Linking landscape structure to productivity and population change in migratory birds

将景观结构与候鸟生产力和种群变化联系起来

• 批准号: 2576410
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of East Anglia
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2576410
• 关键词: Linking; landscape; structure; productivity; population

Migratory bird populations throughout the world are declining at present, and there are urgent calls for actions to stabilise and reverse these declines. The recent Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Convention on Migratory Species adopted a resolution (UNEP/CMS/Res.10.27) on Improving the Conservation Status of Migratory Landbirds in the African-Eurasian Region. This calls on member states to reduce habitat degradation and to undertake research into the threats facing these species 'at all stages of their annual cycles', and an Action Plan to implement this resolution is now being developed. This project has been specifically designed to help identify and target management actions that can benefit migratory bird populations. This project will have direct implications for conservationists and conservation policy-makers in government departments and NGOs, both nationally (RSPB, Defra, NE), and internationally (Convention on Migratory Species directorate, EU ORNIS committee, Birdlife International).Exploring the relationship between environmental variables, productivity and abundance requires long-term data across broad spatial scales. The student will make use of long-term, citizen science datasets containing abundance (Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme, PECBMS) and demography (European Constant Effort Site Euro-CES) monitoring data. All PECBMS and Euro-CES sites are georeferenced allowing site-level environmental characteristics known to influence abundance and local demographic rates to be extracted from existing datasets. This would include, for example, measures of landscape composition and configuration (CORINE) and primary productivity (Enhanced Vegetation Index), as well as site-level time series of mean monthly precipitation and mean maximum and minimum temperature for summer (May-July) and winter (Nov-Feb) will be extracted from Copernicus Climate Data Store (https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu).The student will lead this project and develop a research programme that delivers pure and applied advances in the understanding of migrant bird population dynamics and conservation. They will also have the opportunity to tailor aspects of the project to develop their skills and expertise in areas they are specifically interested in. The student will gain access to and further develop a strong network of researchers and citizen scientists studying migrant bird populations across Europe and will benefit from working closely with Dr Cat Morrison, an experienced post-doc in our group who led the analyses from which this project has been developed and who is the PDRA on a new NERC grant (2020-2023; Butler - PI; Gill & Robinson - Co-Is) exploring population and demographic synchrony in European birds, using similar datasets.This proposal will address a major current conservation issue through a mix of MODELLING of large-scale survey and environmental data, FIELDWORK and TRANSLATION OF RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE, and will thus address several of NERC's Most Wanted Skills. Specifically, the student will receive advanced training in the application of ecological concepts, statistical skills, modelling population consequences of environmental change, field data collection techniques, scientific presentation and publication and the development of evidence-based policy and conservation initiatives.

目前，世界各地的候鸟数量正在下降，迫切需要采取行动来稳定和扭转这种下降趋势。最近举行的《联合国移栖物种公约》缔约方会议通过了一项关于改善非洲-欧亚区域移栖陆鸟养护状况的决议（UNEP/CMS/Res.10.27）。该决议呼吁成员国减少栖息地退化，并对这些物种“在其年度周期的所有阶段”面临的威胁进行研究，目前正在制定一项执行该决议的行动计划。该项目是专门设计来帮助确定和有针对性的管理行动，可以造福候鸟种群。该项目将对政府部门和非政府组织的保护主义者和保护政策制定者产生直接影响，无论是在国内（RSPB，Defra，NE），还是在国际上（迁徙物种公约理事会，欧盟ORNIS委员会，Birdlife International），探索环境变量，生产力和丰度之间的关系需要跨越广泛的空间尺度的长期数据。学生将利用长期的，公民科学数据集包含丰富（泛欧共同鸟类监测计划，PECBMS）和人口统计学（欧洲不断努力网站Euro-CES）监测数据。所有PECBMS和欧洲-CES站点都有地理参考，允许从现有数据集中提取已知影响丰度和当地人口比率的站点一级环境特征。这将包括，例如，景观组成和配置（CORINE）和初级生产力（增强植被指数）的措施，以及夏季（5月至7月）和冬季（11月至2月）的平均月降水量和平均最高和最低温度的站点级时间序列将从哥白尼气候数据存储（https：//www.example.com）中提取cds.climate.copernicus.eu。学生将领导这个项目，并制定一个研究计划，提供纯粹的和应用的进步，在候鸟种群动态和保护的理解。他们还将有机会定制项目的各个方面，以发展他们在特别感兴趣的领域的技能和专业知识。学生将获得并进一步发展一个强大的研究人员和公民科学家网络，研究欧洲各地的候鸟种群，并将受益于与Cat莫里森博士密切合作，他是我们小组中经验丰富的博士后，领导了本项目开发的分析，并且是新NERC赠款的PDRA（2020-2023;巴特勒- PI; Gill &罗宾逊- Co-Is）使用类似的数据集探索欧洲鸟类的种群和人口统计同步性。该提案将通过大规模调查和环境数据的建模，野外工作和将研究转化为实践，并将因此解决几个NERC的最想要的技能。具体而言，学生将接受高级培训，应用生态概念，统计技能，模拟环境变化的人口后果，实地数据收集技术，科学演示和出版以及制定基于证据的政策和保护举措。