LTREB Collaborative Research: Density-dependent and Density-independent Effects on the Non-breeding Season Dynamics of a Migratory Bird

这个由国家科学基金会资助的项目将继续对牙买加非繁殖季节的长途候鸟进行为期20年的研究。具体地说，新阶段的研究将衡量鸟类的身体状况和生存如何受到种群规模和气候的影响。随着人口规模的增加，存活率预计会下降，这一现象被称为监管。然而，生存也会对天气等独立于人口规模的因素做出反应，这一过程被称为限制。为了预测未来气候变化将如何影响候鸟，了解种群调节和限制如何相互作用影响生存和丰度是至关重要的。这项研究计划将在实验上确定越冬候鸟如何应对未来50年整个加勒比海地区预计将发生的干旱，从而为气候变化对这些物种的行为、丰度和最终进化的后果提供前所未有的洞察。该项目将促进美国至少4名研究生和20多名本科生的专业培训，以及牙买加学生和科学家的培训。调查人员将继续他们与牙买加野生动物机构和当地保护组织的现有合作，并将他们的研究结果传达给美国和加勒比海地区的科学家、政策制定者和公民。

This National Science Foundation-funded project will continue a 20-year study of long-distance migratory birds during the non-breeding season in Jamaica. Specifically, the new phase of research will measure how birds' physical condition and survival are influenced by population size and climate. Survival is expected to decrease as population size gets higher, a phenomenon known as regulation. However, survival will also respond to factors, such as weather, that act independently of population size, a process known as limitation. Understanding how population regulation and limitation interact to influence survival and abundance is essential in order to predict how future climate change will affect migratory birds. This research program will experimentally determine how overwintering migratory birds respond to future droughts predicted to occur throughout the Caribbean region over the next 50 years, thereby providing unprecedented insight into the consequences of climate change on the behavior, abundance, and ultimately the evolution of these species. This project will facilitate the professional training of at least four graduate and over 20 undergraduate students in the United States, as well as the training of Jamaican students and scientists. The investigators will continue their existing collaborations with Jamaican wildlife agencies and local conservation groups, and will communicate their research results to scientists, policy makers, and citizens in the U.S. and the Caribbean.