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May 2008 GTAS Monthly Meeting

Garden Center, Tyrrell Park, Beaumont "Life on the Amazon: Ecology and Conservation of Amazonian River Island Birds" Dr. James Armacost, Assistant Professor of Biology Lamar University

What
When May 15, 2008
from 06:00 pm to 08:30 pm
Where Tyrrell Park Nature Center
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We will plan on having the doors open by 6:00 p.m. and the program will start at 7:00 p.m. sharp. 

 

Dr. Armacost has provided the following abstract of his talk:


I studied the mechanisms responsible for the pattern of low species richness and high individual density of birds on Amazonian river islands. I also investigated the role of human habitat disturbance in facilitating the invasion of the mainland by species of birds that were formerly restricted to river islands (river-island specialists). At my study sites on the Amazon River in Peru, competition is the primary mechanism promoting higher bird densities on river islands. Island populations experience less interspecific competition, resulting in ecological release and niche expansion. River islands may also act as refuges from predation, but my data regarding predation are not conclusive. River-island specialists have successfully invaded the mainland where human habitat disturbance mimics the natural disturbance regime of islands. Agricultural disturbance creates early-successional habitats, which can be exploited by river-island specialists because they are not saturated with mainland forest birds. My study is among the first to simultaneously investigate several possible mechanisms of community and population regulation at the same field sites. My study shows that present levels of agricultural disturbance actually benefit Amazonian river-island specialists, but they remain threatened by human alteration of the hydrological regime. 

 

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