Dissertation Research: Habitat Fragmentation Effects on the Stopover Biology of Migratory Landbirds along the Northern Coast of the Gulf of Mexico

University Of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg MS

Investigators

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY Habitat fragmentation and its associated effects on the breeding and wintering grounds have been implicated as major factors contributing to the declines of many Nearctic-Neotropical migratory landbird populations. However, we know little about how fragmentation may affect the accessibility, use and quality of stopover habitats for birds during migration. We advance the hypothesis that fragmentation of stopover habitats imposes constraints on the ability of migrants to survive migration and to arrive at their destination in good nutritional condition. We will investigate the degree to which habitat fragmentation influences bird movement, choice of available stopover habitats, and the intrinsic suitability of stopover habitats when migrants stopover along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico during spring passage. Habitat availability will be characterized using remotely-sensed data, while habitat use by migrants during stopover will be studied by releasing radio-tagged Wood Thrushes (Hylocichla mustelina ) within habitat patches of different composition, size, and isolation. The results will improve our understanding of the stopover ecology of landbird migrants and the determinants of suitable stopover habitat. They will also further our ability to determine the relative importance of the migratory period for population limitation. Populations of intercontinental migrants will continue to decline unless habitat requirements during migration are factored into the conservation equation.