ABSTRACTS – DOMESTIC CATEGORY

NATHAN MARCY – SAMPLING BIRD POPULATIONS TO ASSIST A CLOUD FOREST RESTORATION PROJECT IN COSTA RICA.

I am conducting a study of bird distribution and habitat use in the mountains of southwestern Costa Rica. My work is based in the private Cloudbridge Reserve, which borders Chirripó National Park. This reserve contains cloud forest in various stages of disturbance and recovery. I am using point counts to document patterns of bird abundance, species richness, and species composition within this mosaic of habitats. I will examine how variation in habitat use is linked to specific habitat characteristics, such as the height and density of trees, and the presence or absence of key plant species.

As primary forests have been depleted throughout the tropics, much attention has been paid to the resulting decline of species and ecosystem functions. Less well studied are the characteristics of the landscapes that have replaced them. Secondary habitats hold great potential for the conservation of birds, especially in areas adjacent to protected forest. Cloudbridge is an excellent natural laboratory for this kind of research. The results of this study will suggest how the reserve can best be managed for the conservation of birds, perhaps by maintaining habitat diversity, or by accelerating reforestation to buffer the edge of the national park. Lessons learned in Cloudbridge will also be applicable to many other parts of the tropics.

LENA USYK– THE ECOLOGY OF LeCONTE’S SPARROWS AND OTHER GRASSLAND BIRDS AT MUNUSCONG BAY.

LeConte’s Sparrow (Ammodramus leconteii) is an uncommon grassland bird whose elusive habits impede investigative research into its biology. A population of this species breeds at Munuscong Bay Wildlife Management Area in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. This study proposes to quantify population > stability, health, and reproductive success of LeConte’s Sparrows and to assess habitat suitability and current management practices for maintaining grassland birds. In addition, this potentially important stopover habitat will be evaluated for its benefit to grassland species during the spring and fall migration.

ANA GABELA – SITE FIDEILITY AND HUMAN IMPACT ON THE MEDIUM GROUND FINCH (Geospiza foris) ON SANTA CRUZ, GALAPAGOS ISLANDS.

Site fidelity is an important factor influencing the distribution, population size, and evolution of avian species. The movement patterns of Darwin's finches are poorly understood especially on larger islands like Santa Cruz, Galápagos. On this island we have identified two morphologically distinct "populations" of the medium ground finch,
Geospiza fortis. These populations, separated by 11 km, show clear differences. The population at El Garrapatero, far from town, appears to be highly philopatric with a bimodal beak size distribution while the population at Bahía Academia does not. I hypothesize that morphological differences between the populations are genetically based and differences in philopatry are influenced by the human settlement. As a first test of this hypothesis, I will capture, band, and recapture birds along a transect between these two populations, to quantify the movement of birds at and between sites. Recapture patterns will be used to assess the degree of philopatry.

MEGAN PHILIPS – THE FORAGING ECOLOGY AND BREEDING BIOLOGY OF THE ENDEMIC YUCATAN WOODPECKER, Melanerpes pygmaeus, IN QUINTANA ROO, MEXICO.

The Yucatan Peninsula is experiencing rapid economic growth and associated changes to the natural habitats of the area. Long-term effects of these changes on endemic species such as the Yucatan Woodpecker are unknown due to a lack of basic natural history information. This study proposes to address these issues by documenting the basic habitat preferences of this species with regard to foraging and breeding and how these habitat preferences might relate to possible cooperative breeding. Additionally this study will compare habitat utilization patterns of the Yucatan Woodpecker to that of the Golden-fronted Woodpecker and the potential competition for resources between these species that is likely to be exacerbated with loss of habitat due to economic growth in the area.

JASON HILL - ESTIMATING THE DEMOGRAPHIC CONSEQUENCES OF WETLAND FRAGMENTATION: MOVEMENT AND SURVIVAL PATTERNS IN A THREATENED SALT MARSH BIRD.

Understanding postfledging movement and juvenile survival is a critical component in describing the population dynamics of any population. Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows are an obligate saltmarsh breeding species and a species of high conservation concern. More than half of the population is estimated to occur in New England where less than 20% of the historic salt marshes remain. The impact of habitat loss and fragmentation on Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows is unknown, and very little is known concerning within-season and postfledging movements in this species. These gaps in our knowledge can be best answered through radio telemetric investigation. I propose a radio telemetry study to test a set of hypotheses concerning the movement behavior and survival patterns of adult female and juvenile Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows in continuous and fragmented habitat patches of salt marsh along the Connecticut coast. Such a study would contribute to area sensitivity understanding, metapopulation modeling and salt marsh management and restoration.

ABSTRACTS – LATIN AMERICA CATEGORY

MARÍA CECILIA SAGARIO - BREEDING TERRITORIALITY OF GRANIVOROUS BIRDS IN THE CENTRAL MONTE DESERT, ARGENTINA.

