The main direction of my PhD is to reveal why shorebirds are declining. I propose to use a combination of research methods (fieldwork, GIS, phylogenetic analyses), because learning these methods will be highly beneficial in my career as conservation biologist and academic.
I have only decided about 3 papers, each should be suitable for a chapter. The direction of further chapters needs to be discussed as I go along.
Chapter 1. Why are shorebirds declining? Comparative tests of intrinsic and extrinsic variables on threat status and population trends
Shorebird (sandpipers, plovers, gulls and allies) populations are declining globally, driving many species to the brink of extinction (Zockler et al. 2003). It is pointed out that the causes of vulnerability remain unclear to explain the variation to the risk of extinction in shorebirds (Thomas et al. 2006). According to Reynolds (2003), vulnerability is determinate by both the decline of species population and the reduction of their geographical range. These two forms of vulnerability are affected by species intrinsic biological traits, extrinsic human induced effects and stochastic factors (Purvis et al. 2005). These drivers of vulnerability have been the main hypotheses of recently studies to explain the causes and processes of extinction. This study use different intrinsic and extrinsic hypotheses that are thought to be the causes of rapid population declines in shorebirds in a phylogenetic framework. Specifically, the aim is to look at the influence of human-induced drivers (human population density, gross domestic product), species’ biology drivers (life history, migration) and their interactions in: 1) measures of vulnerability among the three main groups of shorebirds (gu...
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...R & Collen, B. 2005. Correlates of extinction risk: phylogeny, biology, threat and scale. In: Phylogeny and Conservation (eds. A. Purvis, J.L. Gittleman and T. Brooks), pp 295-316. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Reynolds, JD. 2003. Life histories and extinction risk. In: Macroecology (eds. TM Blackburn & KJ Gaston), pp 195-217. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford.
Székely T., I.C. Cuthill and J. Kis. 1999.Brood desertion in Kentish plover: sex differences in remating opportunities. Behavioral Ecology 10: 185-190.
Thomas G. H., R. B. Lanctot & T. Szekely. 2006. Can intrinsic factors explain population declines in North American breeding shorebirds? A comparative analysis. Animal Conservation 9: 252 – 258.
Zockler, C., Delany, S. & Hagemeijer W. 2003. Wader populations are declining- how will we elucidate the reasons? Wader Study Group Bull. 100: 202-211.
The red-cockaded woodpecker, an inhabitant of mature pine forests and pine-grassland ecosystems from Maryland to eastern Texas, has had a troubled history within the last decade (Roise et al, 1990). Ten years ago, James documented a population decline in America’s largest remaining red-cockaded woodpecker population (1991). Of the 2,157 clusters, or living groups, contained in national forests, 693 of them were located in Florid...
Every day many species are slowly becoming either endangered or extinct and recently an endangered bird species called piping plovers, started nesting on Revere Beach. What would seem as a miraculous discovery, many are averse to their new inhabitants on the beach. Many Revere residents are complaining because the piping plovers now occupy parts of “their” beach. But in the article “Revere Beach should welcome the piping plover” The Editorial Board believes that the presence of the piping plover could be greatly beneficial to the city of Revere and I certainly agree. What led me to select this particular article is my concern for the many endangered species in the world like the piping plover. Human hands have led many species to become endangered
Mills, Scott L., Daniel F. Doak, and Michael E. Soule. "The Keystone-species Concept in Ecology and Conservation." BioScience 43.4 (1993): 219-25. Apr. 1993. Web. 30 Oct. 2011.
Piping plovers are small shorebirds that usually lives on sandy beach and is considered to be endangered. It has a pale color that blend perfectly with dry beach sand. During the spring and summer, it appears to have a single black neckband and a narrow black band across its forehead. The plover’s bills and legs are yellowish but their bills have a black tip. During their flight its rump is white in color. The sexes appear similar, in both their size and color. During the winter, their legs and bill gets darker. Piping plovers are seen in small flocks or singularly.
BENTON, MICHAEL J. "Mass Extinctions." New Scientist 209.2802 (2011): i-viii. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
While exploring the Gulf of Maine Exhibit at the aquarium, I was surprised that many of the species found throughout New England’s coast are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate change. One species that was emphasized in the exhibit is the piper plover, a small bird that lives along vegetated coastlines. As coastal birds, piper plovers require a large habitat near the shore, however, this habitat is quickly diminishing due to rising sea levels. A study conducted by University of Massachusetts-Amherst revealed that over the next century, piper plover migratory habitats in Long Island will have decreased by 5-12% (Seavey et al). The diminished habitat gives Piper Plovers less space to breed, causing some populations to migrate further
The aim of this study was to 1) determine how the proportion of habitat patches occupied influenced the change in patch incidence and 2) investigate how the extinction and migration rates influence the amount of patches occupied.
