SEASONAL INTERACTIONS, HABITAT QUALITY, AND POPULATION DYNAMICS IN MIGRATORY BIRDS

Abstract

Abstract Abstract. Historically, studies of habitat selection have focused on quantifying how current patterns of habitat occupancy influence condition and survival within a season. This approach, however, is overly simplistic, especially for migratory birds that spend different periods of the year in geographically distinct places. Habitat occupancy and the resulting condition of individual birds is likely to be affected by events in the previous season, and the consequences of habitat occupancy will influence individuals and populations in subsequent seasons. Thus, for migratory birds, variation in habitat quality (and quantity) needs to be understood in the context of how events interact throughout periods of the annual cycle. Seasonal interactions can occur at the individual level or population level. Individual-level interactions occur when events in one season produce nonlethal, residual effects that carry over to influence individuals the following season. Population-level interactions occur when a...