Cameron Gillies Land cover change and bird movement in the tropical dry forests of Costa Rica email: cgillies@ualberta.ca

Habitat corridors are widely advocated in many parts of the world, but their efficacy has been hotly debated.  The empirical component of my research is examining whether riparian corridors and fencerows facilitate the movement of forest birds through an agriculturally dominated landscape.  I am doing this research in the tropical dry forests of northwestern Costa Rica with two species of forest bird: the Rufous-naped Wren (Campylorhynchus rufinucha) and the Barred Antshrike (Thamnophilus doliatus).  By moving individuals away from their territories and following their return with radio-telemetry, I am able to determine which components of the landscape facilitate their movement.  This movement information is being used to develop a spatially explicit simulation model of bird movement in this landscape.  With this model, I can simulate future changes to the composition or configuration of the landscape and determine what effect this may have on bird movement.

Rufous-naped Wren (Campylorhynchus rufinucha)	Barred antshrike (Thamnophilus doliatus)

Radio telemetry antenna