Dissertation Research: Spatio-Temporal Variation in Habitat Use and Foraging Behavior of Migrant Neotropical Warblers During Nonbreeding Seasons

鸟类生态学家的一个主要目标是量化和解释物种共生和群落结构的模式。直到最近，这一领域的大部分重点都放在繁殖季节温带地区的鸟类上。然而，由于物种在非繁殖季节(冬季和迁徙)可能受到最严格的选择压力，20世纪80年代的生态学家强调全年研究鸟类群落结构和觅食生态学。除了这些理论上的考虑外，本土热带植被不幸遭到破坏，需要立即采取行动，评估栖息地改变对越冬候鸟和留鸟物种的影响。本研究调查了新热带鸟类越冬和迁徙过程中的一些悬而未决的问题。具体地说，将评估：(1)植被结构，(2)食物资源，(3)异种和同种的存在，以及(4)季节对伯利兹、中美洲和田纳西州迁徙林莺的觅食生态和栖息地利用的影响。同时量化上述变量将提供对其在个人、人口和社区层面的影响的洞察。综合这些结果可以阐明在温带地区繁殖的新热带候鸟种群受到的全年生态限制。

A major goal of avian ecologists has been to quantify and explain patterns of species co-occurrence and community structure. Until recently, most emphasis in this area was placed on birds at temperate latitudes during the breeding season. However, because species may be subjected to the most stringent selective pressures during the nonbreeding seasons (winter and migration), ecologists in the 1980s have emphasized a year-round approach to the study of bird community structure and foraging ecology. In addition to those theoretical considerations, the unfortunate destruction of native tropical vegetation creates a need for immediate action to assess effects of habitat alteration on overwintering migrant and resident bird species. This study investigates a number of unresolved problems in neotropical bird ecology on wintering grounds and in migration. Specifically, effects of: (1) vegetation structure, (2) food resources, (3) presence of hetero- and conspecifics, and (4) season on the foraging ecology of and habitat use by migrant wood-warblers in Belize, Central America, and Tennessee will be assessed. Simultaneous quantification of the above variables will provide insight into their effects at the individual, population, and community levels. Integration of these results can elucidate the year-round ecological constraints imposed on populations of migrant neotropical birds that breed in temperate areas.