"Effects of disturbance, habitat loss and fragmentation on prairie birds and their ecosystems"

草原鸟类比北美其他生态系统的鸟类减少得更多。我研究草原鸣禽数量下降的原因，以及我们能做些什么。我将理论与实地研究相结合，以更好地理解干扰（包括本地动物的放牧、牛的放牧和火的放牧）对草原鸣禽的影响。我也研究栖息地丧失和破碎化对鸟类的影响。我的研究项目有许多子主题。第一篇探讨放牧对牲畜的影响。为此，我在萨斯喀彻温省南部的草原国家公园进行了一次放牧实验。我们以一定的放养率引入了牛，以了解放牧强度如何影响鸟类及其生态系统。经过5年的放牧，我们将把牛从这些牧场移走，以了解不同放牧强度下草原恢复的速度。

Grassland birds have declined more than birds from any other ecosystem in North America. I study why grassland songbird populations are declining, and what we can do about it. I integrate theory with field studies to develop a better understanding of effects of disturbance (which includes grazing by native animals, grazing by cattle, and fire) on grassland songbirds. I also study effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on birds. My research program has a number of subthemes. The first explores effects of livestock grazing. To do this, I use a grazing experiment in Grasslands National Park in southern Saskatchewan. We introduced cattle at a range of stocking rates to understand how grazing intensity influences birds and their ecosystems. After 5 years of grazing, we will remove cattle from these pastures, to understand how quickly prairies recover following different grazing intensities.