Sarah Boyle

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Ecology, Conservation Biology, GIS & Remote Sensing

Dr. Boyle studies how human actions impact the distribution, ecology, and conservation of fauna and flora. Her research also addresses the extent to which a species modifies its behavior when living in areas of high disturbance. Dr. Boyle conducts research in Central and South America, as well as locally in Memphis. Current student projects involve behavioral research at the Memphis Zoo and the analysis of local forests using GIS.

Dr. Boyle also heads the Boyle Lab. Research in the Boyle Lab combines behavior, ecology, conservation biology, remote sensing and GIS in order to address how anthropogenic changes to the environment affect the distribution, persistence, ecology, and future viability of fauna and flora.

Google Scholar Profile
ResearchGate Profile

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Journal Articles

Eppley, T. M., S. Hoeks, C. A. Chapman, J. U. Ganzhorn, K. Hall, M. A. Owen, D. B. Adams, N. Allgas, K. R. Amato, M. Andriamahaihavana, J. F. Aristizabal, A. L. Baden, M. Balestri, A. A. Barnett, J. C. Bicca-Marques, M. Bowler, S. A. Boyle, and 101 coauthors. 2022. Factors influencing terrestriality in primates of the Americas and Madagascar. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119:e2121105119. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2121105119 (pdf)

dos Santos-Barnett, T. C., T. Cavalcante, S. A. Boyle, A. L. Matte, B. M. Bezerra, T. G. De Oliveira, and A. A. Barnett. 2022. Pulp fiction: why some populations of ripe-fruit specialists Ateles chamek and A. marginatus prefer insect-infested fruits. International Journal of Primatology 43:384-408. DOI: 10.1007/s10764-022-00284-0 (pdf) 

Boyle, S. A., N. de la Sancha, P. Pérez, and D. Kabelik. 2021. Small mammal glucocorticoid concentrations vary with forest fragment size, trap type, and mammal taxa in the Interior Atlantic Forest. Scientific Reports 11:2111. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-81073-2 (pdf)

de la Sancha, N. U., S. A. Boyle, and N. E. McIntyre. 2021. Identifying structural connectivity priorities in eastern Paraguay’s fragmented Atlantic Forest. Scientific Reports 11: 16129 (pdf)

de la Sancha, N. U., S. A. Boyle, N. E. McIntyre, D. M. Brooks, A. Yanosky, E. C. Soto, F. Mereles, M. Camino, and R. D. Stevens. 2021. The disappearing Dry Chaco, one of the last dry forest systems on earth. Landscape Ecology DOI: 10.1007/s10980-021-01291-x (pdf)

Souza-Alves, J. P., R. R. D. Chagas, S. A. Boyle, A. A. Barnett, and B. M. Bezerra. 2021. Throat-to-chest behavior in Coimbra-Filho’s titi monkeys (Callicebus coimbrai) is potentially associated with olfactory communication. International Journal of Primatology (pdf)

Amato, K.R., Chaves, O.M., Mallott, E.K., Eppley, T.M., Abreu, F., Baden, A.L., Barnett, A.A., Bicca-Marques, J.C., Boyle, S.A., and 35 coauthors. 2021. Fermented food consumption in wild nonhuman primates and its ecological drivers. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 175: 513-530. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24257 (pdf)

Souza-Alves, J. P., R. R. D. Chagas, M. M. Santana, S. A. Boyle, and B. M. Bezerra. 2021. Food availability, plant diversity, and vegetation structure drive behavioral and ecological variation in Endangered Coimbra-Filho's titi monkeys. American Journal of Primatology DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23237 (pdf)

Boyle, S. A., N. Berry, J. Cayton, S. Ferguson, A. Gilgan, A. Khan, H. Lam, S. Leavelle, I. Mulder, R. Myers, A. Owens, J. Park, I. Siddiq, M. Slevin, T. Weidow, A. J. Yu, and S. Reichling. 2020. Widespread behavioral responses by mammals and fish to zoo visitors highlight differences between individual animals. Animals 10:2108. DOI: 10.3390/ani10112108. (pdf)

Barnett, A. A., S. A. Boyle, N. M. Kinap, T. C. dos Santos-Barnett, T. T. Camilo, P. Parolin, M.  Piedade, and B. Bezerra. 2020. Buds, bugs and bienniality: the floral biology of Eschweilera tenuifolia (O. Berg) Miers (Lecythidaceae) in blackwater flooded forest (igapó), Central Amazonian Brazil. Forests 11:1251. DOI: 10.3390/f11121251. (pdf)

