Biology Faculty Member Co-Authors Paper in Global Ecology and Conservation Jacob Kraus and his research team studied a biodiverse area of China to determine the optimal sizes for nature reserves.

By Brian Laubscher
July 23, 2026

Jacob Kraus, visiting assistant professor of biology at Washington and Lee University, recently co-authored a paper that was published in Global Ecology and Conservation.

Titled “How to Design Protected Areas? A Study of the SLOSS Debate in Non-Human Primate Conservation,” the paper was written with co-authors Yi-Hao Fang, Yan-Peng Li, Zhi-Pang Huang, Li-Xiang Zhang, Xing-Run Hu, Laxman Khanal, Paul Garber, Zhi-Jun Ma, Kun Tan and Wen Xiao. Together, they studied primates in western Yunnan, China, a biodiversity hotspot, to determine whether it is better to protect one large nature reserve or several smaller versions.

The authors analyzed data from 23 forest patches across 11 nature preserves and concluded that several small, scattered patches supported more species overall than one large area of equal size. This is likely because scattered patches capture more variety in elevation and habitat. They also identified an ideal patch size of 6.92 square kilometers to maximize the species per area. Based on this, the authors recommended that conservation planning focus on finding these optimal sizes rather than assuming bigger is always better.

Kraus joined the W&L faculty in 2025 after serving as a visiting assistant professor of biology at Bates College. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in biology from Reed College and a Ph.D. in integrative biology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research and teaching interests include animal responses to seasonal changes in climate and resource availability, biostatistics, behavioral and wildlife ecology and primatology.

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