TESTING THE VALIDITY OF DISCRIMINANT FUNCTION ANALYSES BASED…基于判别函数分析的有效性检验.pdfVIP

Ardeola 54(1), 2007, 81-91 TESTING THE VALIDITY OF DISCRIMINANT FUNCTION ANALYSES BASED ON BIRD MORPHOLOGY: THE CASE OF MIGRATORY AND SEDENTARY BLACKCAPS SYLVIA ATRICAPILLA WINTERING IN SOUTHERN IBERIA Iván DE LA HERA* 1, Javier PÉREZ-TRIS* and José Luis TELLERÍA* SU Y.—Testing the validity of discriminant function analyses based on bird morphology: the case MMAR of migratory and sedentary blackcaps Sylvia atricapilla wintering in southern Iberia. Aims: This study introduces a method for validating the suitability of discriminant function analyses (DFA) based on morphological differences among groups of birds, using migratory and sedentary black- caps Sylvia atricapilla wintering in southern Iberia as a case study. Location: During five summers between 1997 and 2005, migratory blackcaps were studied in Álava and Madrid, and sedentary blackcaps were studied in the Campo de Gibraltar area. Wintering birds were also studied in the Campo de Gibraltar area (nine winters: 1997 - 2006), where migratory and sedentary blackcaps occur in sympatry. Methods: Morphological traits (wing length, wing pointedness and tail length) of birds captured dur- ing summer were used to carry out a DFA for distinguishing between migratory and sedentary individu- als during winter. The performance of DFA was tested by (1) observation of the percentage of correct clas- sifications of sedentary blackcaps (ringed birds captured in both seasons), and (2) analysing variation between summer and winter in posterior classification probabilities (PC) of birds classified as either mi- gratory or sedentary. Results: The DFA correctly classified 88 % of summer blackcaps, and it still worked well in winter as shown by 20 out of 21 wintering birds known to be sedentary (by ringing recoveries) being correct- ly classified. PC increased during winter in birds classified as migratory, due to the arrival to s