Ecological and physiological correlates of migration and dispersal in birds

我将调查栖息地的特点与维护源与汇种群的迁徙雀形目鸟类。这将涉及使用稳定的同位素标记（主要是氘，碳-13，氮-15）和微量元素的档案在羽毛作为衡量以前的繁殖或纳塔尔地点。鸟类羽毛是作为位置代理的理想材料，因为它们是在已知的生命周期期间生长的，并保持来源的同位素特征。通过研究个体种群羽毛中的同位素特征，可以得出这些种群作为本地与更远距离扩散者的组成。最佳森林地点是大片毗连的北方森林地带，较差的森林是被农业包围的孤立的森林片断。因此，栖息地质量在网站philopatry和扩散的作用将进行测试。第二个主要研究领域将是调查影响身体大小各不相同的几种高北极筑巢鸟类（从大体型水禽到小体型涉禽）的内源性脂质和蛋白质储备对繁殖的相对投入的因素。稳定同位素是直接追踪营养物质来源的有力工具。我的新研究将进一步探讨这个问题，通过测试在加拿大北极地区纬度梯度不同的春季条件下滨鸟的收入与资本策略的可塑性。

I will investigate habitat characteristics associated with the maintenance of source vs. sink populations of migratory passerine birds. This will involve the use of stable isotope markers (primarily deuterium, carbon-13, nitrogen-15) and trace-element profiles in feathers as measures of previous breeding or natal location. Bird feathers represent ideal material to use as proxies for location since they are grown during known periods of the life cycle and maintain isotopic signatures of source. By investigating the isotopic signatures in feathers of populations of individuals, the composition of those populations as local vs. more long-distance dispersers can be derived. Optimal forest sites will be contiguous boreal forest tracts of large extent and poor forest will be isolated forest fragments surrounded by agriculture. Thus, the role of habitat quality in site philopatry and dispersal will be tested. The second primary area of research will be the investigation of factors influencing the relative input of endogenous lipid and protein reserves into reproduction in several species of high-Arctic nesting birds varying in body size (large-bodied waterfowl through small-bodied waders). Stable isotopes represent a powerful tool to trace origins of nutrients directly. My new research will pursue this question further by testing the plasticity of the income vs. capital strategy in shorebirds subjected to different spring conditions across a latitudinal gradient in the Canadian Arctic.