OPUS: Stopover Biology of Intercontinental Migratory Birds:

迁移是许多生物生活史的基本特征。 超过三分之二的在北美温带繁殖的鸣禽会长途迁徙到墨西哥、中美洲和南美洲以及加勒比海岛屿的非繁殖区。该项目将支持自20世纪80年代初以来关于候鸟生物学的实地和实验室研究的关键综合。工作的重点将是移徙者在移徙期间中途停留时面临的挑战，移徙者如何应对这些挑战，以及他们应对途中挑战的后果，这些挑战的总和决定了移徙的成功。将制作两种综合产品：一本书和一套辅助视听材料，可通过互联网查阅，供教育和宣传之用。综合这些大量的研究现在尤其重要，因为不断变化的全球气候可能会挑战过去成功的生物适应。 该项目将促进对移徙的理解，并将通过非正式科学教育的方式超越科学界。候鸟的生物学特性对科学教育和与自然的联系都很有吸引力。这两个相关的产品将广泛提供给学生和科学界，一套互联网访问，可下载的视听介绍将被设计为可供更广泛的公众访问并吸引他们。A-V演示将侧重于候鸟如何应对中途停留期间出现的挑战，将通过网络界面提供，并将免费用于教育目的。

Migration is a fundamental characteristic of the life history of many organisms. Over two-thirds of all the songbirds that breed in temperate North America move long distances to non-breeding areas in Mexico, Central and South America, and the islands of the Caribbean. This project will support a critical synthesis of field and laboratory research since the early 1980s on the biology of migrating birds. The foci of the work will be the challenges migrants face when they stop over during migration, how migrants contend with those challenges, and the consequences of their response to en route challenges, the sum of which determine the success of migrations. Two synthetic products will be created: a book and a complementary set of audio-visual (A-V), internet-accessible presentations designed for educational use and outreach. Synthesis of this large body of research is especially important now, as changing global climate may challenge organismal adaptations that have been successful in the past. This project will advance understanding of migration and will reach beyond the scientific community by way of informal science education. The biology of migrating birds us attractive for science education and for making connections with nature. The two, related products will be widely accessible to students and the scientific community, and the set of internet-accessible, downloadable A-V presentations will be designed to be accessible by and attractive to a broader public audience. The A-V presentations will focus on how migratory birds respond to the challenges that arise during stopover, will be made available through a web interface, and will be freely available for educational purposes.