Smith, James (Jim): NASA GSFC (Project Lead)
Project Funding:
2007 - 2010
NRA: 2006 NASA: Interdisciplinary Research in Earth Science
Funded by NASA
Abstract:
Natural landscapes in the United States have been altered significantly, and the wetlands, shoreline habitats, and grasslands used by shorebirds have been particularly disturbed. For many shorebird species, existing information is insufficient to determine how these alterations have affected populations.
Interior wetlands along the Central and Mississippi flyways in the mid-continental United States provide critical stopover sites where en-route, long distance migratory shorebirds and other wetland-associated migrants rest and replenish energy supplies required to complete their migration and maximize their reproductive success
Effective conservation management of this group requires an understanding of how a migratory flyway and its component stopover sites function as a whole, taking into account the complex temporal and spatial dynamics of the landscape and atmosphere.
In this proposal we develop and validate an individual based model to simulate migratory routes and success of shorebirds migrating through landscapes infused with spatially explicit, near real-time atmospheric and land surface data. We link bird migration models with both real time numerical weather prediction models and satellite observations and models of the surface.
We apply our models to address how resilient are migrants to large-scale habitat loss? How do common and threatened/endangered species vary in their response to wetland dynamics and loss? How many stopovers are needed and where should they be located in the migratory flyway? To what extent can we compensate for loss of stopover habitat in one part of a flyway by creating habitat in another part? How do the dynamics of stopover ecology change from one year to the next? Answers to these questions are critical for management and conservation of migratory species, and ultimately biological diversity Of particular interest are those species that span international borders and have demonstrated declining population trends.
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):