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Movement Ecology Of An Intercontinental Migratory Bird During Spring Stopover, Emily Beth Cohen

Dissertations

Movement ecology is a component of nearly all aspects of animal behavior and an animal’s decision to move is likely influenced by a complex combination of exogenous and endogenous factors. Therefore, an examination of the causes and consequences of organismal movement provides a conceptual framework for understanding complex behavioral strategies. My dissertation research is focused on the movement ecology of an intercontinental migratory songbird during spring migration. I adopted experimental approaches to study the factors influencing how a songbird migrant, red-eyed vireos (Vireo olivaceus), makes decisions in unfamiliar landscapes from the initiation of spring stopover.

I simulated the …

Agricultural Conservation Buffers For Breeding Grassland Birds In Eastern Mississippi, Heidi Lynn Adams

Theses and Dissertations

Periodic disturbance in CP33 habitat buffers is required to maintain early-successional plant communities for grassland birds. However, effects of disturbance on habitat suitability and nesting success of grassland birds are unknown. Furthermore, the grassland bird community and reproductive performance in CP33 habitat buffers may be influenced by the landscape context (e.g., edge habitat, surrounding land cover). My objectives for this study were to determine how periodic disturbance and the agricultural landscape mosaic influence the breeding grassland bird community in buffers, and how these same factors influence grassland bird nesting success and density in buffers. Data collected during line-transect surveys conducted …