Behavioural ecology and demography of North Pacific seabirds

北太平洋海鸟的行为生态学和人口统计学

• 批准号: 182591-2013
• 负责人: Jones, Ian
• 金额: $ 1.97万
• 依托单位: Memorial University of Newfoundland
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=593615
• 关键词: Behavioural; ecology; demography; North; Pacific

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.

我的建议侧重于海鸟的生态和行为，有四个主要内容：1)扩大海鸟运动和迁徙与个体特征和海洋气候有关的研究(“旗舰项目”)；2)继续研究海鸟羽毛气味、体外寄生虫和性选择的行为生态学，以阐明气味作为一种性选择特征与自然选择的寄生虫的相对重要性，扩大野外实验并对所有海鸟科进行比较分析；3)继续研究人口统计学的气候强迫作用，延伸到古生态学，从长期种群变异性的角度放置目前的模式；4)阿留申海鸟保护生物学，重点介绍引进的捕食者、勘探行为、群体形成和岛屿恢复。我们的研究将在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优势的较小海鸟的研究。海鸟生物学的一个悖论是，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)，而不是在海洋上。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”，因为这是理解这些鸟类生态学的基础。除了缩小一个鲜为人知的海鸟生态领域的差距外，我们在迁徙和扩散方面的工作将提供对北太平洋海洋生产力和海洋学模式的独特洞察，并为受损岛屿的恢复提供帮助，这些岛屿是世界上受到最大威胁的生态系统之一。我们在性别选择、羽毛气味和体外寄生虫方面的工作，在一个有争议的主题领域进行了后续研究，提出了关于鸟类羽毛中化学物质排放功能的相互竞争的假设。我们对阿拉斯加海雀人口学以及古生态成分的研究将是气候变化对北部海洋生态系统影响的工作的前沿。我们的保护生物学重点部分解决了与岛屿保护、减轻人类影响和恢复受损的偏远岛屿有关的许多问题。