Mark works on the anthropogenic impacts on wildlife distributions in Amazonia, and has a strong focus on fieldwork, applied spatial ecology, and practical conservation.
Mark earned his doctorate through the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent, on the behavioural ecology and conservation of the red uakari monkey in the Peruvian Amazon. Subsequently, he worked on science communication, social learning in humans, and self-medication in capuchin monkeys at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, before returning to the Amazon, as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Population Sustainability with San Diego Zoo Global.
Research interests
- The spatial ecology of mammals
- Human impacts on wildlife in Amazonia
- Primate ecology and behaviour
- Citizen science in ecology and conservation.
Recent projects in the Peruvian Amazon include; camera trapping in rainforest canopies to monitor arboreal wildlife populations, remote audio monitoring for gunshots and wildlife, GPS tracking indigenous hunters, monitoring the effects of logging and hunting on wildlife populations, and tracking the expansion of giant otter populations. Mark also works on community conservation projects in the Amazon rainforest, working with local people to find sustainable solutions to logging and reducing hunting of vulnerable species.
Selected publications
*Student Authors
Bowler, M., Griffiths, B.*, Gilmore, M.P., Wingfield, A. and Recharte, M.* 2018. Potentially infanticidal behaviour in the Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis). Acta Ethologica. 21(2), 141-145.
Mere, C.*, Bowler, M., & Gilmore, M. 2018. The ethnoprimatology of the Maijuna of the Peruvian Amazon and implications for primate conservation. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 14, 19.
Bowler, M., Anderson, M., Endress, B., Gilmore, M. & Tobler, M. 2017. Estimating mammalian species richness and habitat occupancy in tropical forest canopies with arboreal camera traps. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation. 3 (3), 146-157
Mayor, P., El Bizri, H.*, Bodmer, R.E. & Bowler, M. 2017. Assessment of mammal reproduction for hunting sustainability through community‐based sampling of species in the wild. Conservation Biology. 31 (4), 912-923
Corso, J.*, Bowler, M., Roos, C., Heyman, E., & Mundy, N. 2016. Highly polymorphic colour vision in a New World monkey with red facial skin, the bald uakari (Cacajao calvus). Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 83 (1828), 20160067.
Bowler, M., Messer, E.J.E.*, Claidiere, N., & Whiten, A. 2015. Mutual medication in capuchin monkeys – Social anointing improves coverage of topically applied anti-parasite medicines. Scientific Reports. 5, 15030.
Mayor, P., P. Pérez-Peña, M. Bowler, P. E. Puertas, M. Kirkland and R. Bodmer. 2015. Effects of selective logging on large mammal populations in a remote indigenous territory in the northern Peruvian Amazon. Ecology and Society. 20 (4), 36.
Recharte, M.*, Bride, I.G. & Bowler M. 2015. A recovering flagship: giant otters, communities and tourism in northern Peru. Wildlife Research, 41(6), 490-498.
Bowler, M., Anderson, M., Montes, D., Perez, P., & Mayor, P. 2014. Refining reproductive parameters for modelling sustainability and extinction in hunted primate populations in the Amazon. PloS one, 9(4), e93625.
Claidière, N., Bowler, M., Brookes, S.*, Brown, R.*, & Whiten, A. 2014. Frequency of behaviour witnessed and conformity in an everyday social context. PloS one, 9(6), e99874.
Bowler, M., Buchanan-Smith, H. & Whiten, A. 2012. Assessing public engagement activities in a primate research centre. PLoS ONE. 7(4), e34505.
Bowler, M. Knogge, C., Heymann, E.W. & Zinner, D. 2012. Multilevel societies in New World primates? Flexibility may characterise the organisation of Peruvian red uakaris Cacajao calvus ucayalii. International Journal of Primatology. 33(5):1110-1124.
Bowler, M. & Bodmer, R.E. 2011. Diet and food choice in Peruvian red uakaris (Cacajao calvus ucayalii): selective or opportunistic seed predation? International Journal of Primatology. 32, 1109-1120.
Recharte, M.*, Bowler, M. & Bodmer, R. 2009. Potential conflict between fishermen and giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) populations by fishermen in response to declining stocks of arowana fish (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum) in Northeastern Peru. IUCN Otter Spec. Group Bull. 25(2), 89-93.
Bowler, M. & Bodmer, R. 2009. Social behaviour in fission-fusion groups of red uakari monkeys (Cacajao calvus ucayalii). American Journal of Primatology. 71, 976-987.
Bowler, M., Noriega, J., Recharte, M., Puertas, P.E. & Bodmer, R.E. 2008. Peruvian red uakari monkeys (Cacajao Calvus Ucayalii) in the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve - a range extension across a major river barrier. Neotropical Primates 16, 34-37.