8. Taylor, Dan. 1998. Audubon Society Inspired to Action by Bird Die -offs . 17 Jan. 1998 . E-mail . Available bkus@sunstroke.sdsu.edu
Presently, the rate of species extinction is occurring several thousand times faster than has been observed over geologic time. (Purvis, E., & Mace, 2000) Though they represent a minority of all species, island species make up 75% of animal extinctions since the 16 000's. Because of traits inherent to islands, including isolation and small geographic range (Purvis, E., & Mace, 2000), islands are more susceptible to extinction than the continents. This results in a disproportionate ratio of island to continental extinctions. For example, 20% of the world's bird species inhabit islands, but of historical bird extinctions, about 90% were islanders (Frankham, 1997). With the endemicity that follows island isolation (particularly oceanic islands) often comes a direct correlation between local and global extinction. Low population numbers add to the threat of extinction. Generally, the more endemic a population, the greater the extinction rate (Purvis, E., & Mace, 2000). In the absence of mammalian or reptilian predators, unique island species do not develop the evolutionary experience required to cope with alien species upon their introduction. In New Zealand, the extinction rate of bird species is positively correlated to its level of endemicity (Duncan & Blackburn, 2007). This endemicity lends itself to the development of traits which increase their susceptibility to predation, especially large size, flightlessness and prey naiveté. Of island extinctions over the past 50 000 years, human activities (eg. invasion, alteration of environment, over-exploitation, etc.) have been the primary cause (Duncan & Blackburn, 2007). Also cited as attributing to the extinction of island species is inbreeding depression (Frankham, 1997).
The reasons for these extinctions have been altered by sudden environmental change, pestilences, space rocks effects and people. Case in point, the immense Auk was a flightless winged animal that has to be wiped out in the mid-nineteenth century in light of the fact that it was slaughtered for its quills to make pads, for oil, angling snare, and food. At the point when the population of this bird started to decline, samples of the great Auk and its eggs have to be collectible and exceedingly prized by rich Europeans, and the loss of an expansive number of its eggs to gathering played part to the species'
In the past hundred years, the human race has expanded almost everything in the United States of America, such as our agriculture practices, the size of our cities, and the sheer amount of expansion in business and it has affected one group of animals in particular, waterfowl. Due to these advancements, the human race has caused the climate to change, and according to an research by Jennifer Reilly “Climate change is an global problem that affects all species of waterfowl and the wetlands they inhabit” (Reilly 2017). Humans have impacted the life of waterfowl in such extreme levels of magnitude, that humans have almost become part of waterfowls life. Cites have become almost refuges for geese as mentioned in the study titled Survival
There were 5 mass extinctions in the past, with the latest one more known to man, the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction that caused the wiped out of the dinosaurs. Though the latest one happened 65 million years ago, something representing this phenomenon of mass extinction is underway in our era. While past mass extinctions were caused by natural forces, and asteroid, climate change and sea level’s changes were thought to be the culprit, this time the actor behind is not natural, and it is us Human Beings. It might occur to many that the current trend of animal extinction has no consequences on us, but in fact it is not true. Many of the endangered species does matter to us significantly. In this paper, using examples of some neglected critical endangered species as main headings, I will look into different forms of human activities that had led to their losses, and also more importantly how these losses could have impacted on us.
The warblers and larger mammal species on these islands are being affected by similar abiotic factors, but in differing ways for the biotic factors. Specifically, species richness is being affected by island biogeography and its associated costs (abiotic) as well as biotic aspects such as competition, predation pressure, and resources. First, looking at figure 1 we see a strong correlation between species richness, represented by number of different species/island, and land area on each associated island for both larger mammals (R2=0.94) and warblers (R2=0.84). This shows us that the island geography, particularly how big it is, has strong correlation to the number of different species on each island. Land area is related to a number of abiotic features such as environmental heterogeneity, disturbance frequency, distribution, and immigration (Brown et al., 2007).
Leboeuf, Eugene A. and Kaskela, Alicia. “BASH risk: What will the oil spill mean for bird migration?” Wingman. 4.1 (2011): 30-32. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Alabama Virtual Library. 18 Apr. 2011 .
Shah, Anup. Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions. Global Issues, 19 Jan. 2014. Web. 19 May 2014.