FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Black Rosy-Finch news (long)

["David Aborn" <David-Aborn@xxxxxxx>]

I just ran across this interesting article. It's a real cliffhanger!

David Aborn
Chattanooga, TN

Tracking the Black Rosy-Finch: Hidden Treasure and Higher Learning in =
North
America's Alpine Zone

Climbing for science above 10,000 feet, a University of Wyoming student
makes a rare discovery that yields new genetic data about one of North
America's highest breeding species.

Only three people known to recorded scientific literature had ever found =
a
nest of the Black Rosy-Finch (Leucosticte atrata) before Maureen Ryan
attempted the challenge in the summer of 2002. Using geographic =
information
systems (GIS) technology and strong mountaineering skills, the =
University of
Wyoming student became the fourth - when she discovered a nest at an
elevation of nearly 12,000 feet in Utah's Uinta Mountains.

The difficulty of exploring the Black Rosy-Finch breeding habitat has
severely limited scientific study of the birds and made finding one of =
the
nests a rare event. In late spring, the alpine birds migrate to their =
mating
grounds above the timberline. There, generally between elevations of =
10,000
and 13,000 feet, the birds build their nests inside cliff crevices and =
on
talus slopes (large boulders) -- predominantly in the remote reaches of =
the
Rocky Mountains and on the edges of the Great Basin in the western =
United
States.

For Ryan, eager to gain research experience, the steep terrain added to =
the
birds' appeal. At the time, Ryan was pursuing her second bachelor's =
degree,
this one in zoology. Drawn to the outdoors after earning a degree in
English, she had worked for several years in wilderness schools as a =
field
guide and climbing instructor.

At the University of Wyoming, Ryan met David B. McDonald, an associate
professor in the Department of Zoology and Physiology, who sparked her
interest in studying what she calls "extremely hardy, perky birds" and =
their
breeding territory. McDonald encouraged her to apply for an
NSF-Wyoming-EPSCoR undergraduate research fellowship. (EPSCoR, short for
Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, is a partnership
between NSF and 24 states, including Wyoming, and 2 territories that
promotes the development of science, engineering, technology and related
human resources in those regions.)

"My EPSCoR grant was the first research proposal I ever wrote," says =
Ryan.
"I always had the passion for learning science, but Dr. McDonald gave me =
the
tools to know how to do science." McDonald directed Ryan's project with
research funding he received from the National Geographic Society.

Ryan hiked into the Uinta Mountains, the first of her four field sites, =
to
mark transects (grid squares) for sampling and observation with a =
hand-held
GIS instrument. "By luck," she says, in the Reid's Peak area near the
11,700-foot summit, Ryan flushed a male Black Rosy-Finch from a crevice =
to a
boulder four feet in front of her. A few seconds later, a female bird =
flew
out from the same crevice. Reaching inside the crack, Ryan felt the nest
with its clutch of five eggs.

McDonald urged Ryan to follow the new direction offered by her discovery =
of
the nest. "Once we realized we could get at some of the parentage data -
that was clearly the priority," she says.

Initially, Ryan's project focused on field-testing a preliminary GIS =
model
for Black Rosy-Finch breeding habitat, developed by Nate Nibbelink of =
the
Wyoming Geographic Information System Center and UW's McDonald. Ryan =
used
the model's three topographic parameters -- elevations above 10,000 =
feet,
steep cliffs, and permanent snowfields -- to select her sampling areas
across Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado.

Subsequent discoveries of more nests proved how well the model worked to
help predict the birds' breeding sites. McDonald found a nest in the =
Uintas,
and Ryan found another on the Beartooth Plateau in Wyoming.

Ryan monitored all three nests and the progress of their 13 hatchlings. =
With
McDonald, she banded and took blood samples from the nestlings and a =
male
parent finch. "Those samples gave us the first-ever data on genetic
parentage in this little-studied genus," she reports.

Using microsatellite DNA genotyping, a molecular technique for =
determining
paternity in birds and other animals, Ryan and her UW colleagues =
discovered
intriguing details about the Black Rosy-Finch's mating system.

While researchers had assumed that Black Rosy-Finch females were =
socially
monogamous (pairing and raising a brood with one male partner), no one =
knew
if the females were "genetically (sexually) monogamous."

According to McDonald, "About 25 percent of the young in each of the =
three
nests found was not sired by the 'behavioral dad' (the male that attends =
the
nest and helps feed the young)." Further tests revealed that these
"extra-pair offspring" were the result of the females having "affairs" =
away
from their nesting "neighborhoods."

Behavioral and population studies of the Black Rosy-Finch (and its two =
North
American "cousins" - the Gray-Crowned and Brown-Capped rosy-finch =
species)
are important to scientists and conservationists tracking the health and
biodiversity of alpine ecosystems.

Researchers are especially concerned with the potential impact of
large-scale climate change (warming temperatures, receding glaciers, and =
the
loss of permanent snowfields) on high-altitude plants and animals. "If
global warming continues, a significant portion of the breeding =
territory of
North American rosy-finches could become unviable, which could lead to a
loss of all but the most northern birds," Ryan says.

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