Non-random use of space by granivorous birds could have consequences on plant populations, which particularly depend on their seed stage in arid ecosystems, as it may produce space variation in seeds vulnerability to predation. Also, individual selection patterns can affect the species coexistence and therefore modify the structure and organization of bird communities. This work is part of a general project conducted since 1993 and aimed at analyzing the reciprocal effects between seeds and their consumers and the possible consequences of those effects on plant population dynamics in the central Monte desert, Argentina. The main objectives in this work are: (1) to get information about the habitat characteristics that granivorous birds are choosing to establish territories; (2) to assess their intra and interspecific territoriality; and (3) to evaluate if the use of space for territory establishment by these birds may be influenced by (or may influence) decisions made at a different scale. Fieldwork will be carried out in the open mesquite woodland of the Biosphere Reserve of Ñacuñán, MAB-UNESCO (34º03’S-67º54’W), which is located in the central region of the Monte desert, Mendoza province, Argentina. Assessing the spatial use patterns of these granivorous birds is a crucial step towards the general goal of understanding the reciprocal effects between seeds and birds in the Monte Desert. Studying their inter and intraspecific interactions may also contribute to the general knowledge of community organization. This work will also provide information about the ecology and breeding habitat requirements of little known southamerican birds, some of them Argentinean endemisms, and therefore supply fundamental data for their conservation.

JUAN ALEJANDRO MORALES BETANCOURT – FRUIT CONSUMPTION BY FOUR MANAKIN SPECIES (AVES: PIPRIDAE) IN A NATIVE REFORESTATION AT THE COLOMBIAN CENTRAL ANDES.

The geographical region of the Cauca valley in Colombia is one of the regions most affected by deforestation processes and habitat transformation in the country, since it has been principally designated to farming production. Because of the high rates of environmental degradation in this area, it’s very difficult to find forest formations at altitudes lower than 1000 m. As a matter of fact, the majority of biological studies have been developed in the highland Andean regions. The present research proposal will be developed at the Chinchiná municipality in the described area in a forest native mixed plantation which is in process of natural regeneration. The objectives of this research are to determine the plant species whose fruits are consumed by four manakin species (Manacus vitellinus, Pipra erythrocephala, Corapipo leucorrhoa and Machaeropterus regulus) and to relate the fruit consumption of those birds with the ornithocorous fruit production in the understory of the regeneration. To accomplish these objectives, it will be necessary to obtain a seed reference collection of understory bird plants to the identification of those encountered in bird’s feces. This information will allow an overview to the frugivorous feeding habits of the birds and at the same time it will allow the description of certain phonological aspects of the plants whose fruits they consume, contributing to the comprehension of the plant-bird interactions in the study area. This in turn will enhance the management decisions related with the conservation of the mixed forest plantation and with the eventual restoration process of perturbed areas at the same geographical zone.

MIEKO FERREIRA KANEGAE - HABITAT USE, HOME RANGE AND POPULATION STUDY OF MELANOPAREIA TORQUATA (BIRDS: MELANOPAREIIDAE) IN THE ECOLOGIC STATION OF ITIRAPINA, SÃO PAULO.

The Cerrado is the second largest ecological region in South America, covering originally between 1,5 and 1,8 million square kilometers. Nowadays it is ranked among the 25 most important terrestrial hotspots and in Brazil is the second biome in the numbers of threatened species and threatened endemics. The greatest challenge Brazilian ornithologists have to face is the lack of information on the basic biology of the rare species and the increasing number of threatened species. Collared Crescentchest (Melanopareia torquata) is an endemic bird of Cerrado considered endangered in the List of Threatened Animals of São Paulo's State. It occurs from south of Pará, Piauí, Bahia, São Paulo, Goiás, Mato Grosso. It also occurs in Bolívia and extreme northeast of Paraguai. M. torquata is the only species in Melanopareiidae family. It inhabits the "campo cerrado", savannas full of termitary and "campo sujo". It is a solitaire species and probably a sedentary one, being observation of pairs a less common occurrence. Almost nothing is known about the biology of this species and there are no records about nests. The objectives of this study are: 1) To investigate habitat use; 2) To measure home range size of the species; 3) To estimate its density and population size of endemic and threatened species; 4) To find and describe the nest; 5) To recommend conservation strategies; 6) To develop lectures about the bird biodiversity and their importance to children from primary education of the Itirapina community. To estimate habitat selection, the method used will be based on use-availability, in which the individual distribution of the species will be compared to the expected number of individuals, observed in a certain type of habitat, considering the availability of the mentioned habitat. Home range will be estimated by the observation of marked individuals and calculated by the minimal convex polygonal method. Transects of variable size will be established in order to obtain the species density. Population size will be estimated using the total area of available habitats (obtained by satellite images), multiplied by estimated density of the species. This study could be useful as a support to analyze the threatened category of Melanopareia torquata and could allow the establishment of conservation strategies.