Bill Buffum

  • Adjunct Assistant Professor
  • Department of Natural Resources Science
  • Email: buffum@uri.edu

Research

Dr. Buffum is a forest ecologist who focuses on improving forest health and wildlife habitat. He worked as a URI Research Associate from 2009–2021, and was a co-principal investigator on several USDA-financed forestry projects. His responsibilities included: (a) conducting research on the impact of landowner involvement in forest management; (b) collaborating with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to provide forestry support to private landowners and land trusts; (c) serving as the URI representative for the USFS Northeast Climate Hub, which shared information about climate research and outreach; (d) managing a website that provides information about forestry in Rhode Island; and (e) conducting research in Nepal on community-based efforts to reduce conflict with wild elephants in the buffer zone of Chitwan National Park. Before joining URI, he worked internationally in forestry and biodiversity conservation for 25 years with a focus on the Himalayan region. After retiring from URI in 2021, he started working as an independent consultant on the Young Forest Initiative, a USDA-financed project to encourage private landowners to create young forest habitats to benefit wildlife species in Rhode Island.

Education

Doctor of Agricultural Science (Forestry), Institute of Forest Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria, 2007.
MA, International Affairs, Ohio University, 1981
BA, Biological Science, Brown University, 1977

Selected Publications

  1. Buffum B, Masse RJ, McWilliams SR. 2021. Novel Use of Species Distribution Modeling to Identify High Priority Sites for American Woodcock Habitat Management. Northeastern Naturalist 28(3), 233-247. DOI: doi.org/10.1656/045.028.0301
  2. Buffum, B. 2021. GIS Rasters to identify sites for creating habitat for American Woodcock in Rhode Island. Dryad Digital Repository (doi: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pg4f4qrp6).
  3. Shrestha S, Bashyal A, Rijal R, Shrestha J, Shrestha P, Shrestha N, McGreevy TJ, Buffum B, Khanal S. 2021. An Ecological Assessment of Critically Endangered Chinese Pangolin in the Midhills Region of Nepal. Open Journal of Ecology. 2021 Mar 23;11(4):344-56 (doi: 10.4236/oje.2021.114024).
  4. McGreevy TJ, Michaelides S, Djan M, Sullivan M, Beltrán D, Buffum B, Husband T. 2021. Location and Species Matters: Variable Influence of the Environment on the Gene Flow of Imperiled, Native and Invasive Cottontails. Frontiers in Genetics (12) Article 708871. DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.708871
  5. Buffum B, Tefft BC, Masse RJ, McWilliams SR. 2019. Mobilizing Private Landowners to Create American Woodcock Habitat: Lessons Learned in Rhode Island, USA. In D.G. Krementz, T.R. Cooper, and D.E. Andersen, eds. Proceedings of the Eleventh American Woodcock Symposium (pp 85-92), University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA (doi: https://doi.org/10.24926/AWS.0111).
  6. Masse RJ, Tefft BC, Buffum B, McWilliams SR. 2019. Habitat Selection of American Woodcock and its Implications for Habitat Management Where Young Forests are Rare. In D.G. Krementz, T.R. Cooper, and D.E. Andersen, eds. Proceedings of the Eleventh American Woodcock Symposium (pp 167-177), University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA (doi: https://doi.org/10.24926/AWS.0123).
  7. Brenner, SJ, Buffum, B, Tefft, BC, McWilliams, SR. 2019. Landscape context matters when American Woodcock select singing grounds: Results from a reciprocal transplant experiment. The Condor: Ornithological Applications 121: 1-11(doi: 10.1093/condor/duy005).
  8. Buchanan S, Buffum B, Puggioni G, and Karraker N. 2019. Occupancy of freshwater turtles across a gradient of altered landscapes. Journal of Wildlife. Management 83: 435-445. (doi:10.1002/jwmg.21596)
  9. Sullivan ME, McGreevy TJ, Gottfried AE, Tefft BC, Buffum B, Husband TP. 2019. Molecular identification of three sympatric lagomorphs in the Northeastern United States. Mitochondrial DNA Part B, 4 (1). DOI: 10.1080/23802359.2019.1601508.
  10. Amy E. Gottfried Maye AE, McGreevy TJ, Sullivan ME, Buffum B, Husband TP. 2018. Fine-Scale Habitat Comparison of Two Sympatric Cottontail Species in Eastern Connecticut. Current Trends in Forest Research 2018 (02). DOI: 10.29011/ 2638-0013. 100019.
  11. Buchanan S, Buffum B, Karraker N. 2017. Responses of a Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata) Population to Creation of Early-successional Habitat. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 12(3):688–700.
  12. Buffum B. and McWilliams S. 2017. Assessing the Density of Vegetation for Wildlife Cover in Regen¬erating Clearcuts via Analysis of Digital Imagery. Current Trends in Forest Research: (doi: 10.29011/ CTFR-102. 100002).
  13. Kolbe J, VanMiddlesworth P, Battles AC, Stroud JT, Buffum B, Forman RTT, Losos JB. 2016. Determinants of spread in an urban landscape by an introduced lizard. Landscape Ecology 2016: 1-19 (doi: 10.1007/s10980-016-0362-1).
  14. Buffum B, McGreevy TJ, Gottfried AE, Sullivan ME, Husband TP. 2015. An Analysis of Overstory Tree Canopy Cover in Sites Occupied by Native and Introduced Cottontails in the Northeastern United States with Recommendations for Habitat Management for New England Cottontail. PLOS ONE 10(8): e0135067. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0135067
  15. Buffum B, Modisette C, McWilliams S. 2014. Encouraging family forest owners to create early successional wildlife habitat in Southern New England. Plos One 9(2): e89972. (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0089972).
  16. Buffum B. and McKinney R. 2014. Does proximity to wetland shrubland increase the habitat value for shrubland birds of small patches of upland shrubland in the northeastern United States? International Journal of Forestry Research. vol. 2014, Article ID 329836, 9 p (doi:10.1155/2014/329836)
  17. Buffum B. 2014. Community Forestry: Sustainability and Equity Issues. Encyclopedia of Natural Resources, Taylor & Francis Group,2014: 113-118. (doi: 10.1081/E-ENRL-120051664).
  18. Buffum B. 2012. Why is There No Tragedy in These Commons? An Analysis of Forest User Groups and Forest Policy in Bhutan. Sustainability 4(7): 1448-1465; (doi:10.3390/su4071448)
  19. Buffum B, McWilliams SM, August PV. 2011. A spatial analysis of forest management and its contribution to maintaining the extent of shrubland habitat in southern New England, United States. Forest Ecology and Management 262: 1775–1785 (doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2011.07.024).
  20. Buffum B, Lawrence A, Temphel, K.J. 2010. Equity in Community Forests in Bhutan. International Forestry Review 12(3) 187-199 (doi: 10.1505/ifor.12.3.187).
  21. Buffum B, Gratzer G, Tenzin Y. 2009 Forest Grazing and Natural Regeneration in a Late Successional Broadleaved Community Forest in Bhutan. Mountain Research and Development 29(1) 30-35 (doi: 10.1659/mrd.991).
  22. Buffum B, Gratzer G, Tenzin Y. 2008. The Sustainability of Selection Cutting in a Late Successional Broadleaved Community Forest in Bhutan. Forest Ecology and Management 256: 2084–2091 (doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2008.07.031).