Songbirds at Hubbard Brook subject of new educational journal article

Black-throated Blue Warbler (Photo by M. Cline)

Demography of Songbird Populations in a Rapidly Changing World: The Importance of Long-Term Studies

by H. R. Sofaer, K. M. Langin, J. Wilson, T. S. Sillett

HBRF’s Education Associate Jackie Wilson is a co-author of a newly published article in the journal American Biology Teacher.  A team of graduate students created an online population ecology learning module for HBRF and wrote up their project for the journal. See abstract and links to article and web site below.

Abstract

A major goal of ecological research is to understand how ecological factors, such as food and predator abundance, interact to shape birth and death rates. Case studies describing this research can provide students with an understanding of how ecological conditions affect demographic rates, as well as an opportunity to explore and interpret real data. We have developed a Web-based teaching module based on a long-term study of a migratory songbird, the black-throated blue warbler (Dendroica caerulescens). The website describes this species and the ecological factors that affect its population growth.

Resources

Module web site: http://supporthubbardbrook.org/what-limits-the-reproductive-success-of-migratory-birds/ (sign-in required).

Article: Sofaer, H.R., K.M. Langin, J. Wilson, and T. S. Sillett. Demography of Songbird Populations in a Rapidly Changing World: The Importance of Long-Term Studies. The American Biology Teacher. 73 (5): 285–287.

Request permission to download, photocopy or reproduce article content at the University of California Press’s Rights and Permissions Web site at: www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintinfo.asp. ISSN 0002-7685, electronic ISSN 1938–4211. ©2011 by National Association of Biology Teachers. All rights reserved.