Dissertation Research: Determinants of Annual Breeding Productivity of a Neotropical Migrant Bird, the Black-throated Blue Warbler

年繁殖量已被证明是影响新热带候鸟招募和数量的主要因素。这项研究将确定和评估驱动生殖输出的机制，这对于了解这些物种当前和未来的种群趋势至关重要，其中许多物种正在减少。对黑喉蓝林莺（Dendroica caerulescens）繁殖数据的回顾和分析表明，影响繁殖尝试次数和繁殖效率的一个重要因素是领地层面的食物供应。这项研究将通过食物补充实验来检验食物是否是致病因素。此外，还将收集观察数据，以验证其他假设，即筑巢地点的可用性、雄性的帮助/保护或雌性的质量决定了繁殖尝试的次数，从而决定了每年的繁殖产量。这项研究通过从个体女性的角度审视人口层面的问题，有助于提高现有知识。利用机械方法，结合建模，本研究将提供评估物种如何应对扰动的必要信息，这对于由于全球变暖、栖息地破碎化和其他人为影响而提出的物种丰度变化尤其重要。

Annual reproductive output has been shown to be a major factor affecting the recruitment, and hence the abundance, of Neotropical migrant birds. This study will identify and evaluate the mechanism(s) driving reproductive output that are critical to understanding current and future population trends of these species, many of which are declining. A review of the literature and analysis of breeding data on Black-throated Blue Warblers (Dendroica caerulescens) reveals that an important factor affecting the number of breeding attempts, and hence productivity, is territory level-food availability. This study will test to see if food is a causal factor using a food supplementation experiment. Additionally, observational data will be collected to test the alternative hypotheses that nest site availability, male assistance/protection, or female quality drives the number of breeding attempts and therefore annual reproductive output. This research contributes to current knowledge by examining population-level questions from the perspective of the individual female. Using a mechanistic approach, coupled with modeling this study will provide information necessary to assess how species respond to perturbations, which is especially import in light of proposed changes in species abundance due to global warming, habitat fragmentation, and other anthropogenic effects.