Noah Perlut to makes two presentations

Noah Perlut, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Studies, gave two talks, one at the Hanover Conservancy in Hanover, New Hampshire, on March 10, 2014, which was jointly sponsored by the Hanover Conservancy and the Mascoma Chapter of the New Hampshire Audubon Society; and another on March 11th at the Merryspring Nature Center in Camden, Maine.

At both events Perlut presented “The Influence of Agricultural Management on Grassland Songbird Ecology and Evolution.”  He discussed his research exploring the impacts of haying and grazing on grassland songbirds, particularly Bobolinks and Savannah Sparrows that have been breeding in Vermont for the last 13 years.

Perlut has found that the timing and intensity of management affects not only these birds’ reproductive success but also their annual survival and mating systems.  His current work focuses on these birds' entire life-histories, tracking both adult and young birds through their annual migration, in order to understand the pressures they face on the breeding grounds, during migration, and while wintering.