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Articles 1 - 12 of 12
Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Timing Is Everything: Climate Change Implications For Phenological Events And Reproductive Success In River Herring, Meghna N. Marjadi
Timing Is Everything: Climate Change Implications For Phenological Events And Reproductive Success In River Herring, Meghna N. Marjadi
Doctoral Dissertations
Anadromous river herring (alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis)) make annual spring spawning migrations from the ocean to freshwater, where juveniles reside before emigrating to the ocean. Climate change may alter environmental and biological cues that prompt both adult migration and juvenile emigration, with implications for adult spawning success and offspring survival for these imperiled species. Shifts in adult migration have been observed in some rivers, while impacts on reproductive success and juvenile survival remain unknown. Cues for juvenile emigration are poorly understood as they have been explored at limited spatial and temporal scales. …
Effects Of Experimental Malaria Infection On Migration Of Yellow-Rumped Warblers (Setophaga Coronata), Rebecca J. Howe
Effects Of Experimental Malaria Infection On Migration Of Yellow-Rumped Warblers (Setophaga Coronata), Rebecca J. Howe
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
The potential of migratory animals to spread infectious diseases depends on how infection affects movement. If infection delays or slows the speed of travel, transmission to uninfected individuals may be reduced. Whether and how malaria (Plasmodium spp.) affects bird migration has received little experimental research. I captured 40 actively-migrating Yellow-rumped Warblers (Setophaga coronata) at a migration stopover site and held them in captivity. I inoculated 25 with P. cathemerium while 15 received sham inoculations. After 12 days the birds were released. Six P. cathemerium-inoculated birds (24%) developed P. cathemerium infections after inoculation. I radio-tagged all birds, …
Ecological Outcomes Of Movement Behavior In Brown Pelicans From The South Atlantic Bight, Bradley Wilkinson
Ecological Outcomes Of Movement Behavior In Brown Pelicans From The South Atlantic Bight, Bradley Wilkinson
All Dissertations
Vagile organisms are expected to display movement behaviors that respond to a wide variety of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Identifying drivers of movement is fundamental to understanding the ecology of species, as well as implementing effective conservation measures. Technological advancements have allowed for the collection of fine-scale positional data at rapid temporal scales, which can be a powerful tool for assessing the movement behavior of tracked species and for understanding the potential fitness implications resulting from variations in animal space use. The goal of this dissertation was to identify important drivers of movement behavior and to describe the ecological …
Monarch Butterfly (Danaus Plexippus) Roost Site-Selection And Viability East Of The Appalachian Mountains, Brandon Boxler
Monarch Butterfly (Danaus Plexippus) Roost Site-Selection And Viability East Of The Appalachian Mountains, Brandon Boxler
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The Monarch butterfly is a flagship species and pollinator whose populations have declined by approximately 85% in the last two decades. Their largest population overwinters in Mexico, then disperses across the eastern United States and Canada during April to August. Between September-December, the butterflies return south using two migratory flyways, one spanning the central United States and another following the Atlantic coast. They fly during the day and at night roost in large groups. Roosting habitat is essential to the continuation of the Monarchs’ migration, however, threats such as anthropogenic habitat disturbance and climate change potentially endanger sustainability of these …
Not Gone With The Wind: Addressing Effects Of Offshore Wind Development On Bat Species In The Northeastern United States, Zara Rae Dowling
Not Gone With The Wind: Addressing Effects Of Offshore Wind Development On Bat Species In The Northeastern United States, Zara Rae Dowling
Doctoral Dissertations
Development of coastal and offshore wind energy resources has the potential to add considerable renewable electricity capacity to the United States electrical grid, but could have detrimental impacts on wildlife. Land-based wind energy facilities are estimated to kill hundreds of thousands of bats every year in the United States, and could threaten population viability of some species. Little is known about the potential impacts of offshore wind development on bat populations along the North Atlantic coast, but a number of species are known to frequent marine islands or fly over the ocean during migration. This dissertation helps to characterize risks …
Modelling Bird Migration With Motus Data And Bayesian State-Space Models, Justin Baldwin
Modelling Bird Migration With Motus Data And Bayesian State-Space Models, Justin Baldwin
Masters Theses
Bird migration is a poorly-known yet important phenomenon, as understanding movement patterns of birds can inform conservation strategies and public health policy for animal-borne diseases. Recent advances in wildlife tracking technology, in particular the Motus system, have allowed researchers to track even small flying birds and insects with radio transmitters that weigh fractions of a gram. This system relies on a community-based distributed sensor network that detects tagged animals as they move through the detection nodes on journeys that range from small local movements to intercontinental migrations. The quantity of data generated by the Motus system is unprecedented, is on …
