Parrot species tend to be both threatened and charismatic. Threats such as habitat destruction and the capture of wild birds for the pet trade have caused almost 30% of Neotropical parrot species to be threatened with extinction.
The main challenges to reversing this unfortunate trend include:
Low reproductive rates of many macaws, parrots and parakeets
Not knowing how many birds are needed to maintain viable populations
Information is also needed on the susceptibility of macaws and other parrot species to forest fragmentation.
This last concern has become particularly relevant for the Tambopata region due to the Interoceanic Highway. This new highway adjoins the northern edge of Tambopata and could result in higher levels of deforestation as it becomes an increasingly important conduit between Brazil and the Pacific coast.
George Olah hopes to develop genetic techniques that can assess the size of the scarlet macaw population in Tambopata, their movements, and the extent to which they are affected by forest fragmentation.
He does this by:
Use of capture-recapture sampling on DNA extracted from blood and feather samples.
Use of genetic variability to estimate population size.
Use of genetic marking to estimate territorial needs.
Capture-recapture sampling works like this: Imagine you’re in a small town and you start recording license plates. It won’t be long before you come across the same license plates. Based on how often you come across the same license plates, you can estimate the total size of the “population” of license plates, statistically. The same is true for genes in DNA. Think of selected genes as license plates.
Genetic variability is another important aspect of this study. High variability means that a population is very large, very diverse, or both. The more diversity, the healthier it will be and the less susceptible to inbreeding.
This PhD student from the Australian National University is collecting Scarlet and Green and Scarlet Macaw feathers from clay licks and nests near our lodges for a genetic study that will hopefully provide the answers.
Determine the minimum territory required for genetically sustainable macaw populations.
Monitor the health of macaw populations over time in Tambopata.
Use similar techniques to keep parrots in other parts of the world.
We are happy that George is carrying out this important project at the Tambopata Research Center and we are pleased that guests staying at the Tambopata Research Center between the months of November and April 2011 and 2012 will have the opportunity to speak with him in person on this issue. ongoing study.