Tomanek, P., I. Mourthe, S. A. Boyle, and A. A. Barnet. 2020. Calls for concern: matching alarm response levels to threat intensities in three Neotropical primates. Acta Oecologica 109:103646. DOI: 10.1016/j.actae.2020.103646. (pdf)

Jucá, T., S. Boyle, G. Cavalcanti, T. Cavalcante, P. Tománek, S. Clemente, T. de Oliveira, and A. Barnett. 2020. Being hunted high and low: do differences in nocturnal sleeping and diurnal resting sites of howler monkeys (Alouatta nigerrima and A. discolor) reflect safety from attack by different types of predator? Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 131: 203-219. DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blaa102. (pdf)

de la Sancha, N. U. and S. A. Boyle. 2019. Predictive sampling effort and species-area relationship models for estimating richness in fragmented landscapes. PLOS ONE 14: e0226529. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226529. (pdf)

Barnett, A. A., T. de Oliveira, R. F. S. da Silva, S. A. Teixeira, L. M. Todd, and S. A. Boyle. 2018. Honest error, precaution or alertness advertisement? Reactions to vertebrate pseudopredators in red-nosed cuxiús (Chiropotes albinasus), a high-canopy neotropical primate. Ethology 124: 177-187. DOI: 10.1111/eth.12721 (pdf)

Estrada, A., P. Garber, A. Rylands, C. Roose, E. Fernandez-Duque, A. Di Fiore, K. Nekaris, V. Nijman, E. Heymann, J. Lambert, F. Rovero, C. Barelli, J. Setchell, T. Gillespie, R. Mittermeier, L. Arregoitia, M. De Guinea, S. Gouveia, R. Dobrovolski, S. Shanee, N. Shanee, S. Boyle, A. Fuentes, K. MacKinnon, K. Amato, A. Meyer, S. Wich, R. Sussman, P. Ruliang, I. Kone, and L. Baoguo. 2017. Impending extinction crisis of the world’s primates: why primates matter. Science Advances 3: e1600946. (pdf)

de la Sancha, N. U., S. A. Boyle, and B. D. Patterson. 2017. Getting back to the basics: museum collections and satellite imagery are critical to analyzing species diversity. BioScience. DOI:10.1093/biosci/bix004. (pdf) 

Barnett, A. A., J. M. Silla, T. de Oliveira, S. A. Boyle, B. M. Bezerra, W. R. Spironello, E. Z. F. Setz, R. F. Soares da Silva, S. de Albuquerque Teixeira, and L. P. Pinto. 2017. Run, hide or fight: anti-predation strategies in Endangered red-nosed cuxiú (Chiropotes albinasus, Pitheciidae) in southeastern Amazonia. Primates.  (pdf)

Boyle, S. A., C. L. Thompson, A. DeLuycker, S. J. Alvarez, T. H. G. Alvim, R. Aquino, B. M. Bezerra, J. P. Boubli, M. Bowler, C. B. Caselli, R. R. D. Chagas, S. F. Ferrari, I. P. Fontes, T. Gregory, T. Haugaasen, S. Heiduck, R. Hores, S. Lehman, F. R. de Melo, L. S. Moreira, V. S. Moura, M. B. Nagy-Reis, E. Palacios, S. Palminteri, C. A. Peres, L. Pinto, M. Port-Carvalho, A. Rodríguez, R. R. dos Santos, E. Z. F. Setz, C. A. Shaffer, F. E. Silva, R. F. Soares da Silva, J. P. Souza-Alves, L. C. Trevelin, L. M. Veiga, T. M. Vieira, M. E. DuBose*, and A. A. Barnett. 2016. Geographic comparison of plant genera used in frugivory among the pitheciids Cacajao, Callicebus, Chiropotes, and Pithecia. American Journal of Primatology DOI:10.1002/ajp.22422. (pdf)

Boyle, S. A. 2016. Pitheciids in fragmented habitats: land cover change and its implications for conservation. American Journal of Primatology DOI:10.1002/ajp.22325. (pdf)

Barnett, A. A.†, S. A. Boyle†, and C. L. Thompson†. 2016. Pitheciid research comes of age: past puzzles, current progress, and future priorities. American Journal of Primatology DOI:10.1002/ajp.22491. †Co-lead authors (pdf)

Shaffer, C. A., A. A. Barnett, Gregory, F. De Melo, L. Moreira, T. H. G. Alvim, V. S. Moura, A. Filó, T. Cardoso, M. Port-Carvalho, R. R dos Santos, and S. A. Boyle. 2016. Mixed-species associations in cuxiús (genus Chiropotes). American Journal of Primatology DOI:10.1002/ajp.22433. (pdf)

Boyle, S. A., B. Pope*, M. Blake*, S. E. Leavelle*, J. J. Marshall*, B. Pope, A. Smith, A. Hadicke, B. Roberts, F. Falcone, K. Knott, and A. J. Kouba. 2015. Assessment of flooring changes on African elephant behavior and glucocorticoid response. PloS ONE.

