Treesearch

The papers included in the Advances in Statistics section of the Partners in Flight (PIF) 2002 Proceedings represent a small sample of statistical topics of current importance to Partners In Flight research scientists: hierarchical modeling, estimation of detection probabilities, and Bayesian applications. Sauer et al. (this volume) examines a hierarchical model describing attributes and change of aggregates of bird populations using a Bayesian statistical inference approach with WinBUGS. They point out that Win- BUGS provides a user-friendly software environment for hierarchical modeling...

The conservation of declining intercontinental landbird and shorebird migrants is complicated by the migratory nature of these organisms. Although debate over the causes of declines in most species will no doubt continue for some time, continued attention has focused largely on events associated with the breeding and wintering phases of the migrant's annual cycle. What has been largely overlooked in our developing conservation strategy is the importance of the migratory period and the issues associated with conserving these diverse and often sporadically used stopover habitats throughout...

One measure of the importance of a stopover site is the length of time that migrants spend at an area, however measuring the time birds spend at a stopover site has proven difficult. Most banding studies have presented only minimum length of stopover, based on the difference between initial capture and final recapture of birds that are captured more than once. Cormack-Jolly-Seber (CJS) models have used multiple recaptures to estimate stopover length by migrants, and recently a new model (Stopover Duration Analysis, SODA) incorporating recruitment estimates has been suggested. Using banding...

Shorebird migration strategies vary by species, migration distance and route, time of year, and resources at staging and stopover sites. The Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network has been highly successful in the identification, designation, and protection of important migration habitats for many species that stage in traditional areas. Recently, conservation efforts also focus on species and populations that disperse broadly on the landscape and that exhibit opportunistic use of available habitat in highly dynamic wetland systems. This unpredictability makes the conservation of...

The development of comprehensive conservation strategies and management plans for migratory birds depends on understanding migrant-habitat relations throughout the annual cycle, including the time when migrants stopover en route. Yet, the complexity of migration makes the assessment of habitat requirements and development of a comprehensive conservation strategy a difficult task. We emphasize that development of a comprehensive conservation strategy depends on understanding that migrant-habitat relations during passage are scale dependent, and we outline a practical framework for the study...

We present data on capture and recapture of neotropical migrants at constant-effort mist net sampling locations in Utah between 1994 and 2002. Data were collected in accordance with MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) protocols. Since 1994, a total of 23,789 birds have been captured (i.e., total captures include new captures, recaptures, and unbanded individuals) representing 149 species. Data collected thus far provide some measure of site fidelity and longevity for species breeding in and migrating through Utah. Of the 18,358 birds banded, 2,367 (12.9 percent) were...

Migration monitoring of landbirds, in its various forms, is a well-established research endeavor across much of North America. While monitoring efforts at individual sites have contributed much to our knowledge of the biology of migrants, these studies have limited potential for population monitoring and for addressing certain broader questions about migrants. Meanwhile, there is still much to be learned about the habitat use, conservation needs, population trends, demographics, and general stopover ecology of migrants. As a model for migration monitoring networks, the establishment and...

Landbird migration monitoring stations, primarily using constant-effort mist netting and sometimes specialized censuses, are valuable because: (1) many of the species captured, especially northern-nesting ones, are not well surveyed by other methods; (2) demographic and other vital information for management and conservation can readily be collected; and (3) such stations provide excellent opportunities for education and outreach activities. Migration monitoring helps us describe and understand the causes of large-scale trends in population size or other parameters. In this paper, we...

Based on the experience of creating and implementing the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program, I suggest that, to be successful, a migration-monitoring network must: (1) provide strong justification for the data it proposes to collect; (2) provide direct links between those monitoring data and both research and management goals; (3) provide critical information useful at both small (local) and large (regional) spatial scales; (4) utilize standardized protocols for all aspects of data collection; (5) provide electronic data verification programs to be used by...

The aim of this paper is to summarize background information on what migration monitoring is, what biases are present and how they can be addressed, evidence that resulting trends are biologically meaningful, and what the benefits and limitations of the method are. Some topics have been covered elsewhere in greater detail (Dunn and Hussell 1995, Dunn et al. 1997, Francis and Hussell 1998). However, an overview provides a useful introduction to this session, and here I discuss potential biases more fully than elsewhere. For the purposes of this presentation, "migration monitoring" refers to...