Migratory birds, some small and light weight as matchboxes, engage in seasonal inter-continental journeys in order to take advantage of the long summer days and abundance of food at northern latitudes to breed and raise their young, and then escape the harsh winters by migrating to lower latitudes. This thesis deals with two important aspects of migration, the routes taken during migration and the birds’ behaviour at stopovers. The migratory routes are for many species unknown, whole or in part, and this is especially true for species that migrate nocturnally. At stopovers birds replenish fuel reserves that powers migratory flight, and studying how birds utilise stopovers is important in order to understand how migration is organised. In this thesis I have used modern tracking technology to study both continental wide movements of thrush nightingales (Luscinia luscinia) and common rosefinches (Carpodacus erythrinus) using small light-level geolocators, and smaller scale movements at a single stopover site of garden warblers (Sylvia borin) using miniature radio-transmitters. I have also studied the fuelling behaviour of garden warblers during autumn migration in the field and in the lab, and great reed warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) at a stopover site on Crete during spring migration after the Sahara crossing. The thesis discusses the significance of several aspects of migration shown by the birds that would have been very difficult to detect without the aid of modern tracking technology, such as loop migration, prolonged stops during migration, multiple wintering sites, and nocturnal relocations at stopover sites. Studies carried out at stopover sites also show that garden warblers and great reed warblers can attain large fuel loads even at sites where they have no barrier to cross and this might be a result of good foraging conditions. The thesis also highlights the importance of combining different techniques when studying stopover behaviour to get reliable estimates on stopover durations and fuel deposition rates as well as the importance of choosing sites preferred by birds when planning stopover studies. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Manuscript. Paper 5: Manuscript.</p>

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-07-25Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:33:47Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 melo_bf_me_botib.pdf: 659115 bytes, checksum: d3257e8cc3843a61dc7ce69cb51f1e93 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O Rio São Francisco forma uma das maiores bacias hidrográficas sulamericanas e vem sofrendo grandes impactos causados por ações antrópicas. A bacia conta com uma rica fauna de peixes, muitos de elevada importância para a pesca comercial e de subsistência. O estado de Minas Gerais apresenta uma importante indústria pesqueira e a região de Três Marias representa a zona mais produtiva na bacia do São Francisco. Nesta região, duas espécies de peixes são encontradas abundantemente: Prochilodus argenteus (curimatã-pacu), responsável por até 50% do pescado, sendo a espécie de maior porte da família Prochilodontidae com alguns indivíduos alcançando 15 kg, e Prochilodus costatus (curimatã-pioa) que possui um importante papel ecológico e para a pesca de subsistência. Estudos prévios sugerem a existência de diferentes populações de P. argenteus na região de Três Marias e de apenas uma população de P. costatus na mesma área. No entanto, os níveis de estruturação e os padrões de migração das espécies não foram testados utilizando indivíduos pertencentes aos tributários de todo o médio São Francisco. No presente estudo, duas hipóteses foram testadas: (i) os peixes que nascem nas lagoas marginais dos tributários vivem, preferencialmente nesses próprios tributários, não migrando para o leito do São Francisco; (ii) os peixes que nascem nas lagoas dos tributários migram preferencialmente para o leito do São Francisco no período de alimentação, retornando aleatoriamente ou não para os tributários durante o período de reprodução. Nove amostragens de P. argenteus com um total de 273 espécimes e cinco de P. costatus com 156 espécimes foram coletadas em todo o médio São Francisco em dois períodos, chuvoso e seco. Utilizamos seis loci microssatélites altamente polimórficos e os resultados indicaram... / The São Francisco is one of the largest South America river basin and has suffered large impacts caused by human actions. The basin has a rich fish fauna, many of great importance for commercial fishing and for subsistence. The Minas Gerais State has a strong fishery activity and the Três Marias region is the most productive fishing region in the São Francisco basin. In this region, two fish species are abundantly found: Prochilodus argenteus (curimatã-pacu), representing almost 50% of the total catch, being the largest member of the Prochilodontidae family sometimes reaching a body weight of 15 kg and P. costatus (curimatã-pioa) that has an important ecological role and for subsistence fishing. Previous studies suggest the existence of distinct populations of P. argenteus and only one population of P. costatus in the Três Marias region. However, the structuring levels and migration patterns were not tested using individuals from tributaries of the middle São Francisco. Here we tested two hypotheses: (i) fishes recruited on marginal lagoons from tributaries live preferably in these tributaries; (ii) fishes recruited on marginal lagoons from tributaries preferentially migrate downstream to the main stream of the São Francisco River in the feeding season, returning upstream randomly or not to the tributaries for reproduction. Nine populations of P. argenteus with 273 specimens and five populations of P. costatus with 156 specimens were collected throughout middle São Francisco in the rainy and dry seasons. We used six highly polymorphic microsatellite loci and the results indicated high levels of variability within populations for both species. Additionally, low values of population differentiation were detected in P. argenteus (FST = 0,008, P < 0,008) and P. costatus (FST = 0,031, P < 0,008) with high values... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)