Collaborative Research: Population Responses of Neotropical-Nearctic Migrant Birds to Human Impacted Habitats in the Winter Grounds

合作研究：新热带-近北极候鸟种群对冬季人类影响栖息地的反应

• 批准号: 9622316
• 负责人: Thomas Sherry
• 金额: $ 9.74万
• 依托单位: Tulane University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1996
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1996-09-15 至 2000-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9622316&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Population; Responses; Neotropical

The specific causes of population declines of migratory birds are poorly understood. A major hypothesis to explain the declines is human-caused habitat conversion and loss in the tropical wintering grounds of the migratory birds. The objective of this research is to assess the ecological health of migrant land birds in human-modified versus natural habitats in Jamaica, West Indies. This island includes mangroves and Caribbean tropical dry forest, and human-modified habitats of citrus and coffee orchards, grazed second-growth scrub, and the ecologically complex rural residential areas. Within each habitat the investigators will quantify (1) abundance of resident and migratory birds, (2) overwinter survival of selected migratory species, (3) indicators of bird condition for the selected species, and (4) seasonal patterns of food resource availability capable of supporting the observed bird populations. These data coupled with experimental manipulations of resource abundance will allow the investigators to test alternative hypotheses explaining the ecological bases for the individual and population responses to these different habitats. The results of this research will be immediately applicable to conservation of animal populations by indicating which human activities are most compatible with maintenance of biotic resources in tropical Caribbean countries. The effects of habitat-specific land-use on avian consumers and their food resources is critically needed for the development of ecologically sound and effective wildlife-conservation recommendations.

候鸟数量下降的具体原因尚不清楚。 解释这种下降的一个主要假设是人类造成的候鸟热带越冬地的栖息地转变和丧失。 这项研究的目的是评估西印度群岛牙买加人类改造和自然栖息地中候鸟陆生鸟类的生态健康状况。 该岛包括红树林和加勒比热带干燥森林、人工改造的柑橘园和咖啡园栖息地、放牧的次生灌木丛以及生态复杂的乡村住宅区。 在每个栖息地内，调查人员将量化（1）留鸟和候鸟的丰度，（2）选定迁徙物种的越冬生存率，（3）选定物种的鸟类状况指标，以及（4）食物资源可用性的季节性模式支持观察到的鸟类种群。 这些数据与资源丰度的实验操作相结合，将使研究人员能够测试替代假设，解释个体和种群对这些不同栖息地反应的生态基础。 这项研究的结果将立即应用于动物种群的保护，指出哪些人类活动最适合热带加勒比国家生物资源的维护。 为了制定生态良好且有效的野生动物保护建议，迫切需要了解特定栖息地的土地利用对鸟类消费者及其食物资源的影响。