Papers by Susan Wethington
The MAXENT input file used in the analysis of the climatic preferences of Calothorax hummingbirds... more The MAXENT input file used in the analysis of the climatic preferences of Calothorax hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
Seven body measurements from each of 122 hummingbirds (males and females) used in morphological a... more Seven body measurements from each of 122 hummingbirds (males and females) used in morphological analyses
Microsatellite sizing for 72 hummingbirds samples genotyped at eight autosomal microsatellite loc... more Microsatellite sizing for 72 hummingbirds samples genotyped at eight autosomal microsatellite loci previously designed for Selasphorus platycercus (HumB1, HumB2, HumB3, HumB9, HumB10, HumB11, HumB12 and HumB15; Oyler-McCance et al., 2011)
2. ATPase_File: Calothorax lucifer and Calothorax pulcher ATP synthase subunit 6 gene (ATPase 6) ... more 2. ATPase_File: Calothorax lucifer and Calothorax pulcher ATP synthase subunit 6 gene (ATPase 6) and ATP synthase subunit 8 gene (ATPase 8) mitochondrial sequences
NEXUS data files contain alignments of Calothorax hummingbirds (Trochilidae) ND2 and ATPase 6 and... more NEXUS data files contain alignments of Calothorax hummingbirds (Trochilidae) ND2 and ATPase 6 and ATPase 8 mtDNA sequences
Phylogenetic MCMCglmm model of the effects of ambient temperature on whole-body and HDA surface t... more Phylogenetic MCMCglmm model of the effects of ambient temperature on whole-body and HDA surface temperature.
We studied hummingbird ecology in the cloud forest of southeastern Peru, using mist nets and dire... more We studied hummingbird ecology in the cloud forest of southeastern Peru, using mist nets and direct observations. This study was done in one area of the cloud forest of Manu road (Cuzco, Peru) at the beginning of the rainy season of 2011. We give a list of the hummingbirds (14 species) and the flowering plants that they use as nectar resources (~20 taxa in 11 families). We also comment on the abundance, distribution and importance of the hummingbird's role in the cloud forest ecosystem.
<p>This is the presentation I gave at the Symposium on Animal Movement on 5 May 2014. The t... more <p>This is the presentation I gave at the Symposium on Animal Movement on 5 May 2014. The talk is on our in prep research using a citizen science dataset, eBird, to describe hummingbird migration routes, timing, and variability.</p
Understanding migration behavior and variation through time represents a complex problem for biol... more Understanding migration behavior and variation through time represents a complex problem for biologists. The constraints on migration may differ among seasons (spring versus autumn), as birds track resources, favorable weather or atmospheric conditions, and may have different needs at their destination (breeding versus wintering grounds). Environmental and weather conditions vary among years and seasons, and may impact the magnitude of variation in hummingbird migration routes and timing. Citizen-science projects, such as eBird (www.ebird.org), now allow researchers to track population movement of migratory species. eBird provides vast amounts of observation data and presents an opportunity to gain a population-level perspective on species movement patterns. In addition, data aggregation efforts such as Movebank (www.movebank.org) allow researchers to easily integrate environmental datasets from distributed resources to evaluate the impact of environmental and atmospheric variables on species occurrence. Because of their small body size, high metabolic rates, and dependence on nectar resources, hummingbirds may deviate substantially from other bird species in their migratory routes, timing, and response to environmental or weather factors. Using generalized additive models for location, shape, and scale (gamlss) in program R, we model 8 years of eBird data (2008-2015) from 5 North American latitudinal migrating hummingbird species. For each species we determine the environmental and weather variables most correlated with migratory route in spring vs. autumn for each year and evaluate the explanatory power of physiological constraints on hummingbird geospatial location and ability to respond to changes in environmental and weather parameters. We compare the patterns in spring vs. autumn routes, and also characterize the degree of annual variation in environmental conditions, migration route and timing.
Contains the all individual measurements from all temperature sensors at the Southwestern Researc... more Contains the all individual measurements from all temperature sensors at the Southwestern Research Station study site.
