Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biological Informatics for FY-2000

这项行动资助了2000年美国国家科学基金会生物信息学博士后研究金。研究和培训计划是在生态学领域，题为“重建生物地理学：树种作为北美鸟类种群下降的新解释”。 北美东部最明显的环境问题之一是许多繁殖鸟类种群的减少。 虽然森林砍伐和栖息地的丧失被认为是一些物种的原因，但它们并不能解释其余物种的数量下降。 重要的因素，如繁殖栖息地的质量，还没有得到充分的研究。 本研究检验了另一种假设，即森林组成的历史变化，如以前占主导地位的树种的减少，是由于物种对特定树木的偏好而导致鸟类种群变化的原因。 各种鸟类的形态学检查（法案，腿，脚，翅膀和尾巴尺寸）允许他们的喜好，特定的树木的特性，反过来又提供了一种手段，以确定树种和鸟类种群数量下降之间的相关性。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biological Informatics for 2000.The research and training plan is in the area of Ecology and is entitled "Reconstructing Biogeography: Tree Species as a Novel Explanation for North American Bird Population Declines". One of the most visible environmental problems in eastern North America is the decline of many populations of breeding birds. While deforestation and loss of habitat have been identified as the causes for some species, they do not explain the population decline of the remainder. Important factors, such as quality of breeding habitat, have not been sufficiently studied. This research examines the alternative hypothesis that historical changes in forest composition, such as the decline of previously dominant tree species, is contributing to changes in bird populations due to species' preferences for particular trees. Examination of morphology (bill, leg, foot, wing, and tail dimensions) of various bird species allows characterization of their preferences for specific trees and in turn provides a means to identify correlations between tree species and bird species population decline.