Climate Change, Managed Relocation, And The Risk Of Intra-Continental Plant Invasions: A Theoretical And Empirical Exploration Relative To The Flora Of New England, Jesse Bellemare, Bryan Connolly, Dov F. Sax
Climate Change, Managed Relocation, And The Risk Of Intra-Continental Plant Invasions: A Theoretical And Empirical Exploration Relative To The Flora Of New England, Jesse Bellemare, Bryan Connolly, Dov F. Sax
Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications
The high rate of anthropogenic climate change projected for coming decades and evidence of low migration ability for many species have led researchers to warn of a looming extinction crisis. This threat is expected to be most acute for small-ranged endemic species, which could see novel climatic conditions develop rapidly across the entirety of their limited geographic ranges. To avoid extinctions, some conservationists have proposed that climateimperiled species might be candidates for "assisted colonization" or "managed relocation" to new regions, outside their historical ranges. One major concern related to managed relocation is the possibility that some relocated species could later …
Weather And Photoperiod Indices Of Autumn And Winter Dabbling Duck Abundance In The Mississippi And Atlantic Flyways Of North America, Lena M. Van Den Elsen
Weather And Photoperiod Indices Of Autumn And Winter Dabbling Duck Abundance In The Mississippi And Atlantic Flyways Of North America, Lena M. Van Den Elsen
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Climate change may influence autumn and winter distributions of dabbling ducks throughout the Atlantic and Mississippi Flyways of North America. To determine how weather and photoperiod influenced autumn-winter abundances of dabbling ducks at staging areas in eastern North America, I modeled weather and photoperiod variables with rate of change in relative abundance of various dabbling duck species over space and time. Latitude was incorporated into models to determine if changes in duck abundance in relation to weather severity were influenced by locale. Changes in abundance were best described by weather models incorporating temperature and snowfall variables for all species except …
Natural Variation In Malarial Infection And Immune Investment In A Migratory Songbird, And The Effects Of Infection On Flight Performance, Laura Rooney
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Endurance flight and immune defense are energetically costly activities for birds, and there may be a trade-off between migration and immune investment. Avian blood parasites consume host resources, which may decrease a bird’s resource pool so that endurance flight and immune defense may not be possible simultaneously. I developed a molecular method to detect and quantify blood parasite infection in migrating yellow-rumped warblers (Setophaga coronata), and measured immune activity. I assessed the impact of infection on endurance flight performance and refueling in captive birds. Infection status was not related to age or sex, or timing of migration, and …
Project Safe Flight: Making New York Safe For Migratory Birds, Kaitlyn L. Parkins, Susan B. Elbin Ph.D., Adriana Palmer, Darren Klein, Elle Barnes
Project Safe Flight: Making New York Safe For Migratory Birds, Kaitlyn L. Parkins, Susan B. Elbin Ph.D., Adriana Palmer, Darren Klein, Elle Barnes
Publications and Research
More than 100 species of migratory birds pass through New York City during spring and fall migrations. Located at the nexus of several migratory routes, New York City’s tall buildings and reflective glass pose a serious threat to over 100 species of migratory birds. Since 1997, NYC Audubon has led Project Safe Flight (PSF), a volunteer-based citizen-science project, with the goal of monitoring and mitigating bird collisions. We examined 16 years of PSF data, during which volunteers collected over 6,000 birds of 126 different species. The top two species, White-throated Sparrow and Common Yellowthroat, make up 23% of all collisions. …
Stopover Decisions Of Migratory Shorebirds: An Assessment Of Habitat Use, Food Availability, Behavior And Phenology, Ryan Stutzman
Stopover Decisions Of Migratory Shorebirds: An Assessment Of Habitat Use, Food Availability, Behavior And Phenology, Ryan Stutzman
School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Habitat loss and alteration from land use change, species invasion, and more recently, climate change has reduced biodiversity and ecosystem function worldwide. Habitat decisions have important implications to individual fitness as well as population dynamics and community structure. Resource limitation, predation, competition, and unfavorable abiotic conditions all have the potential to influence survival and future reproductive potential. Understanding how changes to ecosystem structure and function impact species and populations of conservation concern is essential for conservation delivery to be effective. Similar to many migratory species, shorebird populations are declining worldwide and declines may be related to the loss of important …
Exploring Red-Tailed Hawk Migration Using Stable Isotope Analysis And Dna Sexing Techniques, Kara Clare Donohue
Exploring Red-Tailed Hawk Migration Using Stable Isotope Analysis And Dna Sexing Techniques, Kara Clare Donohue
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
Understanding the movements of migratory birds and connecting the different stages of their annual cycle is necessary for the conservation and management of migratory bird species. Stable isotope technology has the potential to shed light on the movements of migratory species and to help us better understand their population dynamics. Several studies use stable hydrogen isotopes in particular to predict origins of birds sampled during migration or in winter. However, recent work on stable hydrogen isotopes in feathers (δDf) draws into question the utility of this technology in estimating origins of migrants. My objective was to determine whether …