RESEARCH Interests
I am primarily interested in natural history, ecology, and animal behavior. I am also interested in empirical research that has direct conservation implications, particularly in the face of climate change and other environmental threats.
Current PROJECTS
RECENT PROJECTS
I have recently joined Dr. Nathan Dorn’s Aquatic Ecology Lab associated with the Institute of Environment at Florida International University. My research is generally focused on understanding predator-prey interactions and small animal population dynamics in South Florida’s Everglades. I am specifically examining the behavioral responses of crayfish to native versus invasive fish predators, and assessing the efficacy of antipredator defenses.
Since 2017, I have been monitoring and studying the explosive breeding events of gliding treefrogs (Agalychnis spurrelli) on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula. My research has so far examined the phenology and environmental determinants of breeding in gliding treefrogs, the reproductive behavior and success of adults, and determinants of differences in embryo escape responses to snake attacks. Collectively, this work expands our understanding of the reproductive ecology of tropical anuran species with explosive-breeding strategies and has broader implications for understanding how breeding patterns and mating strategies can affect behavior at multiple life stages.
Male Alternative
Reproductive Tactics
Egg Clutch
Field Monitoring
scientific PUBLICATIONS
(14 papers, 9 first-authored, 2 senior-authored; undergrad/intern co-authors)
16. Jung J, Güell BA, Warkentin KM (in prep) Temperature-induced heterokairy in vestibular system development matches changes in the onset of mechanosensory-cued hatching in red-eyed treefrogs.
15. Güell BA, Aichelman H, Davies, SW, Warkentin KM (in prep) Alternative reproductive tactics in male gliding treefrogs: nonamplexed males increase reproductive success using sneaking and post-mating clutch piracy.
14. Güell BA, McDaniel JG, Warkentin KM (2024) Egg-clutch biomechanics affect escape-hatching behavior and performance. Integrative Organismal Biology. 6(1): obae006. Full text
13. Güell BA, Warkentin KM (2023) To hatch and hatch not: does heterochrony in onset of vestibular mechanosensing explain species differences in escape-hatching success of Agalychnis embryos in snake attacks? Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 77:141. Full text
12. Güell BA, Warkentin KM (2023) Phenology and environmental predictors of explosive breeding in gliding treefrogs: a boosted regression tree analysis. Behavioral Ecology. Full text
11. Gomez EK, Chaiyasarikul A, Güell BA, Warkentin KM (2023) Developmental changes in red-eyed treefrog embryo behavior increase escape-hatching success in wasp attacks. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 77, 52. Full text
10. Barrio-Amorós CL, Güell BA, (2023) The Central American milk frog Trachycephalus “vermiculatus” (Anura, Hylidae); observations of explosive breeding activity and a novel release call. Reptiles & Amphibians 30(1), e18452. Full text
9. Güell BA, Rose F, Bordne CM (2022) Facultative parthenogenesis in a captive Tarahumara mountain boa (Boa sigma). Reptiles & Amphibians 29(1), 411-412. Full text
8. Güell BA, Jung J, Almanzar A, Diaz JC, Warkentin KM (2022) Ontogeny of risk assessment and escape-hatching performance by red-eyed treefrog embryos in two threat contexts. Journal of Experimental Biology, 225(20): jeb244533. Full text
7. González K, Warkentin KM, Güell BA (2021) Dehydration-induced mortality and premature hatching in gliding treefrogs with even small reductions in humidity. Ichthyology and Herpetology, 109(1), 21-30. Full text
» Awarded 2021 Best Paper (Herpetology) in Ichthyology and Herpetology
6. Gomez EK, Warkentin KM, Güell BA (2021) Egg-kicking behaviour by male gliding treefrogs (Agalychnis spurrelli Boulenger, 1913) does not dislodge competitors’ eggs. Herpetology Notes, 14, 157-161. Full text
5. Güell BA, Sánchez M, Gallo S, Garro D, Paniagua D, Barrio-Amorós C (2021) Multiple observations of atypical coloration in Central American Agalychnis treefrogs (Anura: Phyllomedusidae). Herpetology Notes, 14, 151-155. Full text
4. Güell BA, González K, Pedroso-Santos F (2019) Opportunistic predation by two aquatic-feeding predators on an explosive-breeding aggregation of arboreal gliding treefrogs (Agalychnis spurrelli Boulenger, 1913; Anura: Phyllomedusidae) on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica. Herpetology Notes, 12, 795-798. Full text
3. Güell BA, González K (2019) Mating mayhem. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 17(2), 128-128. Full text
2. Güell BA, Warkentin KM (2018) When and where to hatch? Red-eyed treefrog embryos use light cues in two contexts. PeerJ, 6:e6018. Full text
1. Warkentin KM, Diaz JC, Güell BA, Jung J, Kim SJ, Cohen KL (2017) Developmental onset of escape hatching responses in red-eyed treefrogs depend on cue type. Animal Behaviour, 129, 103–112. Full text
» Audio Slides | Diapositivas de Audio
