Research Starter Grant for Biological Informatics: Linking theory with data to understand the population dynamics of migratory animals

许多物种在一年中的不同时间利用不同地点的栖息地迁徙。例如，许多鸟类在夏季的几个月里在高纬度地区繁殖，在低纬度地区过冬。由于每个地点的生长、生存和繁殖可能非常不同，而且现有的种群模型不太适合迁徙物种，因此对迁徙物种的动态建模变得复杂。该项目将基于图论开发适合于迁徙物种的模型，然后使用树燕(Tachycineta Biolor)的数据来对这些模型进行参数化。在冬季栖息地收集的鸟类羽毛中测量到的氢和锶的稳定同位素，将与北美各地的同位素丰度图进行匹配，提供有关鸟类在夏季繁殖季节生活在哪里的信息。该项目的更广泛影响将包括对本科生和研究生的培训，以及可能为迁徙物种保护规划工作提供信息的模型的开发。

Many species migrate, using habitats in different locations during different parts of the year. Many bird species, for example, breed during the summer months at higher latitudes and spend winters at lower latitudes. Modeling the dynamics of migratory species is complicated by the fact that growth, survival, and reproduction may be very different in each location, and existing population models are not well suited for migratory species. This project will develop models based on graph theory that are appropriate for migratory species, and then use data for Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) to parameterize those models. Stable isotopes of hydrogen and strontium, measured in feathers of birds collected in their winter habitats, will be matched against maps of isotope abundances across North America, providing information about where individual birds lived during the summer breeding season. Broader impacts of this project will include training of undergraduate and graduate students, and development of models that may inform conservation planning efforts for migratory species.