Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Explaining Migratory Behaviors Using Optimal Migration Theory, Jennifer D. Mccabe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bird migration is the regular seasonal movements between breeding and nonbreeding grounds. In general, birds that breed in the Northern Hemisphere tend to migrate northward in the spring to take advantage of increasing insect populations and lower predation pressures and fly south when food availability and weather conditions decline. Embarking on a journey that can stretch a thousand miles round trip is a dangerous and arduous undertaking. While en route migrants must stop and feed to replenish their depleted energy reserves, often in unfamiliar locations with unknown predation pressures. They also must react to weather conditions during flight and while …

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 …

Attracting Songbirds With Conspecific Playback: A Community Approach, Leanna N. Dejong, Samuel D. Cowell, Thuy Nhi Nguyen, Darren S. Proppe

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

The presence of conspecifics is an indicator of good habitat for a number of songbird species; a cue positively associated with territory selection. Thus, conspecific playback may be a cost-effective tool for attracting songbirds to particular, preselected sites of high-quality habitat. Previous studies have used conspecific playback to encourage the establishment of a single species; however, few have researched the potential for the simultaneous attraction of multiple species. Furthermore, empirical studies on the effect of song playback for nonfocal species are sparse. We investigated whether 6 migratory songbird species are more likely to establish nesting territories in response to multispecies …

An Analysis Of Juvenile Chinook Salmon Outmigration Speed And Survival In Response To Habitat Features: Sacramento River From Knights Landing To Sacramento, California, Natalie N. Mcnair

Master's Theses

Outmigration is an important life stage for Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) survival in the Sacramento River, and yet our understanding of their behavior and needs during this time is limited. To gain a better understanding of their survival and movement rates during outmigration, late fall run Chinook salmon smolts were tracked using acoustic telemetry techniques. Habitat features were measured and quantified throughout the study area to evaluate how Chinook salmon respond to key levee features including shade, instream woody material, and aquatic vegetation. The overall average movement speed through the entire study area was 0.77 m/s with an …

Diel Vertical Migration Of An Invasive Calanoid Copepod, Eurytemora Affinis, In Little Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, Alexandra N. Poli

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Eurytemora affinis, a calanoid copepod, is known to be a versatile, prolific invader of freshwater ecosystems across the globe. It has recently been documented in the Laurentian Great Lakes, including in Little Sturgeon Bay, an embayment of Lake Michigan. One survival mechanism that could make E. affinis a successful invader is diel vertical migration (DVM), a behavior in which animals move to different lakes depths at different times of day in order to avoid predation. Much is known about DVM of E. affinis, but primarily from studies in marine and brackish systems. Our goal was to investigate how …

Genetic Approaches To The Conservation Of Migratory Bats: A Study Of The Eastern Red Bat (Lasiurus Borealis), Maarten J. Vonhof, Amy L. Russell

Amy L. Russell