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Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Natural Resources Management and Policy
Parent-Offspring Resemblance In Colony-Specific Adult Survival Of Cliff Swallows, Charles R. Brown, Erin A. Roche, Mary Bomberger Brown
Parent-Offspring Resemblance In Colony-Specific Adult Survival Of Cliff Swallows, Charles R. Brown, Erin A. Roche, Mary Bomberger Brown
School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications
Survival is a key component of fitness. Species that occupy discrete breeding colonies with different characteristics are often exposed to varying costs and benefits associated with group size or environmental conditions, and survival is an integrative net measure of these effects. We investigated the extent to which survival probability of adult (≥ 1-year old) cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) occupying different colonies resembled that of their parental cohort and thus whether the natal colony had long-term effects on individuals. Individuals were cross-fostered between colonies soon after hatching and their presence as breeders monitored at colonies in the western Nebraska …
The Effect Of Weather During Rearing On Morphometric Traits Of Juvenile Cliff Swallows, Erin A. Roche, Mary Bomberger Brown, Charles R. Brown
The Effect Of Weather During Rearing On Morphometric Traits Of Juvenile Cliff Swallows, Erin A. Roche, Mary Bomberger Brown, Charles R. Brown
School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications
Episodes of food deprivation may change how nestling birds allocate energy to the growth of skeletal and feather morphological traits during development. Cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) are colonial, insectivorous birds that regularly experience brief periods of severe weather–induced food deprivation during the nesting season which may affect offspring development. We investigated how annual variation in timing of rearing and weather were associated with length of wing and tail, skeletal traits, and body mass in juvenile cliff swallows reared in southwestern Nebraska during 2001–2006. As predicted under conditions of food deprivation, nestling skeletal and feather measurements were generally smaller …
Fluctuating Viability Selection On Morphology Of Cliff Swallows Is Driven By Climate, Charles R. Brown, Mary Bomberger Brown, Erin A. Roche
Fluctuating Viability Selection On Morphology Of Cliff Swallows Is Driven By Climate, Charles R. Brown, Mary Bomberger Brown, Erin A. Roche
School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications
The extent to which fluctuating selection can maintain evolutionary stasis in most populations remains an unresolved question in evolutionary biology. Climate has been hypothesized to drive reversals in the direction of selection among different time periods and may also be responsible for intense episodic selection caused by rare weather events. We measured viability selection associated with morphological traits in cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) in western Nebraska, USA, over a 14-year period following a rare climatic event. We used mark-recapture to estimate the annual apparent survival of over 26 000 individuals whose wing, tail, tarsus, and bill had been …
Heritable Choice Of Colony Size In Cliff Swallows: Does Experience Trump Genetics In Older Birds?, Erin A. Roche, Charles R. Brown, Mary Bomberger Brown
Heritable Choice Of Colony Size In Cliff Swallows: Does Experience Trump Genetics In Older Birds?, Erin A. Roche, Charles R. Brown, Mary Bomberger Brown
School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications
The variation in breeding colony size seen in populations of most colonial birds may reflect heritable choices made by individuals that are phenotypically specialized for particular social environments. Although a few studies have reported evidence for genetically based choice of group sizes in birds, we know relatively little about the extent to which animals potentially rely on experience versus innate preferences in deciding how many conspecifics to settle with at different times of their lives. We conducted a cross-fostering experiment in 1997–1998 on cliff swallows, Petrochelidon pyrrhonota, in southwestern Nebraska, USA, in which some individuals were reared in colonies …
Winter Ecology Of Buggy Creek Virus (Togaviridae, Alphavirus) In The Central Great Plains, Charles R. Brown, Stephanie A. Strickler, Amy T. Moore, Sarah A. Knutie, Abinash Padhi, Mary Bomberger Brown, Ginger R. Young, Valerie A. O'Brien, Jerome E. Foster, Nicholas Komar
Winter Ecology Of Buggy Creek Virus (Togaviridae, Alphavirus) In The Central Great Plains, Charles R. Brown, Stephanie A. Strickler, Amy T. Moore, Sarah A. Knutie, Abinash Padhi, Mary Bomberger Brown, Ginger R. Young, Valerie A. O'Brien, Jerome E. Foster, Nicholas Komar
School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications
A largely unanswered question in the study of arboviruses is the extent to which virus can overwinter in adult vectors during the cold winter months and resume the transmission cycle in summer. Buggy Creek virus (BCRV; Togaviridae, Alphavirus) is an unusual arbovirus that is vectored primarily by the swallow bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae: Oeciacus vicarius) and amplified by the ectoparasitic bug’s main avian hosts, the migratory cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and resident house sparrow (Passer domesticus). Bugs are sedentary and overwinter in the swallows’ mud nests. We evaluated the prevalence of BCRV and extent of …