Collaborative Research: Forest fragmentation and climate change result in understory warming that adversely affects tropical avian biodiversity at the BDFFP.

合作研究：森林破碎化和气候变化导致林下变暖，对 BDFFP 的热带鸟类生物多样性产生不利影响。

• 批准号: 2311046
• 负责人: Jared Wolfe
• 金额: $ 10.95万
• 依托单位: Michigan Technological University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-07-01 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2311046&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Forest; fragmentation; climate

Tropical birds are in trouble, especially those that eat mostly insects. Population declines are taking place in both large and small areas of forest, although at a faster rate in small forests or “fragments”. Exposure to sun along the edges of fragments causes their interior to become hotter and drier, which reduces habitat quality for many birds. Scientists do not know exactly how warmer and drier conditions cause trouble for birds, but they think it is due to less food and more stress. In this study, researchers will study whether longer and hotter dry seasons are responsible for the decline of birds in continuous forests and which species are most susceptible to changes in climate. To do this, they will collect physiological data and combine it with climate data from the past forty years to understand the relative role of climate and forest condition on birds’ diet, health and survival. Results will improve our understanding of how forest loss and climate change affect birds, and ways in which we might mitigate the loss of biodiversity. The PIs posit that remnant bird communities in forest fragments are a precursor of future bird assemblages in continuous forest. Increased physiological stress and/or dietary specialization are likely determinants of avian survival and reproductive success under global change. This project has three objectives: (1) Assess the impact of climate change as the primary driver of long-term bird declines in continuous forest at the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragmentation Project (BDFFP) through the inclusion of 40 years of climate and bird banding data in a series of survival models. (2) Determine the interactive effects of climate change and fragmentation on the viability of bird populations at BDFFP through demographic modeling. (3) Measure how dietary and behavioral specialization of model bird species (two experiencing declines: Turdus albicollis and Willisornis poecilinotus, and two experiencing population growth: Calyptorhynchus spirurus and Pithys albifrons) interact with variation in understory microclimates to affect fitness. Researchers will measure diet using a combination of eDNA and isotopic niche analysis (from fecal samples, feathers, and toe nails) and stress using a combination of B-OH butyrate, triglyceride, and corticosterone, across seasons and between continuous and fragmented forests. Results will yield mechanistic insights into the role that niche specialization and understory drying play in driving demographic responses of tropical birds to forest fragmentation and climate change.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

热带鸟类遇到了麻烦，尤其是那些主要吃昆虫的鸟类。无论是大面积还是小片森林，人口都在减少，但小森林或“碎片”的速度更快。碎片边缘暴露在阳光下会导致其内部变得更热、更干燥，从而降低了许多鸟类的栖息地质量。科学家们并不确切知道温暖和干燥的环境如何给鸟类带来麻烦，但他们认为这是由于食物减少和压力增加造成的。在这项研究中，研究人员将研究更长和更热的旱季是否是连续森林中鸟类数量减少的原因，以及哪些物种最容易受到气候变化的影响。为此，他们将收集生理数据，并将其与过去四十年的气候数据相结合，以了解气候和森林条件对鸟类饮食、健康和生存的相对作用。研究结果将提高我们对森林消失和气候变化如何影响鸟类以及减轻生物多样性丧失的方法的理解。 PI 认为森林碎片中的残余鸟类群落是连续森林中未来鸟类组合的先驱。生理压力的增加和/或饮食的专业化可能是全球变化下鸟类生存和繁殖成功的决定因素。该项目有三个目标：(1) 通过将 40 年的气候和鸟类环带数据纳入一系列生存模型，评估森林破碎化生物动力学项目 (BDFFP) 中气候变化作为连续森林中鸟类长期减少的主要驱动因素的影响。 (2) 通过人口模型确定气候变化和碎片化对 BDFFP 鸟类种群生存能力的交互影响。 (3) 测量模式鸟类的饮食和行为专门化（两种正在经历衰退：白颈鸫和威利索尼斯鸟，以及两种正在经历种群增长：Calyptorhynchus spirurus 和 Pithys albifrons）如何与林下微气候变化相互作用以影响健康。研究人员将结合 eDNA 和同位素生态位分析（来自粪便样本、羽毛和脚趾甲）来测量饮食，并结合 B-OH 丁酸盐、甘油三酯和皮质酮来测量压力，跨季节、连续森林和破碎森林之间。结果将产生关于生态位专业化和林下干燥在驱动热带鸟类对森林破碎化和气候变化的人口反应中所发挥的作用的机械见解。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。