Grantee Research Project Results
Ecology and Population Regulation of Nearctic Migrant Birds on Hispaniola
EPA Grant Number: U915337Title: Ecology and Population Regulation of Nearctic Migrant Birds on Hispaniola
Investigators: Latta, Steven C.
Institution: University of Missouri - Columbia
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: September 1, 1998 through September 1, 2001
Project Amount: $64,060
RFA: STAR Graduate Fellowships (1998) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Academic Fellowships , Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration , Fellowship - Ecology
Objective:
The overall objective of this research project is to provide a better understanding of population variation and the behavioral mechanisms of winter population regulation of neotropical migratory birds wintering in three habitats across an altitudinal gradient in the Dominican Republic. The specific objective of this research project is to address the need for habitat-specific demographies in a study of migrants wintering in three critically threatened and migrant-rich habitats—coastal spine forest, dry broadleaf forest, and pine forest—along an altitudinal gradient in Hispaniola.
Approach:
In each habitat, specific fitness indices such as home range size, site fidelity, overwinter turnover, and annual return rates will be quantified and compared by species, sex, and age class. I also will use behavioral observations to determine what foraging and social strategies are used by migrants in these habitats, whether these vary by sex and age class, and how social behavior (particularly association with mixed-species foraging flocks) relates to measures of fitness. These measures will allow us to compare fitness values between habitats on Hispaniola and other study islands.
Supplemental Keywords:
fellowship, Dendroica, Dominican Republic, parasitism, population regulation, ecology.Progress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.