Identifying the Effects of Scale on Population Dynamics in Birds: An Individually-Based Approach

University Of Vermont & State Agricultural College, Burlington VT

Investigators

Abstract

In many places throughout the United States, forests are being converted to housing and other land use types - at the expense of forest wildlife species. Though a number of studies suggest that habitat fragmentation influences distribution, and birth, death, and movement rates, none conclusively show that landscape pattern is the primary influence because fragmented landscapes are also characterized by poor habitat quality and by low density of breeding individuals. The goal of this study is to separate local scale habitat quality, intermediate scale density, and coarse scale landscape pattern by experimentally increasing density of the Black Throated Blue Warbler (Dendroica caerulescens) in high and low quality local habitats across a landscape fragmentation gradient. The results will identify which factors most significantly influence distribution and persistence of a forest bird species. This proposal advances our understanding of population dynamics in heterogeneous systems by experimentally testing the mechanisms that drive the patterns and by tracking individually marked birds over time and space. Funding will support a female Ph.D. student, and 6 students will be trained in field ornithology. Partnerships include the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, who will put the results of this study into action to improve songbird conservation.