Scientific Program

Preparing your Abstract

Please use the following guidelines to prepare your abstract submission. Any abstract not following these guidelines may be returned to the presenting author for editing.

• Please submit your abstract in English.
• Abstracts can be typed directly into Oxford Abstracts, or text can also be copy-pasted from a Word document. However, you will need to bold and italicize words directly in the box after you type or paste them into Oxford Abstracts. 
• Submit a full title (max 25 words) and a short title (max 45 characters).
• Write the title in bold font. If the common name(s) of a species is included, please do not include its scientific name(s) in the title (include it in the body of the abstract).
• Include all authors first and last name/surname, affiliation, and the email address of the first author only. The presenting author is indicated by checking the “Presenting*” box in Oxford Abstracts. 

Body of the abstract:

• 250 words or less.
• Succinctly summarize the objectives, methods, results, and conclusions of the research.
• Common names of species should be reported with uppercase initials (i.e. Black Harrier; Short-eared Owl), followed by its scientific name(s) reported in parenthesis in italic, only after the first use. 
• Use metric units.
• Standard abbreviations should be used for measurements (mm, m, km, g, kg, Hz, s, min, h, °C, etc.), as well as for statistics (r, rs, t, X², F, U, Z, df, SD, SE, N, P, AIC, ANOVA). Periods (.) should be used as decimal marks and commas (,) as thousand separators. Spell out whole numbers less than 10 unless accompanied by a unit (e.g. 3 cm or 1%) or when describing a statistical result (e.g. P=0.05; P<0.03). Please leave a space between the number and the unit (e.g. 3 cm), but none between the statistic symbol and the number (e.g. P=0.05).
• Use continental dating (e.g. 10 July 1975) and the 24-hr clock (e.g. 13:00).
• Do not use citations in the abstract.
• If you are submitting an abstract as part of an approved symposia or as part of the Andersen, Koplin, or Wings to Fly Awards, please make sure to tick the specific box on the Oxford Abstracts website (see the following link for additional requirements).
• A sample abstract is provided below and on the Oxford Abstracts submission page, please take the time to read it and format your abstract accordingly.

Authors of accepted abstracts will be notified via email no later than 20 July. Prior to the conference, all authors will be provided with a follow-up email with details specifying the room, date, and time of their presentations. Questions regarding symposia and general abstracts should be directed to RRFScientificChair@raptorresearchfoundation.org or RRFoxfordabstracts@raptorresearchfoundation.org.

Failure to meet the format requirements or submission deadlines may result in the rejection of your abstract(s). Click here to watch a demo on how to submit your abstract using Oxford Abstracts.

Sample Abstract

Heavy metal exposure in resident and migratory raptors in México 

Meagan L. Campbell¹ (exampleemail@rrf.com), Jaime R. Von Osten², Enrique Alarcón Gutiérrez¹, Ernesto Ruelas Inzunza¹

Universidad Veracruzana, Inbioteca, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.² Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, Instituto de Ecología, Pesquerías y Oceanografía del Golfo de México, Campeche, México. 

Increased habitat loss and contamination in the tropics cause ornithologists to suspect that birds encounter elevated contaminant exposure during migration and while overwintering. Our research question is: where are migratory raptors exposed to higher metal concentrations during their annual cycle? We hypothesized that sampling heavy metals in blood and feathers would help us identify the boreal or austral source of contamination. During the fall of 2016 and 2017, we sampled juvenile (hatch year) Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus), Cooper’s Hawk (A. cooperii), Aplomado Falcon (Falco femoralis), Roadside Hawk (Rupornis magnirostris), and Short-tailed Hawk (Buteo brachyurus) in Veracruz, México (a primary migratory corridor for raptors in the fall). We analyzed 194 blood and corresponding feather samples through voltammetry for zinc, cadmium, lead, mercury, copper, and aluminum. We compared mean values of metal concentrations and found that feather concentrations were 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than blood, and mean values of migratory and resident species had comparable metal levels. The only significant differences between resident and migratory species (wet weight, ppm) were: Hg in blood (resident > migratory, P<0.01), Zn in feathers (migratory > resident, P<0.01), and Pb in feathers (migratory > resident, P<0.05). This study provides information about the temporality of heavy metal exposure pathways in raptors outside of their breeding areas in North America. Higher Zn and Pb levels in feathers in migratory species indicate elevated exposure in nesting areas, where the feather developed, whereas higher Hg levels in the blood of resident species alludes to higher exposure in México.