Using miniaturized light-sensing geolocators to build a migratory network for a songbird

在过去的十年里，许多候鸟数量减少了，要了解这些减少的原因，需要了解繁殖种群和非繁殖种群在地理上是如何联系的。不幸的是，对于绝大多数鸣禽来说，我们几乎不知道它们在非繁殖期在哪里度过。这不仅阻碍了我们有效保护人口的能力，而且还阻碍了我们解决有关移民的基本生态和进化问题。我们正在申请500个小型光记录地理定位器的资金，这些定位器将用于一个大型合作项目，旨在确定一种长途迁徙鸣禽——树燕（Tachycineta bicolor）的迁徙模式。该项目涉及8名pi和他们的研究团队，分布在加拿大东海岸到西海岸。目前，所有的pi都在维护和监测活跃的树燕繁殖地，并每年在这些地点培训多名研究生和本科生。这些0.5g地理定位仪的设计是通过记录白天的时间和持续时间来估计每天的纬度和经度，然后用车载时钟进行校准。在每个地点，我们将部署50个地理定位器，然后在第二年回收这些设备。在初步的试验中，我们已经证明地理定位器可以成功地部署和从树燕身上取回。这些设备的应用将使我们能够在最先进的跟踪技术方面培训超过25名本科生和研究生。它将使我们有能力研究与候鸟生态和保护有关的许多方面，包括模拟疾病在热带和温带地区以及整个繁殖地网络之间传播的速度，了解非繁殖地的气候变化如何影响繁殖成功，以及部分栖息地的丧失如何对其他种群产生连锁反应。

Many migratory songbirds have declined over the last decade and understanding the causes of these declines requires information on how breeding and non-breeding populations are geographically connected. Unfortunately, for the vast majority of songbirds we have little idea of where breeding birds spend the non-breeding season. This has not only hindered our ability to effectively conserve populations but also prevented us from addressing fundamental ecological and evolutionary questions about migration. We are requesting funds for 500 miniaturized light-logging geolocators that will be used in a large-scale collaborative project aimed at determining the migration patterns of a long-distance migratory songbird, the Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor). The project involves 8 PIs and their research teams spread from the east to the west coast of Canada. All of the PIs currently maintain and monitor active Tree swallow breeding sites and train multiple graduate and undergraduate students at these sites each year. These 0.5g geolocators are designed to estimate daily latitude and longitude by recording the time and duration of daylight and then calibrated with an on-board clock. At each site, we will deploy 50 geolocators and then retrieve these devices the following year. In preliminary trials, we have already shown that geolocators can be successfully deployed and retrieved from Tree swallows. The application of these devices will allow us to train over 25 undergraduate and graduate students in state-of-the-art tracking technology. It will provide us with the ability to examine a number of aspects related to the ecology and conservation of migratory birds, including modeling how quickly diseases can spread between tropical and temperate areas and across the network of breeding sites, understanding how variation in climate on the non-breeding grounds influences reproductive success, and how habitat loss in parts of the network have knock-on effects in other populations.