evolution of amphibians at the level of populations. A main focus covers the documentation of spatial and temporal population processes using genetic markers, and the use of genetic information to document mating systems. A second area of research encompasses field-based studies on habitat use and migration, and the application of such data for conservation. I have been involved in research on all three amphibian orders (anurans, urodeles, and caeclians), covering wild populations from Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia.

A recent example highlight of collaborative research includes the finding that the Scottish Highlands bear a new species of native vertebrate (the crested newt Triturus cristatus, previously seen as locally introduced). This finding has wide impacts on local protection and habitat conservation measures for an important wetland flagship species.

Council Member, Tropical Biology Association

Member of the Executive Committee, World Congress of Herpetology

Council Member, British Herpetological Society

Editor, Herpetological Journal

Associate Editor, Animal Conservation

Editorial Board, Endangered Species Research

Editorial Board, Dataset Papers in Zoology

Baláž V, Vörös J, Civiš P, Vojar J, Hettyey A, Sós E, Dankovics R, Jehle R, Guldager D, Clare F, Fisher MC, Garner TWJ, Bielby J (2013) Taxonomic and geographic selectivity of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis infection in Europe: Assessing risk and directing future monitoring. Conservation Biology, in press.

Liao WB, Zenf Y, Quan C, Jehle R (2013) Sexual size dimorphism in anurans fails to obey Rensch's rule. Frontiers in Zoology, 10: 10.

Calboli FCF, Fisher MC, Garner TWJ, Jehle R (2011) The need for jumpstarting amphibian genome projects. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 26, 378-379.

Ursprung E, Ringler M, Jehle R, Hödl W (2011) Strong male-male competition allows for non-choosy females: high levels of polygynandry in a territorial frog with paternal care. Molecular Ecology 20, 1759-1771.

Arntzen JW, Jehle R, Bardacki F, Burke T, Wallis GP (2009) Asymmetric viability of reciprocal-cross hybrids between crested and marbled newts (Triturus cristatus, T. marmoratus). Evolution 63, 1191-1202.