“How Are Warmer Temperatures in the Arctic Tundra Impacting Migratory Songbird Who Go There to Breed?” with Natalie Boelman (Apr 2011)

by admin | Jul 28, 2023 | Polar Research

Originally presented 9 Apr 2011

Introduction to this Workshop

Cutting-Edge Research

Dr. Natalie T. Boelman serves as Lamont Assistant Research Scientist in the Division of Biology and Paleo Environment. http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/user/nboelman

“One of the most exciting directions of my research in the Arctic extends beyond changes in vegetation, and considers the cascade of changes that is triggered when Arctic vegetation and seasonality are altered. As highlighted by the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA), in contrast to plants, the response of animal populations to simulated or current climate changes has been drastically understudied in the Alaskan interior and much of the Arctic.
My collaborators and I were funded for five years (2010-2014), to study the effects that warming-induced increases in shrub abundance and changing seasonality have on migratory songbirds in Alaskan Arctic tundra. We will identify and characterize the interactions between shrub dominance and weather to determine how these affect food and shelter availability for migratory songbirds. We are taking a mechanistic approach to determining how the reproductive success of populations of two songbirds species responds to variation in both shrub dominance and timing of spring snowmelt, and, measure how these variations affect composition and size of the entire songbird community.
A secondary goal is to develop techniques for monitoring bird community attributes via bioacoustic recordings for conducting automated bird community censuses.”

Visit the Bird Project’s website

Dr. Boelman presented during the 2011 Public Lecture series–click here for the video of her talk.

NGSS Connections: LS1, LS2, LS3, LS4, and ESS3D