ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION OF NEOTROPICAL BIRDS

OTS GRADUATE SPECIALITY COURSE

14-27 MAY 2009 - COSTA RICA

Discussion Topics and Papers:

This list of papers provided below exceeds what we will likely read in the course.  Everyone will be assigned two topics and will share Discussion Leader duties with one of your colleagues.  You may select papers from among those provided, or suggest alternatives; generally we suggest 2-3 papers per topic depending on the length of the paper.  If you suggest alternative papers, please email the full reference and pdf to Bette loiselle@umsl.edu or John blakej@msx.umsl.edu before the course.  However, in order to even folks out in time and subjects, we ask you to select 4 topic areas in the excel spreadsheet forwarded with the email that linked you to this page – please list these in order of preference (1=high, 4=low) and we will try to accommodate you.  Note that next to the topic name is the site that the Discussion will likely take place (no guarantees!).  The topics are not an exhaustive list and were selected because either we had no associated lectures or because we wanted to emphasize the subject.  Nearly all topic areas can and will likely be linked to conservation issues during the Discussions. By the way, we will provide you with time to read these papers while you are on the course - so don't worry about having read them before you arrive!!

Central American biogeography (Palo Verde)
Hackett, S. J.  1995.  Molecular systematics and zoogeography of flowerpiercers in the Diglossa baritula complex.  Auk 112: 156-170. (pdf)
Gonzalez, M. A., J. R. Eberhard, I. J. Lovette, S. L. Olson, and E. Bermingham. 2003. Mitochondrial DNA phylogeography of the Bay Wren complex. Condor  105: 228-238. (pdf)
Hackett, S. J. 1996.  Molecular phylogenetics and biogeography of tanagers in the genus Ramphocelus (Aves).  Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 5: 368-382. (pdf)
Brawn, J. D., T. M. Collins, M. Medina, and E. Bermingham.  1996.  Associations between physical isolation and geographical variation within three species of Neotropical birds.  Molecular Ecology 5:33-46. (pdf)

Biogeography and speciation (Palo Verde)
Cheviron, Z. A., S. J. Hackett, and A. P. Capparella.  2005.  Complex evolutionary history of a Neotropical lowland forest bird (Lepidothrix coronata) and its implications for historical hypotheses of the origin of Neotropical avian diversity.  Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 36:338-357. (pdf)
Miller, M. J., E. Bermingham, J. Klicka, P. Escalante, F. S. R. do Amaral, J. T. Weir, and K. Winker.  2008.  Out of Amazonia again and again: episodic crossing of the Andes promotes diversification in a lowland forest flycatcher.  Proc. R. Soc. B 275:1133-1142. (pdf)

Species distribution patterns (Palo Verde)
Cadena, C. D., and B. A. Loiselle.  2007.  Limits to elevational distributions in two species of emberizine finches: disentangling the role of interspecific competition, autoecology, and geographic variation in the environment.  Ecography 30:491-504. (pdf)
Peterson, A. T., and A. S. Nyári.  2007.  Ecological niche conservatism and Pleistocene refugia in the Thrush-like Mourner, Schiffornis sp., in the Neotropics.  Evolution 62-1:173-183. (pdf)

Vocalizations – duets (Palo Verde)
Seddon, N., and J. A. Tobias.  2006.  Duets defend mates in a suboscine passerine, the warbling antbird (Hypocnemis cantator).  Behavioral Ecology 17:73-83. (pdf)
Tobias, J. A., and N. Seddon.  2009.  Signal jamming mediates sexual conflict in a duetting bird.  Current Biology 19:1-6. (pdf)
Trainer, J. M., D. B. MacDonald, and W. A Learn.  2002.  The development of coordinated singing in cooperatively displaying long-tailed manakins.  Behavioral Ecology 13:65-69. (pdf)

Vocalizations - individual variation (Palo Verde)
Fernández-Juricic, E., A. J. Del Nevo, and R. Poston.  2009.  Identification of individual and population-level variation in vocalizations of the endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus).  Auk 126:89-99. (pdf)
Fitzsimmons, L. P., N. K. Barker, and D. J. Mennill.  2008.  Individual variation and lek-based vocal distinctiveness in songs of the Screaming Piha (Lipaugus vociferans), a suboscine songbird.  Auk 125:908-914. (pdf)

Vocalizations (and morphological variation) (Palo Verde)
Isler, M. L., P. R. Isler, and B. M. Whitney. 2007. Species limits in antbirds (Thamnophilidae): The Warbling Antbird (Hypocnemis cantator) complex. Auk 124:11-28. (pdf)
Weckstein, J. D. 2005. Molecular Phylogenetics of the Ramphastos toucans: Implications for the evolution of morphology, vocalizations, and coloration. Auk 122:1191-1209. (pdf)

Conservation (Cerro de la Muerte)
Bates, J. M., and T. C. Demos.  2001.  Do we need to devalue Amazonia and other large tropical forests?  Diversity and Distributions 7:249-255. (pdf)
Finer, M., C. N. Jenkins, S. L. Pimm, B. Keane, and C. Ross.  2008.  Oil and gas projects in the western Amazon: threats to wilderness, biodiversity, and indigenous peoples.  PloS ONE 3(8): e2932. (pdf)

