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期的长途候鸟进行为期20年的研究。具体来说，新阶段的研究将测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。随着种群规模的增加，存活率预计会下降，这种现象被称为调节。然而，生存也会对诸如天气等独立于种群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对候鸟的影响，了解种群调节和限制如何相互作用以影响生存和丰度是必不可少的。该研究项目将通过实验确定越冬候鸟对未来50年整个加勒比地区预计发生的干旱的反应，从而为气候变化对这些物种的行为、数量和最终进化的影响提供前所未有的见解。该项目将促进在美国培训至少4名研究生和20多名本科生，以及培训牙买加学生和科学家。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，并将把他们的研究成果传达给美国和加勒比地区的科学家、决策者和公民。

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.