Dissertation Research: Habitat Fragmentation Effects on the Stopover Biology of Migratory Landbirds along the Northern Coast of the Gulf of Mexico

项目摘要栖息地破碎化及其对繁殖地和越冬地的相关影响被认为是导致许多新北-新热带候鸟种群减少的主要因素。然而，我们所知甚少的碎片化如何可能会影响可达性，使用和质量的中途停留栖息地的鸟类在迁徙。我们提出的假设，即碎片化的中途停留栖息地施加限制的能力，移民生存的迁移，并在良好的营养条件下到达目的地。我们将调查栖息地碎片化影响鸟类运动的程度，选择可用的中途停留栖息地，和中途停留栖息地的内在适合性时，移民中途停留沿着墨西哥湾北方海岸在春季通道。栖息地的可用性将使用遥感数据的特点，而在中途停留的移民使用的栖息地将通过释放无线电标记的画眉（Hylocichla mustelina）在不同的组成，大小和隔离的栖息地补丁进行研究。研究结果将有助于我们更好地理解陆鸟迁徙的中途停留生态学和决定合适的中途停留栖息地的因素。它们还将进一步提高我们确定迁徙期对人口限制的相对重要性的能力。除非将迁徙期间的栖息地要求纳入保护方程，否则洲际移民的人口将继续下降。

PROJECT SUMMARYHabitat fragmentation and its associated effects on the breeding and wintering grounds have beenimplicated as major factors contributing to the declines of many Nearctic-Neotropical migratory landbird populations. However, we know little about how fragmentation may affect the accessibility, use and quality of stopover habitats for birds during migration. We advance the hypothesis that fragmentation of stopover habitats imposes constraints on the ability of migrants to survive migration and to arrive at their destination in good nutritional condition. We will investigate the degree to which habitat fragmentation influences bird movement, choice of available stopover habitats, and the intrinsic suitability of stopover habitats when migrants stopover along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico during spring passage. Habitat availability will be characterized using remotely-sensed data, while habitat use by migrants during stopover will be studied by releasing radio-tagged Wood Thrushes (Hylocichla mustelina ) within habitat patches of different composition, size, and isolation. The results will improve our understanding of the stopover ecology of landbird migrants and the determinants of suitable stopover habitat. They will also further our ability to determine the relative importance of the migratory period for population limitation.Populations of intercontinental migrants will continue to decline unless habitat requirements duringmigration are factored into the conservation equation.