John Faaborg

Professor of Biological Sciences

PhD, 1975 Princeton University

faaborgj@missouri.edu
573-882-7541
224 Tucker Hall

http://www.biosci.missouri.edu/avianecology/

Research description

My students and I work on various aspects of the ecology of birds. Much of this work can be classified as “island biogeography,” although the islands may be stands of oak within a sea of Missouri farmland. Nearly all of this work involves how bird populations respond to variations in habitats that occur over both time and space.

I have been monitoring bird populations in the Guánica Forest of Puerto Rico since 1972. Although our original focus was on how resident birds responded to drought conditions, much of our recent effort has been on patterns of abundance and survival in winter resident birds (species which winter in this forest but breed in North America). Using stable isotope analysis, we have shown that most of our wintering birds breed in the eastern United States. We find that populations and survival are best explained by patterns of rainfall on the wintering grounds for some species, but on the breeding grounds for others. Most resident species had high populations just before Hurricane George damaged the forest; these populations have been in steady decline since. Our current efforts are to understand the relationships between resident populations and survival and the local rainfall patterns.

Our work in the Midwest has primarily focused on Neotropical migrants during the breeding season. Studying both forest and grassland systems in most upper Midwest states, we have found several levels of “area-sensitivity” as habitat patches become small and/or isolated from one another. Conversely, a long-term experiment on forest management in the Ozarks (the Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project, or MOFEP) shows that cutting forests in a heavily forested landscape has relatively limited negative effects on forest birds but may provide high quality habitat for second-growth species, particularly in clearcut sites. Recent spatial analyses show that some species actually prefer mature forest next to a clearing over large expanses of old-growth forest.

Students in the Avian Ecology Laboratory are often involved in these or related projects, but many students also do independent work on similar topics. Recent graduates have done studies on obligate ant-following birds in Peru, riparian bird communities in California, grassland birds and global climate change, or endangered species in Texas. Current students are examining patterns of altitudinal migration in Peru, winter resident abundance in Mexico, and other topics.

Selected publications

Faaborg, J. and 19 co-authors. Recent advances in understanding migration systems of New World landbirds. Ecological Monographs (in press)

Faaborg, J. and 19 co-authors. Managing migratory landbirds in the New World: Do we know enough? Ecological Applications (in press).

Latta, S.C. and J. Faaborg. 2009. Migrants in the Caribbean: Benefits of studies of over-wintering birds for understanding resident bird ecology and promoting critical development of local infrastructure. Conservation Biology 23:286-293.

Ahlering, M.A., J. Faaborg, and D.H. Johnson. In press. Factors associated with arrival densities of Grasshopper and Baird's Sparrows in the upper Great Plains. The Auk (in press).

White, J.D. and J. Faaborg. 2008. Post-fledging movement and spatial habitat-use patterns of juvenile Swainson's Thrushes. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 120: 62-73.

Faaborg, J., K.M. Dugger, and W.J. Arendt. 2007. Long-term variation in the winter resident bird community of Guánica Forest, Puerto Rico: lessons for measuring and monitoring species richness. Journal of Field Ornithology 78:270-278.

Small, S.L., F.R. Thompson III, G.R. Geupel, and J. Faaborg. 2007. Spotted Towhee population dynamics in a riparian restoration context. Condor 109: 721-733.

Ahlering, M.A. and J. Faaborg. 2006. Avian habitat management meets conspecific attraction: if you build it, will they come? The Auk 123: 301-312.

Selected national/international awards and honors

President Elect - American Ornithologists' Union 2008-2010

Elected Fellow - AAAS

Award for Investigation - Partners in Flight

National Conservation Award - Daughters of the American Revolution

Elected Fellow - American Ornithologists Union

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