Mechanisms of Habitat Selection in a Specialist and A Generalist Species of Sparrow

麻雀专科和通才物种的栖息地选择机制

• 批准号: 8705003
• 负责人: Russell Greenberg
• 金额: $ 7.31万
• 依托单位: Smithsonian Institution
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1987
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1987-12-01 至 1990-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8705003&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Mechanisms; Habitat; Selection; Specialist; Generalist

Considerable ecological theory is directed towards the use of habitat by potentially competing species and how this might change with varying resources and community composition. Much less work has been conducted on the basis of habitat responses and the formation of habitat preferences. However, understanding the proximate basis of habitat selection is critical in determining how readily animal species can respond to observed environmental changes. The focus of this project is the determination of factors that influence habitat selection and the differences in ecological plasticity found in two closely-related sparrow species. A series of experiments will be done to determine the differences in intrinsic habitat responses in the Song (Melospiza melodia) and Swamp (M. georgiana) sparrows. The Song Sparrow is one of the most widely distributed North American bird species, occuring in a variety of scrub and marsh havitats. It is well established in human-altered habitats such as agricultural fields and cities and is also a frequent colonizer of small islands. The Swamp Sparrow is relatively specialized occuring mainly in marsh or marsh-like habitats. Based on field observations and experiments, the focus of the laboratory experiments will be on the response of sparrows to water, cover, and novelty. Differences in responses between species in wild- caught immatures will be uncovered and the responses of hand- reared sparrows raised under identical laboratory conditions will be tested. Because neophobia provides a relatively simple mechanism for regulating the degree of ecological plasticity in animals, its study will be emphasized. Experiments will include preliminary work on the use of heart-rate telemetry to measure a physiological correlate of fear-responses of sparrows to novelty. Methods to be perfected during the study could be used for a variety of other topics in vertebrate ecology.

相当多的生态理论是针对使用 潜在竞争物种的栖息地，以及这可能如何 随着资源和社区组成的变化而变化。 多 在人居对策基础上开展的工作较少 和生境偏好的形成。 然而，理解 栖息地选择的最接近的基础是至关重要的 确定动物物种对所观察到的 环境变化。 该项目的重点是 确定影响生境选择的因素， 在两个密切相关的生态可塑性的差异 麻雀物种 将进行一系列实验， 确定内在生境反应的差异， Song（Melospiza melodia）和Swamp（M.乔治安娜）麻雀。 的 松雀是北美分布最广的麻雀之一 鸟类，出现在各种各样的灌木丛和沼泽栖息地。 它在人类改变的栖息地中得到了很好的建立， 农业领域和城市，也是一个频繁的殖民者 的小岛屿。 沼泽麻雀相对来说 主要出现在沼泽或类似沼泽的栖息地。 基于现场 观察和实验，实验室的重点 实验将是关于麻雀对水，覆盖物， 和新奇感。 不同物种在野生环境中的反应差异- 被抓住的未成年人将被发现，手的反应， 在相同的实验室条件下饲养的麻雀， 得到考验 因为新恐惧症提供了一个相对简单的 调节生态可塑性程度的机制 动物，它的研究将得到重视。 实验将包括 关于使用心率遥测技术测量 麻雀对新奇事物的恐惧反应的生理相关性。 在研究过程中有待完善的方法可用于 脊椎动物生态学中的各种其他主题。