Barnett, A. A., T. Almeida, R. Andrade, S. A. Boyle, M. G. de Lima, A. MacLarnon, C. Ross, W. S. Silva, W. R. Spironello, and B. Ronchi-Teles. 2015. Ants in their plants: Pseudomyrmex ants reduce primate and parrot predation on Macrolobium acaciifolium (Fabaceae) seeds in Brazilian Amazonia. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 114: 260-273. (pdf)

Barnett, A. A., P. J. P. Santos, S. A. Boyle, and B. M. Bezerra. 2015. An improved technique using dental prostheses for field quantification of the force required by primates for the dental penetration of fruit. Folia Primatologica 86: 398-410. (pdf)

Boyle, S. A., C. M. Kennedy, J. Torres, K. Colman, P. E. Pérez-Estigarribia, and N. U. de la Sancha. 2014. High-resolution satellite imagery is an important yet underutilized resource in conservation biology. PLoS ONE 9: e86908. (pdf)

Boyle, S. A., C. E. Zartman, W. R. Spironello, and A. T. Smith. 2012. Implications of habitat fragmentation on the diet of bearded saki monkeys in Central Amazonian forest. Journal of Mammalogy 93: 957-976. (pdf)

Barnett, A. M.*, S. A. Boyle*, L. Pinto, W. C. Lourenço, T. Almeida, W. Sousa Silva, B. Ronchi-Teles, B. Bezerra, C. Ross, A. MacLarnon, and W. R. Spironello. 2012. Primary seed dispersal by three Neotropical seed-predating primates (Cacajao melanophalus ouakary, Chiropotes chiropotes, and Chiropotes albinasus). Journal of Tropical Ecology 28: 545-555. *Equal contribution. (pdf)

Barnett, A. A., L. P. Pinto, J. C. Bicca-Marques, S. F. Ferrari, M. Gordo, P. G. Guedes, M. A. Lopes, J. C. Opazo, M. Port-Carvalho, R. R. dos Santos, R. F. Soares, W. R. Spironello, L. M. Veiga, T. M. Vieira, and S. A. Boyle. 2012. A proposal for the common names for species of Chiropotes (Pitheciinae: Primates). Zootaxa 3507: 79-83. (pdf)

Barnett, A. A., S. A. Boyle, M. A. Norconk, S. Palminteri, R. R. Santos, L. M. Veiga, T. H. G. Alvim, M. Bowler, J. Chism, A. Di Fiore, E. Fernandez-Duque, A. C. P. Guimarães, A. Harrison-Levine, T. Haugaasen, S. Lehman, K. C. MacKinnon, F. R. de Melo, L. S. Moreira, V. S. Moura, L. P. Pinto, M. Port-Carvalho, E. Z. F. Setz, C. Shaffer, L. R. da Silva, R. F. S. da Silva, S. S. B. da Silva, C. L. Thompson, T. M. Vieira, A. Vreedzaam, S. E. Walker-Pacheco, W. R. Spironello, A. MacLarnon, and S. F. Ferrari. 2012. Terrestrial activity in pitheciins (Cacajao, Chiropotes and Pithecia). American Journal of Primatology 74: 1106-1127. (pdf)

Davis*, J. R., S. A. Boyle*, A. Khan, A. L. J. Gay, J. M. Grisham, and L. E. Luque*. 2012. Snake parasitism in an urban old-growth forest. Urban Ecosystems15: 739-752. (pdf) *Equal contribution

Laurance, W. F., J. L. C. Camargo, R. C. C. Luizão, S. G. Laurance, S. L. Pimm, E. M. Bruna, P. C. Stouffer, G. B. Williamson, J. Benítez-Malvido, H. L. Vasconcelos, K S. Van Houtan, C. E. Zartman, S. A. Boyle, R. K. Didam, A. Andrade, and T. E. Lovejoy. 2011. The fate of Amazonian forest fragments: a 32-year investigation. Biological Conservation 144: 56-67. (pdf)

Boyle, S. A. and A. T. Smith. 2010. Can landscape and species characteristics predict primate presence in forest fragments in the Brazilian Amazon? Biological Conservation 143: 1134-1143. (pdf)

