Behavioural ecology and demography of North Pacific seabirds

我的建议侧重于海鸟的生态学和行为，包括四个主要要素：1)扩大研究海鸟的运动和迁徙与个体特征和海洋气候的关系（“旗舰项目”）；2)继续研究小海雀羽毛气味、体外寄生虫和性选择的行为生态学，通过扩大野外实验和对所有Alcidae的比较分析，阐明气味作为一种性选择特征与自然选择的驱虫剂的相对重要性；3)继续研究气候对人口的强迫作用，并将其扩展到古生态学，从长期人口变化的角度来看待目前的模式；4)阿留申海鸟保护生物学，重点是引进捕食者、勘探行为、群体形成和岛屿恢复。我们的研究将在白令海地区被忽视的运动和扩散研究领域取得进展，特别是对白令海地区数量上占主导地位的小型海雀。这是海鸟生物学的一个悖论，大多数研究都集中在它们在陆地上的活动（繁殖地点的研究），而不是在海上。可以毫不夸张地说，关于鸟类在繁殖季节以外的海上活动的定量信息一直是海鸟生物学的“圣杯”，因为这是了解这些鸟类生态的基础。除了缩小在一个鲜为人知的海鸟生态领域的差距之外，我们在迁徙和扩散方面的工作将为北太平洋生产力和海洋学的模式提供独特的见解，并为修复受损岛屿提供援助，这是世界上最受威胁的生态系统之一。我们在性选择、羽毛气味和体外寄生虫方面的工作，是在一个有争议的主题领域进行的，对鸟类羽毛中化学物质排放的功能有不同的假设。我们对海雀种群的研究以及阿拉斯加的古生态成分将成为研究气候变化对北部海洋生态系统影响的前沿工作。我们以保护生物学为重点的部分解决了与岛屿保护、减轻人类影响和恢复受损偏远岛屿有关的许多问题。

My proposal focuses on ecology and behaviour of seabirds, with four major elements: 1) an expanded study of seabird movement and migration in relation to individual characteristics and ocean climate (the 'flagship project'); 2) continued study of behavioural ecology of auklet feather odor, ectoparasites and sexual selection, to clarify the relative importance of odor as a sexually selected trait versus a naturally selected parasite repellant, with expanded field experiments and comparative analysis of all Alcidae; 3) continuing work on climate forcing of demography with an extension to palaeoecology to place present patterns in the perspective of long term population variability; and 4) Aleutian seabird conservation biology with an emphasis on introduced predators, prospecting behaviour, colony formation and island restoration. Our research will make advances in neglected areas in movement and dispersal study, especially for smaller auks, that are the numerically dominant seabirds of the Bering Sea region. It is a paradox of seabird biology that most studies have focused on their activities on land (research at breeding sites) rather than at sea. It is no exaggeration to state that quantitative information about birds' activity at sea outside the breeding season has been a 'holy grail' of seabird biology, because this is so fundamental to understanding these birds' ecology. Apart from closing the gap on a poorly known area of seabird ecology, our work on migration and dispersal will provide a unique insight into patterns of North Pacific ocean productivity and oceanography, and provide assistance to the restoration of damaged islands, one of the world's most threatened ecosystems. Our work on sexual selection, plumage odor and ectoparasites, follows up in a controversial subject area with competing hypotheses for the function of chemical emissions in birds feathers. Our research on auk demography along with the palaeoecological component in Alaska will be at the forefront of work on climate change effects on northern marine ecosystems. Our conservation biology focussed component addresses many questions relating to island conservation and the mitigation of human impacts and restoration of damaged remote islands.