Teaching Interest
HON 301 Prospectus Writing
BSC 103 Biological Sciences
BSC 442/542 Behavioral Ecology
BSC 455 Animal Behavior Lecture
(Lecture Notes)
BSC 455L Animal Behavior Lab
Research Interests
My graduate students and I study the
behavior and ecology of migration. Nearly two-thirds of
all North American landbirds undertake migrations
between temperate breeding areas and tropical wintering
quarters. How well these birds respond to the energy
demand of long-distance flight and cope with problems
that arise during migration are key to their survival
and successful reproduction. Five interrelated questions
currently dominate our research:
- Age-dependent stopover ecology:
The high cost of migration falls largely on young,
inexperienced individuals. Differential costs should
be reflected in age-dependent differences in the
biology of migrants during passage.
- Habitat selection during
migration: Migrants encounter unfamiliar habitats
during migration. Exploratory behavior serves to
acquaint an animal with unfamiliar surroundings,
including the location of resources and predators.
We are particularly interested in the dynamics of
habitat use -- what kind of information do migrants
use to assess habitat and how do they acquire that
information?
- Transition between phase of the
annual cycle: How events associated with one phase
of an animal's annual cycle affect events of
subsequent phases, not to mention the actual
transition between phases, are critical questions in
the study of migratory animals.
- Behavioral response to energy
demand: If migrants are selected to minimize time
spent migrating, we expect the evolution of
compensatory mechanisms to meet nutritional demands
and to prevent delays in the migratory schedule.
- Landscape analysis of migration:
Dynamic spatial models that combine information on
migrant stopover ecology with GIS-based map
information simulate how patterns of habitat
availability (patch size, shape and distribution)
affect migratory bird populations.
Our research has recently taken on a
sense of urgency because populations of many migratory
songbirds are on the decline. These declines are linked
to deforestation on wintering grounds in Central and
South America and fragmentation of forested breeding
habitats. Our work is calling attention to a third
factor -- the availability of suitable habitat during
migration, where energy stores critical to a successful
migration can be safely deposited. The biology of
migrants during migration must figure in any analysis of
population change and in the formulation of sound
conservation policy.
Representative Publications
Moore, F. R., R. J. Smith, and R.
Sandberg. 2005. Stopover ecology of intercontinental
migrants: En route problems and consequences for
reproductive performance. Pp. 251-261. In: Birds of Two
Worlds – the ecology and evolution of migration. R.
Greenberg and P. Marra, eds. John Hopkins Press,
Baltimore, MD.
Muhiem, R., F. R. Moore, and J. B.
Phillips. 2006. Calibration of magnetic and celestial
cues in migratory birds – a review of cue-conflict
experiments. J. Experimental Biology 209:2-17.
Owen, J., F. Moore, N. Panella, E.
Edwards, R. Bru, M. Hughes, N. Komar. 2006. Migrating
birds as dispersal vehicles of West Nile virus,
Ecohealth 3(2): 79-85.
Buler, J. J., F. R. Moore, and S.
Woltmann. 2007. A multi-scale examination of stopover
habitat use by birds. Ecology 88: 1789-1802.
Owen, J. C., and F. R. Moore. 2008.
Swainson’s thrushes in migratory disposition exhibit
reduced immune function. Journal of Ethology 26: 383 –
388.
Fuchs, T., D. Maury, F. R. Moore,
and V. P. Bingman. 2008. Daytime micro-naps in a
nocturnal migrant: an EEG analysis. Biology Letters
10.1098/rsbl.2008.0405.
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