Watch this video from our partners at Day’s Edge Productions to learn all about the Bird Genoscape Project and our goals!
The problem: Migratory birds are declining across the Western Hemisphere
Most populations of migratory birds are now threatened, with an estimated 1 out of every 2 songbird populations declining across the Western Hemisphere, and impacts predicted to worsen with climate change. However, because migratory birds have both breeding and wintering areas, and may move vast distances between them during migration, understanding where the steepest population declines are occurring has been difficult or impossible.
The solution: Develop bird genoscapes to help connect populations of concern across the annual cycle
To address this critical issue, researchers at Colorado State University and the University of California, Los Angeles launched the Bird Genoscape Project (BGP) in 2009. The Bird Genoscape Project grew out of many years of research on avian migration and connectivity of North American Birds. In the early 1990’s our Co-Director Tom Smith and his graduate students began collecting feathers from banding stations in an effort to use molecular genetic markers to characterize migratory patterns of birds. Over the years, with contributions from postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and a diverse group of collaborators, genetic markers were used to draw connections between breeding and wintering populations of species. Identifying the migratory connections between breeding and wintering locations provides an effective tool for monitoring declining populations and for developing effective and focused conservation strategies where they are needed most.
The goal: Complete genoscapes for 100 of North America’s most threatened birds
We are working with many governmental, NGO, and non-profit partners to expand the development of high-resolution molecular tags to species and populations of conservation concern across the Western Hemisphere. The goal is to build genoscapes for 100 species of migratory birds from our vast and growing collection of feathers from over 200,000 individual birds from across North, Central, and South America. To date we’ve completed genoscapes for ~18 species. The resulting information will provide an excellent tool for monitoring declining populations of migratory species in the face of global climate change and other anthropogenic stressors.
Visit our Species List to learn more about the species we have completed genoscapes for or those we are actively working on.