Anthropogenic effects on Mountain Chickadees Breeding in Urban Ecosystems.

城市景观对鸟类既有挑战，也有好处。人工照明、植被变化以及城市和原生生境之间的小气候差异可能会影响繁殖的时机和成功，而与城市景观相关的噪音污染可能会阻碍沟通并增加压力水平。引入的捕食者，如猫，在农村地区的出现密度通常比本地捕食者高得多。然而，来自鸟类饲养者的食物补充可以提高城市鸟类的个体越冬存活率/条件，而巢箱可以增加筑巢基质的利用率。补偿城市环境相对优势和劣势的能力可能取决于受影响物种的可塑性，许多城市开拓者是栖息地通才。因此，令人惊讶的是，山地山雀(Poecile Gambeli)-山地针叶林专家在城市景观中表现良好。*我们在不列颠哥伦比亚省坎卢普斯进行的山地山雀研究发现，鸟类在城市地区繁殖：最早两周开始繁殖；羽毛生长率更高；更有可能加倍繁殖；黎明时歌唱的特征更能反映雄性山雀的身体状况。城市山地山雀似乎通过使用修改过的歌曲和叫声来补偿噪音污染，这减少了城市噪音对山雀发声的已知信号干扰方面。我们将开展的研究将调查城市和农村景观中相对食物可获得性、小气候变化和噪音/光污染之间的相互作用，以及这些因素如何与山地山雀条件、栖息地和筑巢物候相互作用。*我们将在分布在卑诗省坎卢普斯周围多个城市、农村和接口地点的巢箱上安装光温数据记录器，并控制不同地点冬季可用的相对食物质量。我们将使用安装在巢树上的自主记录单元(ARU)将这些与跟踪相对昆虫猎物可获得性和监测噪音污染结合起来。然后，我们将监测巢的启动、繁殖产量和城乡之间的双亲繁殖，以确定哪些人为因素对筑巢物候和成功影响最大。我们将根据鸟类的栖息地跟踪雄性个体的状况，并通过黎明的鸣叫行为来操纵冬季/春季食物供应的变化。放置在雏鸟身上的腿带嵌入式坑标将使我们能够通过设置在坎卢普斯南部的多达200个配备射频识别(RFID)的喂鸟器网络来跟踪雏鸟的分散和存活。人口统计学研究和行为研究的结合将提供关于是什么使人类景观变得可开发的洞察力，这将为城市规划提供指导，将这些特点融入到我们的城市中来保护鸟类。**

Urban landscapes can pose both challenges and benefits to birds. Artificial lighting, altered vegetation, and differences in microclimate between urban and native habitats can affect timing and success of breeding, while noise pollution associated with urban landscapes can impede communication and increase stress levels. Introduced predators, such as cats, often occur at much higher densities than native predators in rural sites. However, food supplementation from bird feeders can increase individual overwinter survival/condition of urban birds, and nest boxes can increase availability of nesting substrate. The ability to compensate for the relative advantages vs disadvantages of urban settings may depend on plasticity of affected species, and many urban-exploiters are habitat generalists. It is therefore surprising that mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli) - montane conifer forests specialists do well in urban landscapes.*** *Our mountain chickadee studies in Kamloops, BC have found birds breeding in urban areas: start breeding up to two weeks earlier; have nestlings with higher feather growth rates; are more likely to double brood; and, have higher song output during dawn singing a trait known to reflect a male's physical condition in chickadees. Urban mountain chickadees appear to compensate for noise pollution via both use of modified songs and calls which reduce known signal-jamming aspects of urban noise on chickadee vocalizations. The research we will undertake investigates the interaction between relative food availability, microclimatic variation and noise/light pollution in urban vs rural landscapes, and how these interact with mountain chickadee condition, settlement and nesting phenology.*** *We will install Light and Temperature Data Loggers on nest boxes distributed throughout multiple urban, rural and interface sites around Kamloops, BC, and manipulate relative food quality available during the winter at different sites. We will couple these with tracking relative insect prey-availability and monitor noise pollution using Autonomous Recording Units (ARU) mounted on nest trees. We will then monitor nest initiation, reproductive output and double-brooding between rural and urban sites to determine which anthropogenic effects most influence nesting phenology and success. We will track individual condition of males with respect to a bird's habitat and manipulated variation in winter/spring food availability via dawn singing behaviour. Leg-band embedded PIT tags placed on nestlings will allow us to track dispersal and survival of nestlings using a network of up to 200 Radio-Frequency Identification(RFID)-equipped bird feeders set across southern Kamloops. The integration of demographic studies and behavioural research will provide insight into what renders anthropogenic landscapes exploitable, which provides guidance for urban planning that integrate these features for avian conservation into our cities.**