Fragmentation (Cerro de la Muerte)
Bates, J. M.  2002.  The genetic effects of forest fragmentation on five species of Amazonian birds Journal of Avian Biology 33:276-294. (pdf)
Castellón, T. D., and K. E. Sieving.  2006.  An experimental test of matrix permeability and corridor use by an endemic understory bird.  Conservation Biology 20:135-145. (pdf)
Robinson, W. D., G. R. Angehr, T. R. Robinson, L. J. Petit, D. R. Petit, and J. D. Brawn.  2004.  Distribution of bird diversity in a vulnerable Neotropical landscape.  Conservation Biology 18:510-518. (pdf)
Van Houtan, K. S., S. L. Pimm, J. M. Halley, R. O Bierregaard Jr., and T. E. Lovejoy.  2007.  Dispersal of Amazonian birds in continuous and fragmented forest.  Ecology Letters 10:219-229. (pdf)

Feeley, K. J., and J. W. Terborgh. 2008. Direct versus indirect effects of habitat reduction on the loss of avian species from tropical forest fragments. Animal Conservation 11:353-360. (pdf)

Long-term changes (La Selva)
Robinson, W. J.  1999.  Long-term changes in the avifuana of Barro Colorado Island, Panama, a tropical forest isolate.  Conservation Biology 13:85-97. (pdf)
Sigel, B. J., T. W. Sherry, and B. E. Young.  2006.  Avian community response to lowland tropical rainforest isolation: 40 years of change at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica.  Conservation Biology 20:111-121. (pdf)

Temperate – tropical (La Selva)
Johnson, M. D., A. M. Strong, and T. W. Sherry.  2006.  Migrants in tropical bird communities: the balanced breeding limitation hypothesis.  Journal Avian Biology 37:229-237. (pdf)
Macedo, R. H., J. Karubian, and M. S. Webster.  2008.  Extrapair paternity and sexual selection in socially monogamous birds: are tropical birds different?  Auk 125:769-777. (pdf)
Martin, T. E., R. D. Bassar, S. K. Bassar, J. J. Fontaine, P. Lloyd, H. A. Mathewson, A. M. Niklison, and A. Chalfoun.  2006.  Life-history and ecological correlates of geographic variation in egg and clutch mass among passerine species.  Evolution 60:390-398. (pdf)
Martin, T. E., P. R. Martin, C. R. Olson, B. J. Heidinger, and J. J. Fontaine.  2000.  Parental care and clutch sizes in North and South American birds.  Science 287:1482-1485. (pdf)

Leks and sexual selection (La Selva)
Cornwallis, C. K., and T. R. Birkhead.  2008.  Plasticity in reproductive phenotypes reveals status-specific correlations between behavioral, morphological, and physiological sexual traits.  Evolution 62-5:1149-1161. (pdf)
Durães, R., B. A. Loiselle, P. G. Parker, and J. G. Blake.  2009.  Female mate choice across spatial scales: influence of lek and male attributes on mating success of blue-crowned manakins.  Proc. Royal Soc. B. doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.1752. (pdf)
DuVal, E. H., and B. Kempenaers.  2008.  Sexual selection in a lekking bird: the relative opportunity for selection by female choice and male competition.  Proc. Royal Soc. B.  275:1995-2003. (pdf)
Mays, H. L., Jr., and G. E. Hill.  2004.  Choosing mates: good genes versus genes that are a good fit.  TREE 19:554-559. (pdf)

Leks – social networking (La Selva)
McDonald, D. B.  2007.  Predicting fate from early connectivity in a social network.  PNAS 104:10910-10914. (pdf)
Ryder, T. B., D. B. McDonald, J. G. Blake, P. G. Parker, and B. A. Loiselle.  2008.  Social networks in the lek-mating wire-tailed manakin (Pipra filicauda).  Proc. Royal Soc. B. 275:1367-1374. (pdf)
Ryder, T. B., P. G. Parker, J. G. Blake, and B. A. Loiselle.  2009.  It takes two to tango: reproductive skew and social correlates of male mating success in a lek-breeding bird.  Proc. Royal Soc. B.  doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.0208. (pdf)

Latitudinal distributions and migration (La Selva)
Garamszegi, L. Z., K. Hirschenhauser, V. Bókony, M. Eens, S. Hurtrez-Boussès, A. P. Møller, R. F. Oliveira, and J. C. Wingfield.  2008.  Latitudinal distribution, migration, and testosterone levels in birds.  American Naturalist 172:533-546. (pdf)
Levey, D. J. and F. G. Stiles.  1992. Evolutionary precursors of long-distance migration: Resource availability and movement patterns in Neotropical landbirds. American Naturalist 140:447–476. (pdf)

Survival rates – background reading for workshop
Blake, J. G., and B. A. Loiselle.  2008.  Estimates of apparent survival rates for forest birds in eastern Ecuador.  Biotropica 40:485-493. (pdf)
Sandercock, B. K.  2006.  Estimation of demographic parameters from encounter data: a summary review.  Journal Wildlife Management 70:1504-1520. (pdf)