LTREB: Stopover Biology of Intercontinental Landbird Migrants

LTREB：洲际陆鸟迁徙的中途停留生物学

• 批准号: 0078189
• 负责人: Frank Moore
• 金额: $ 28.97万
• 依托单位: University of Southern Mississippi
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-09-01 至 2005-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0078189&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: LTREB; Stopover; Biology; Intercontinental; Landbird

Migration is a fundamental characteristic of the life history of many animals from monarch butterflies to humpback whales and is one of the most fascinating of all behavior. Over two-thirds of all songbirds that breed in temperate North America migrate long distances to wintering areas in Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean islands. Traveling long distances comes with considerable risks, and the mortality may be substantial. This research focuses on the problems migrants face when they pause to rest and refuel: Besides the energetic cost of flying, a migratory bird invariably finds herself in unfamiliar surroundings at a time when energy demands are high, often faced with avoiding predator avoidance and finding food, competing with other migrants and resident birds for limited resources, faced with unfavorable weather, and the need to correct orientation errors. Field studies are designed to determine how migrants solve these problems before and after crossing the Gulf of Mexico.Besides gaining a better understanding of how animals respond to periods of energetic demand, this research has important conservation implications. Evidence reveals population declines among many migratory bird species over the past quarter century. Although debate over the causes of the decline continues, what has been largely overlooked in development of conservation plans is the importance of habitat during migration. Unless habitat requirements during migration are met, conservation measures focused on the breeding grounds and/or tropical wintering areas will be compromised. We know little about how migratory birds respond to changes in the availability and distribution of stopover habitat.

迁徙是从帝王蝶到座头鲸的许多动物生活史的基本特征，也是所有行为中最令人着迷的行为之一。 在北美洲温带繁殖的鸣禽中，超过三分之二会长途迁徙到墨西哥、中美洲、南美洲以及加勒比群岛的越冬地区。 长途旅行会带来相当大的风险，死亡率可能很高。 这项研究的重点是候鸟在停下来休息和补充能量时面临的问题：除了飞行的能量消耗之外，候鸟在能量需求很高的时候总是发现自己处于陌生的环境中，常常面临着躲避捕食者和寻找食物的问题，与其他候鸟和留鸟竞争有限的资源，面临不利的天气，并且需要纠正方向错误。实地研究旨在确定移民在穿越墨西哥湾之前和之后如何解决这些问题。除了更好地了解动物如何应对能量需求时期外，这项研究还具有重要的保护意义。 有证据表明，在过去的四分之一个世纪里，许多候鸟物种的数量出现了下降。 尽管关于减少原因的争论仍在继续，但在制定保护计划时很大程度上忽视了迁徙过程中栖息地的重要性。 除非满足迁徙期间的栖息地要求，否则针对繁殖地和/或热带越冬区的保护措​​施将受到影响。我们对候鸟如何应对中途停留栖息地的可用性和分布的变化知之甚少。