NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2017: THE ROLE OF THE NORTH AMERICAN MONSOON IN THE ANNUAL MOLT OF MIGRATORY BIRDS

Terrill Ryan, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

This is an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY, under the program Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will utilize biological collections in innovative ways. The research will study how migratory birds use a seasonal rainfall event, the North American Monsoon (NAM), for resources in their annual feather replacement. Many species of birds that breed in Western North America use this monsoon as a region to replace their feathers, but where these birds come from, and how dependent they are on these monsoonal rains, is not well understood. Replacing feathers is important for birds, and all birds replace their feathers at least once a year. Migratory birds face the challenge of breeding, molting, and fueling for migration throughout the year. Breeding and migration have been well studied in these birds, but little research has been dedicated to molt. Furthermore, climate change is affecting the timing and intensity of the monsoon, and there is currently no data that can inform how this will affect the birds that use the monsoon for feather molt, and this study will combine analysis of the genomes of birds with a unique collection of specimens from this region to assess how birds use the monsoon for feather molt. To understand how various populations employ this strategy, the fellow will establish the migratory connectivity of birds using this region to molt by constructing a reference database of genomic DNA from breeding populations of 13 species of birds that are known to follow this molt migration strategy, then sequencing DNA from molting birds in the NAM region. These data will allow the fellow to understand the relative proportions of breeding populations using this molt-migration strategy. The fellow will also investigate how the NAM has influenced molt phenology and plasticity of molt timing and location by conducting this migratory connectivity analysis in two species of common molt-migrants across a time series spanning 80 years from a heritage collection at Occidental College. Occidental College houses the largest collection of birds from Mexico in the world, and is active in development and use of ultraconserved elements (UCEs) for phylogenetic and population inference; and is the ideal setting for this research. The fellow will be trained in field and laboratory techniques in specimen preparation and DNA extraction, as well as mentoring and publication skills, and specimen curatorial and data analysis.