dc.contributor.advisor | Kesler, Dylan C. | eng |
dc.contributor.author | Cox, Allison S. | eng |
dc.date.issued | 2011 | eng |
dc.date.submitted | 2011 Summer | eng |
dc.description | Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on May 22,2012). | eng |
dc.description | The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. | eng |
dc.description | Thesis advisor: Dr. Dylan C. Kesler | eng |
dc.description | Includes bibliographical references. | eng |
dc.description | "July 2011" | eng |
dc.description.abstract | Survival and dispersal during the juvenile life stage are critical to population connectivity and persistence, but the post-fledging period is the least studied stage of the avian life cycle. We intensively radio-tracked Red-bellied Woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus) from fledging to dispersal to identify patterns of prospecting, test for landscape effects on individual movement, and investigate factors with the potential to affect juvenile survival. Juveniles used a centrally-based foray prospecting strategy previously only associated with cooperatively breeding birds. Woodpeckers repeatedly forayed between returns to the natal home range to roost, and foray direction predicted eventual dispersal settlement direction. Prospecting individuals traveled along paths containing higher forest cover than was randomly available in the surrounding area. Juvenile mortality declined with age and no birds died during prospecting or dispersal stages, which suggests that dispersal is not costly in this species. We provide evidence of juvenile birds making repeated exploratory movements to inform decisions about dispersal prior to permanent departure from the natal area. In addition, we demonstrate the value of landscape habitat connectivity to a dispersing resident forest bird. | eng |
dc.format.extent | xi, 64 pages | eng |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10355/14323 | |
dc.language | English | eng |
dc.publisher | University of Missouri--Columbia | eng |
dc.relation.ispartofcommunity | University of Missouri--Columbia. Graduate School. Theses and Dissertations | eng |
dc.rights | OpenAccess. | eng |
dc.rights.license | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. | |
dc.subject | Melanerpes carolinus | eng |
dc.subject | post-fledging survival | eng |
dc.subject | habitat connectivity | eng |
dc.title | Natal dispersal and survival of red-bellied woodpeckers in a fragmented landscape | eng |
dc.type | Thesis | eng |
thesis.degree.discipline | Fisheries and wildlife sciences (MU) | eng |
thesis.degree.grantor | University of Missouri--Columbia | eng |
thesis.degree.level | Masters | eng |
thesis.degree.name | M.S. | eng |