Boyle, S. A. and A. T. Smith. 2010. Behavioral modifications in northern bearded saki monkeys (Chiropotes satanas chiropotes) in forest fragments of central Amazonia. Primates 51: 43-51. (pdf)

Boyle, S. A., W. C. Lourenço, L. R. da Silva, and A. T. Smith. 2009. Travel and spatial patterns change when northern bearded saki monkeys (Chiropotes satanas chiropotes) live in forest fragments. International Journal of Primatology 30: 515-531. (pdf)

Boyle, S. A., W. C. Lourenço, L. R. da Silva, and A. T. Smith. 2009. Home range estimates vary with sample size and methods. Folia Primatologica 80: 33-42. (pdf)

Boyle, S. A. 2008. Human impacts on primate conservation in central Amazonia. Tropical Conservation Science 1: 6-17. (pdf)

Book Chapters and Encyclopedia Entries

Boyle, S. A. 2021. Home range analysis: Why the methods manner. In GPS and GIS for Primatologists: a Practical Guide to Spatial Analysis. Shaffer, C., F. Dolins, J. Hickey, N. Nibbelink, and L. Porter (eds), Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK.

Boyle, S. A. 2020. Protected areas and anthromes. In World Biomes. Elsevier.

Boyle, S. A., C. Alho, J. Chism, T. Defler, A. Di Fiore, E. Fernandez-Duque, E. Palacios, R. Santos, B. Urbani, R. Wallace, B. Wright, K. Wright, and A. Barnett. 2019. Conservation of primates and their flooded habitats in the Neotropics. In Primates in Flooded Habitats: Ecology and Conservation. Barnett, A. A, I. Matsuda, and K. Nowak (eds), Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, pp. 359-373.

Boyle, S. A. 2018. Deforestation. In The International Encyclopedia of Biological Anthropology. Trevathan, W. (ed.), John Wiley & Sons. DOI: 10.1002/9781118584538

Boyle, S. A. 2017. Deforestation. In The International Encyclopedia of Primatology. Fuentes, A. (ed.), Wiley-Blackwell.

Norconk, M. A. and S. A. Boyle. 2016. Biogeography and conservation of the pitheciines: sakis, bearded sakis and uacaris (Pithecia, Chiropotes and Cacajao). In: Phylogeny, Molecular Population Genetics, Evolutionary Biology and Conservation of the Neotropical Primates. Nova Science Publishers, pp. 521-550.

Boyle, S. A., L. M. Veiga, J. Silva Jr. 2016. Black saki (Chiropotes satanas). In All the World’s Primates. Rowe, N. (ed.), Pogonias Press: East Hampton, NY, pp. 233-234.

Boyle, S. A., L. M. Veiga, J. Silva Jr. 2016. Uta Hick’s bearded saki (Chiropotes utahickae). In All the World’s Primates. Rowe, N. (ed.), Pogonias Press: East Hampton, NY, pp. 234-235.

de la Sancha, N. U., P. E. Pérez Estigarribia, E. S. McCulloch, and S. A. Boyle. 2015. Micromamíferos. In: Guía de los Mamíferos de la Reserva Natural Tapytá. Velázquez, M. C. and F. Ramírez Pinto, eds. pp. 91-124.

Boyle, S. A., B. B. Lenz, K. A. Gilbert, W. R. Spironello, M. Santamaria Gómez, E. Z. F. Setz, A. Marajó dos Reis, O. Ferreira da Silva, A. Keuroghlian, and F. Pinto. 2013. The primates of the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project: a history. In Primates in Fragments: Complexity and Resilience, Marsh, L. K. and C. A. Chapman (eds.), Springer: New York, pp. 57-74. (pdf)

Boyle, S. A., A. T. Smith, W. R. Spironello, and C. E. Zartman. 2013. The behavioural ecology of bearded sakis (Chiropotes satanas chiropotes) living in forest fragments of central Brazilian Amazonia. In Evolutionary Biology and Conservation of Titis, Sakis and Uacaris. Veiga, L., A. Barnett, S. Ferrari, and M. Norconk (eds), Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, pp. 255-261.

Ferrari, S., S. Boyle, L. Marsh, M. Port-Carvalho, R. Santos, S. Silva, T. Vieira, J.-C. Vié, and L. Veiga. 2013. The challenge of living in fragments. In Evolutionary Biology and Conservation of Titis, Sakis and Uacaris. Veiga, L., A. Barnett, S. Ferrari, and M. Norconk (eds), Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, pp. 350-358.