Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory

15 May, 11 AM - 30 Jun, 05 AM

In our field project, we are exploiting the natural distribution of the house wren, Troglodytes aedon, to explore how the environment can influence reproductive biology. Specifically, we are investigating how altitude and latitude can influence mate fidelity, the degree to which hormones control reproduction, and variation in life history traits (e.g. clutch size, duration of incubation, time to fledge, and adult and juvenile mortality). This work involves conducting similar investigations at each of four geographic locations- two in the temperate zone (Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory & Valentine Camp- high elevation; Marshall Canyon in La Verne California - low elevation) and two in Costa Rica (San Luis- high elevation, and La Selva Biological Station- tropical lowlands). To date, at each site, we have conducted observations of undisturbed birds and birds responding to simulated territorial intrusion using song playback. This involves observing birds, trapping them in mist nets, banding them, taking a small blood sample taken for later hormone analysis, and releasing them after each observation. We have also collected blood samples from each chick in our study populations for later paternity analysis. We are now funded to continue our study at Valentine and SNARL, both to assess questions arising from inter-year variation in hormone-behavior interactions at SNARL and Valentine and to investigate further the differences in life history traits between sites. This latter aspect of the study involves conducting observations of incubation and feeding behavior by parents and monitoring nest box temperature and ambient temperature during incubation. The nature of this study is unique in that it examines the same species of bird in free-living populations in a number of different environments. As a result, it has the potential to address a number of controversies in animal biology including life history theory, behavioral endocrinology, and behavioral ecology.

Visit #1281 @Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory

Approved

Under Project # 1071 | Research

Pomona College - Biology

faculty - Pomona College

Reservation Members(s)

Group of 2 Research Assistant (non-student/faculty/postdoc) May 15 - Jun 30, 2003 (47 days)
Rachel Levin May 15 - Jun 30, 2003 (47 days)

Reserve Resources(s) | Create Invoice

Q8 3 May 15 - Jun 30, 2003