Ecological and physiological correlates of migration and dispersal in birds

我将调查与迁徙雀形目鸟类源汇种群维持相关的栖息地特征。这将涉及使用稳定的同位素标记(主要是氢、碳-13、氮-15)和羽毛中的微量元素概况，作为以前繁殖或出生地点的衡量标准。鸟类羽毛是理想的材料，可以作为定位的代理材料，因为它们在生命周期的已知时期生长，并保持来源的同位素特征。通过研究个体种群羽毛中的同位素特征，可以得出这些种群作为本地和更远距离分散者的组成。最佳森林选址将是很大程度上连续的北方林区，而贫瘠的森林将是被农业包围的孤立的森林碎片。因此，栖息地质量在生境亲水性和传播性方面的作用将得到检验。第二个主要研究领域将是调查影响几种不同体型的北极高地筑巢鸟类(大型水禽到小型涉禽)繁殖时内源性脂肪和蛋白质储备相对输入的因素。稳定同位素是直接追踪营养物质来源的有力工具。我的新研究将通过测试在加拿大北极纬度梯度上受不同春季条件影响的滨鸟的收入与资本策略的可塑性，进一步探讨这个问题。

I will investigate habitat characteristics associated with the maintenance of source vs. sink populations of migratory passerine birds. This will involve the use of stable isotope markers (primarily deuterium, carbon-13, nitrogen-15) and trace-element profiles in feathers as measures of previous breeding or natal location. Bird feathers represent ideal material to use as proxies for location since they are grown during known periods of the life cycle and maintain isotopic signatures of source. By investigating the isotopic signatures in feathers of populations of individuals, the composition of those populations as local vs. more long-distance dispersers can be derived. Optimal forest sites will be contiguous boreal forest tracts of large extent and poor forest will be isolated forest fragments surrounded by agriculture. Thus, the role of habitat quality in site philopatry and dispersal will be tested. The second primary area of research will be the investigation of factors influencing the relative input of endogenous lipid and protein reserves into reproduction in several species of high-Arctic nesting birds varying in body size (large-bodied waterfowl through small-bodied waders). Stable isotopes represent a powerful tool to trace origins of nutrients directly. My new research will pursue this question further by testing the plasticity of the income vs. capital strategy in shorebirds subjected to different spring conditions across a latitudinal gradient in the Canadian Arctic.