Integrative biologists have long appreciated that the effective acquisition and management of energy prior to breeding should strongly influence fitness-related reproductive decisions (timing of breeding and reproductive investment). However, because of the difficulty in capturing pre-breeding individuals, and the tendency towards abandonment of reproduction after capture, we know little about the underlying mechanisms of these life-history decisions. Over 10 years, we captured free-living, arctic-breeding common eiders (Somateria mollissima) up to 3 weeks before investment in reproduction. We examined and characterized physiological parameters predicted to influence energetic management by sampling baseline plasma glucocorticoids (i.e., corticosterone), very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), and vitellogenin (VTG) for their respective roles in mediating energetic balance, rate of condition gain (physiological fattening rate) and reproductive investment. Baseline corticosterone increased significantly from arrival to the initiation of reproductive investment (period of rapid follicular growth; RFG), and showed a positive relationship with body mass, indicating that this hormone may stimulate foraging behaviour to facilitate both fat deposition and investment in egg production. In support of this, we found that VLDL increased throughout the pre-breeding period, peaking as predicted during RFG. Female eiders exhibited unprecedentedly high levels of VTG well before their theoretical RFG period, a potential strategy for pre-emptively depositing available protein stores into follicles while females are simultaneously fattening. This study provides some of the first data examining the temporal dynamics and interaction of the energetic mechanisms thought to be at the heart of individual variation in reproductive decisions and success in many vertebrate species.

Animals use a variety of aggressive signals to mediate territorial interactions. Often these signals can be 1 sufficient to ward off potential rivals, thus minimizing the chance of injury due to physical encounters. 2Yet not all behaviours produced during territorial interactions are aggressive signals. In this 3 investigation, we examined the aggressive signals of black--capped chickadees, Poecile atricapillus, by 4 determining which signals predict attack on a competitor. We used a recently developed playback 5 protocol involving a loudspeaker and a taxidermic mount to simulate an intruder on males' breeding 6 territories. We examined males' behaviours prior to any physical attack on the mount, both in the 7 minute before attack and the time period preceding this minute. In the minute before attack, we found 8 that gargle calls consistently predicted attack. In the preceding time period, we found that high song 9 rate predicted attack. Surprisingly, we found that attack and the behaviours associated with attack were 10 not significantly correlated with male dominance status. We conclude that song rate and gargle calling 11 behaviour communicate intent to attack during territorial interactions in black--capped chickadees. 12These results expand our knowledge of aggressive signals during territorial encounters by revealing 13 novel vocalizations used to communicate an animal's probability to attack an opponent. 25In some cases, acoustic signals are sufficient to deter rivals (Krebs 1977;Krebs et al. 1978; Yasukawa 26 1981;Perrill et al. 1982;Arak 1983), thereby avoiding physical conflict and preventing injury of both Therefore, in addition to meeting the context criterion, frequency matching and, potentially propensity to attack. This is the first study to examine countersinging behaviour using the predictive 106 criterion (and the signaller perspective) in this well--studied temperate songbird. 107 108 METHODS 110We studied a population of black--capped chickadees at Queen's University Biological Station occluded forested areas, so we ensured that subjects were out of visual range before placing the mount 197 and commencing playback. In only one trial, the subject arrived after the mount was placed and before 198 the playback was started, so we cancelled this trial and repeated it on another day. 200The loudspeaker and taxidermic mount were set on a tripod at the approximate centre of each 201 subject's territory. Each of the 100 fee--bee song stimuli was randomly paired with one of the five We quantified the behaviours, detailed below, in all subjects' trials and compared birds that We used multiple logistic regression with forward stepwise selection of variables (with the P--to--268 enter set at P = 0.05, and P--to--remove set at P = 0.10) to determine which of the 6 behavioural variables for only a subset of males (N = 13), we conducted a separate logistic regression analysis to test whether 272 rank predicted attack in those males. 274To describe the sequence of events that preceded attack, incl...

Probability of detection and accuracy of distance estimates in aural avian surveys may be affected by the presence of anthropogenic noise, and this may lead to inaccurate evaluations of the effects of noisy infrastructure on wildlife. We used arrays of speakers broadcasting recordings of grassland bird songs and pure tones to assess the probability of detection, and localization accuracy, by observers at sites with and without noisy oil and gas infrastructure in south‐central Alberta from 2012 to 2014. Probability of detection varied with species and with speaker distance from transect line, but there were few effects of noisy infrastructure. Accuracy of distance estimates for songs and tones decreased as distance to observer increased, and distance estimation error was higher for tones at sites with infrastructure noise. Our results suggest that quiet to moderately loud anthropogenic noise may not mask detection of bird songs; however, errors in distance estimates during aural surveys may lead to inaccurate estimates of avian densities calculated using distance sampling. We recommend caution when applying distance sampling if most birds are unseen, and where ambient noise varies among treatments.

As cities adopt mandates to protect, maintain and restore urban biodiversity, the need for urban ecology studies grows. Species-specific information on the effects of urbanization is often a limiting factor in designing and implementing effective biodiversity strategies. In suburban and exurban areas, amphibians play an important social-ecological role between people and their environment and contribute to ecosystem health. Amphibians are vulnerable to threats and imbalances in the aquatic and terrestrial environment due to a biphasic lifestyle, making them excellent indicators of local environmental health. We developed a citizen science program to systematically monitor amphibians in a large city in Alberta, Canada, where 90% of pre-settlement wetlands have been removed and human activities continue to degrade, alter, and/or fragment remaining amphibian habitats. We demonstrate successes and challenges of using publicly collected data in biodiversity monitoring. Through amphibian monitoring, we show how a citizen science program improved ecological knowledge, engaged the public in urban biodiversity monitoring and improved urban design and planning for biodiversity. We outline lessons learned to inform citizen science program design, including the importance of early engagement of decision makers, quality control assessment, assessing tensions in program design for data and public engagement goals, and incorporating conservation messaging into programming.

Cities worldwide are expanding in area and human population, posing multiple challenges to amphibian populations, including habitat loss from removal of wetlands and terrestrial upland habitat, habitat fragmentation due to roads and the built environment, and habitat degradation from pollutants, extensive human use and introduced species. We developed an eight‐step urban amphibian conservation framework based on established monitoring, analytical methods and community engagement to enable amphibian conservation in a large urban centre. The framework outlines a process used to conserve biodiversity in a complex landuse and decision‐making environment supported by a series of successive complementary modelling techniques to measure amphibian presence, priority habitat and functional connectivity. We applied the framework in Calgary, Alberta, Canada to illustrate its potential. Here, urbanization has reduced wetlands by 90% and ecological knowledge on amphibians was poor. We improved knowledge on amphibian diversity and distribution, identified core wetlands and movement pathways for amphibian species and identified barriers in the wetland network where construction or restoration measures could re‐establish amphibians or increase their densities. This knowledge was shared with ecologists and city planners for implementation through appropriate policies and plans. Our framework provides a series of stepwise products to improve an urban municipality's ability to restore or conserve priority habitat and movement pathways necessary for amphibian survival under pressure from multiple land uses. The framework provides a platform to identify city plans, policy and or programmes and to derive necessary information to support amphibian conservation.

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