Links between scale and neotropical migratory bird populations

Abstract

Recent concerns about the future for migratory birds, particularly those that migrate to the Tropics, have led to the development of a variety of new research and education initiatives addressing avian population ecology and conservation. Research that focuses on the relationships between migrant population trends, geographical patterns, and spatial and temporal scales is central to solving conservation problems for migrants. Understanding how and why avian populations are declining is difficult because population trends vary in relation to numerous factors, including species, habitat, location, land use, reproductive success, and observational scale. Populations of some species are declining in some locations or in some habitats, while increasing in others. Because of the complexity and widespread nature of the problem, scientists and conservationists have not been fully successful in explaining population changes of neotropical migrants in a clear-cut way. This limits our ability, then, to adequately develop a comprehensive conservation strategy for migrant populations. Even so, a national program called Partners in Flight has been set in motion for this purpose.

Citation

Finch, Deborah M. 1994. Links between scale and neotropical migratory bird populations. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. 75(3): 173-175.