Woltmann and Sherry • SURVIVAL AND TERRITORY DYNAMICS OF ANTBIRDS 
21 
other studies documenting breeding dispersal 
patterns in tropical birds (Greenberg and Grad- 
wohl 1997, Morton et al. 2000, Fedy and Stutch- 
bury 2004). Short movements through continuous 
and favorable rain forest habitat (Losada-Prado 
2009, this study), coupled with inability to fly 
long distances (Moore et al. 2008) makes breeding 
dispersal between forest fragments separated by 
kilometers of unsuitable habitat unlikely in this 
and perhaps other ecologically similar species 
(Woltmann 2010). 
Knowledge of genetic and demographic con¬ 
nectivity is needed to understand why some 
species persist in highly fragmented landscapes 
and others do not. Chestnut-backed Antbird nests 
are difficult to find, and breeding activity by this 
species occurs nearly year-round at La Selva, 
necessitating intense (essentially year-round) field 
effort to find and monitor sufficient nests. 
Moreover, clutch size is low in this and many 
other tropical understory species (Skutch 1985), 
nest failure rate is high (Robinson et al. 2000), and 
post-fledging parental care is often extensive 
(Russell et al. 2004), all of which increase the 
amount of effort required to track fledglings or 
otherwise measure natal dispersal. These technical 
and logistic difficulties suggest that alternate 
methods (e.g., molecular genetic approaches) are 
needed to compliment field-based approaches to 
understanding demographic and genetic connec¬ 
tivity in complex landscapes. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
Funding for this study came from Sigma Xi, Organization 
for Tropical Studies, Stone Center for Latin American Studies 
and Gunning Fund (Tulane University), Cooper Ornitholog¬ 
ical Society, American Ornithologists' Union, American 
Museum of Natural History, a National Science Foundation 
(NSF) grant to TWS, and the Louisiana Experimental 
Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) 
funded by NSF and the Board of Regents Support Fund. 
We are grateful for the logistic support provided by Deedra 
McClearn and personnel at the La Selva Biological Reserve. 
We thank MINAE for permission to conduct this work in 
Costa Rica. This work was conducted under Tulane IACUC 
protocol # 0298R-UT-C. This manuscript benefited from 
helpful comments by M. F. Cashner, the Sherry Laboratory, J. 
D. Brawn and an anonymous reviewer. A dedicated field 
crew made this study possible: M. L. Brady, M. F. Cashner, 
R. S. Terrill, and J. M. Wielfaert. 
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