Ecology of Intercontinental Avian Migrants

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Long-distance migration is an integral part of the life history of many animals, including over half of all North American landbirds. The mortality associated with migration is substantial, and yearling migrants suffer greater mortality than adult individuals. This research project compares the behavioral ecology of yearling and adult Neotropical landbird migrants and examines the consequences of age in relation to how migrants meet the energy demands of migration. Many of the adaptations that have evolved in association with long-distance migration are critical when birds must cross geographic barriers. Hence, the best place and time to study the stopover ecology of Neotropical landbird migrants is immediately before or after they cross the Gulf of Mexico. Study sites along the northern Gulf coast provide a unique opportunity to work with populations of migratory species. Habitat loss is one of the most critical ecological problems associated with global environmental change. The degree and timing of these large-scale effects can have significant ecological repercussions that are hard to measure unless one can assess each stage of a species' life cycle. Dr Moore's research into the critical stopover stage promises new insight into species-level effects of higher-order ecological dynamics. Decline in populations of Neotropical landbird migrants is a serious conservation problem; one linked to habitat loss on the wintering grounds and fragmentation of forested breeding habitat. The status of migrant populations is also affected by the availability of suitable stopover habitat and the response of migrants to en route events. Consequently, factors associated with the stopover biology of migrants must figure in any analysis of population change and in the development of a comprehensive conservation "strategy" for Neotropical landbird migrants. The current research project combines observational and experimental studies to compare stopover biology of yearling and adult birds and should contribute measurably to the conservation of Neotropical landbird migrants.