NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Importance of monsoon rains for songbird migration and stopover refueling in the American desert southwest

美国国家科学基金会生物学博士后奖学金：季风降雨对美国西南部沙漠鸣禽迁徙和中途停留补给的重要性

• 批准号: 2209064
• 负责人: Michael Griego
• 金额: $ 13.8万
• 依托单位: Griego, Michael
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-08-01 至 2024-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2209064&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; Importance

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2022, Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology. The Fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. Each fall, billions of migratory birds cross through the Sonoran, Mojave, and Chihuahuan deserts during their southward migration to their wintering grounds in Mexico and Central America. These habitats are drastically different from their summer breeding grounds in temperate northern latitudes of Canada and Alaska. The heat and aridity presents new challenges to birds as they stop to refuel in the desert southwest prior to continuing their journey south. The Fellow will investigate how seasonal monsoon rains in the desert southwest can assist songbirds passing through the region each fall. The annual monsoons have the potential to provide birds with cooler temperatures, greater availability of surface water, and an abundance of insects and seeds for food. These resources are critical for refueling migratory birds as they prepare to fly nonstop over thousands of kilometers of arid lands prior to reaching central and southern Mexico. The best current climate change models for the desert southwest all indicate that total monsoon rainfall will be reduced, and the timing of the storms will become more erratic over the coming century. Understanding precisely how wildlife currently utilize monsoon resources is essential to predict how these changing weather systems can impact species in the future. Additionally, this award will support the Fellow in developing a broadly accessible training workshop directed at diverse applicants wishing to pursue academic postdoctoral fellowships which will be presented at the National Diversity in STEM conference. The central goal of this research is to determine if monsoon weather events assist songbird recovery at stopover sites in the Chihuahuan desert. The Fellow will quantify the contributions that periodic monsoon rains have endogenous water reserves of migrants and determine if whole-animal performance is constrained by water balance in songbirds at arid land stopover sites. Quantifying the contribution of monsoon rainfall to animals’ water reserves depends on being able to measure a nuanced exchange of oxygen neutrons in a complex biogeochemical system. The research will use an isotopic assay which allows for the reliable detection of the monsoon rain pulse in the tissues of animals. This method will be a revolutionary tool for ecologists, and the Fellow will be one of the first to apply this technique in the field. Additionally, the Fellow will measure whole-animal metabolic performance using standard respirometry, and refueling performance by analyzing plasma metabolites using minimally invasive techniques on free-living birds.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这项行动资助了 2022 财年 NSF 生物学博士后研究奖学金，扩大生物学领域代表性不足的群体的参与。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训计划，该计划将增加生物学领域代表性不足的群体的参与。鸟类在向南迁徙到墨西哥和中美洲越冬的过程中穿过索诺兰沙漠、莫哈韦沙漠和奇瓦瓦沙漠，这些栖息地与夏季的栖息地截然不同。加拿大和阿拉斯加北温带地区的繁殖地，炎热和干旱给鸟类带来了新的挑战，因为它们在继续向南航行之前会在西南沙漠补充能量。研究员将研究西南沙漠的季节性季风降雨如何提供帮助。每年秋天，鸣禽都会经过该地区，每年的季风有可能为鸟类提供较低的气温、更多的地表水以及丰富的昆虫和种子作为食物，这些资源对于候鸟的补充至关重要。准备在抵达墨西哥中部和南部之前不间断地飞越数千公里的干旱地区。目前西南沙漠最好的气候变化模型都表明，季风降雨总量将会减少，风暴发生的时间将变得更加不稳定。此外，准确了解野生动物目前如何利用季风资源对于预测这些不断变化的天气系统如何影响未来的物种至关重要。学术博士后奖学金这项研究的中心目标是确定季风天气事件是否有助于奇瓦瓦沙漠中途停留地的鸣禽恢复，该研究员将量化周期性季风降雨对内源性水储备的贡献。量化季风降雨对动物水储备的贡献取决于能否测量迁徙鸟类的水平衡。该研究将使用同位素测定来可靠地检测动物组织中的季风雨脉冲，该方法将成为生态学家的革命性工具。此外，该研究员将使用标准呼吸测量法测量整个动物的代谢性能，并使用微创技术分析自由生活的血浆代谢物来补充能量。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。