Contains the all individual measurements from all temperature sensors at the Harshaw Creek study ... more Contains the all individual measurements from all temperature sensors at the Harshaw Creek study site.
The Condor, 2008
BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access t... more BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.
We investigate the influence of postglacial population expansion on genetic structure of reproduc... more We investigate the influence of postglacial population expansion on genetic structure of reproductively isolated populations that come into secondary contact and produce hybrid zones. We test migratory behaviour to explain geographic patterns of genetic diversity and phylogeographic structure in migratory and sedentary populations of hummingbirds in the Chihuahuan Desert. We assessed genetic structure, demographic expansion and introgression in Calothorax hummingbirds using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and nuclear microsatellites (nSSRs), and ecological niche modelling (ENM) to predict where migratory and sedentary populations resided during Pleistocene climate events. Bayesian analysis yielded three clusters. However, only two clusters match mtDNA haplogroups, one parental in the south (pulcher) and a cluster with two admixed taxa (sedentary and migratory lucifer) that cannot be attributed to any pure parental population. Demographic expansion, gene flow and admixture in the lucifer range, postglacial northern expansion predicted by ENM, and approximate Bayesian computation strongly supported a scenario of divergence with gene flow: a Pleistocene basal split separating pulcher and the other two clades are derived from a second split (migratory and sedentary lucifer). Population genetic admixture was higher in localities with lower inferred habitat suitability stability. The genetic differentiation of Calothorax may be explained by the combined effects of (1) gene flow and recent postglacial northern expansion from southern sedentary populations, (2) increased genetic admixture with lower stability of habitat suitability, and (3) the evolution of long-distance seasonal migration during glacial/interglacial cycles, suggesting a role for diversification through the divergence of migratory subpopulations that become sedentary
Some Effects of Variability in Nectar Renewal-rates on the Hummingbird-foragaing / Plant-pollinat... more Some Effects of Variability in Nectar Renewal-rates on the Hummingbird-foragaing / Plant-pollination Mutualism and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling Che dissercacion requiremenc for che Degree of
Using data obtained in 2002 and 2003 from sites in the Hummingbird Monitoring Network, we investi... more Using data obtained in 2002 and 2003 from sites in the Hummingbird Monitoring Network, we investigated the effect of geographic factors—latitude, longitude, and elevation—and year on hummingbird diversity patterns in Southwestern U.S.A. In California, none of these factors affected hummingbird richness but elevation significantly affected abundance. In southeastern Arizona, longitude and elevation significantly affected richness; year affected abundance. For all sites, elevation and longitude affected richness, year and elevation affected abundance. We com- pared these results with global hummingbird diversity patterns and suggest that the distribution of forest and rainfall patterns are likely important factors for conserving hummingbird diversity and abundance.
Individual measurements of whole-body surface temperature and corresponding environmental tempera... more Individual measurements of whole-body surface temperature and corresponding environmental temperature used to analyzed patterns of whole-body surface temperature change across the range of environmental temperatures measured in this study.
The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 2021
Mutualistic interactions, such as animal pollination, structure biodiversity in the Neotropics. I... more Mutualistic interactions, such as animal pollination, structure biodiversity in the Neotropics. In coastal montane garúa (fog) forests of Ecuador, 2 mass-blooming plants attract up to 17 species of nectar-feeding birds, especially hummingbirds. We describe avian guilds and behavior at the 2 mass bloomers and use mist-netting capture rates to test 3 predictions: (1) capture rates of territorial hummingbirds will increase with flower abundance on the mass bloomer they defend, (2) hummingbirds known to mainly use other flowers will show no change in capture rate during mass blooms, and (3) field observations of interspecific interactions will be reflected in capture rates. We statistically modeled capture rates of bird species, species richness, and Shannon Diversity Index in response to flower abundance on the 2 mass bloomers during 16 flowering seasons (1996–2013). Capture rates of 8 nectar-feeding species increased significantly with increased abundance of white-flowered Psychotria ...
Contains the all individual measurements from all temperature sensors at the Sonoita Creek study ... more Contains the all individual measurements from all temperature sensors at the Sonoita Creek study site.
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Papers by Susan Wethington