Climate change and functional traits affect population dynamics of a long‐lived seabird

Jenouvrier, Stéphanie; Desprez, Marine; Fay, Rémi; Barbraud, Christophe; Weimerskirch, Henri; Delord, Karine; Caswell, Hal

doi:10.1111/1365-2656.12827

Cited by 60 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 92 publications

(165 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Foraging activity may be constrained at this stage, and birds can only adjust the timing of migration. A recent demographic study (Jenouvrier et al, ) shows that changes in late winter climatic conditions affecting their migratory schedules have little impact on the population growth rate. However, the direct effects of adult foraging activity during pre‐breeding on breeding success have a larger influence on the population growth rate.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking oceanographic conditions, migratory schedules and foraging behaviour during the non‐breeding season to reproductive performance in a long‐lived seabird

et al. 2018

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Studies of the mechanisms underlying climate‐induced population changes are critically needed to better understand and accurately predict population responses to climate change. Long‐lived migratory species might be particularly vulnerable to climate change as they are constrained by different climate conditions and energetic requirements during the breeding and non‐breeding seasons. Yet, most studies primarily focus on the breeding season of these species life cycle. Environmental conditions experienced in the non‐breeding season may have downstream effects on the other stages of the annual life cycle. Not investigating such effects may potentially lead to erroneous inferences about population dynamics. Combining demographic and tracking data collected between 2006 and 2013 at Kerguelen Island on a long‐lived migratory seabird, the Black‐Browed Albatross (Thalassarche melanophris), we investigated the links between sea surface temperature during the non‐breeding season and behavioural and phenological traits (at‐sea behaviour and migratory schedules) while accounting for different responses between birds of different sex and reproductive status (previously failed or successful breeders). We then explored whether variation in the foraging behaviour and timing of spring migration influenced subsequent reproductive performance. Our results showed that foraging activity and migratory schedules varied by both sex and reproductive status suggesting different energetic requirements and constraints among individuals. Higher sea surface temperatures during late winter, assumed to reflect poor winter conditions, were associated with an earlier departure from the wintering grounds and an extended pre‐breeding period. However, an earlier spring migration and an earlier return to Kerguelen grounds were associated with a lower breeding success. Our results highlighted that behaviour during some periods of the non‐breeding season, particularly towards the end of the wintering period and the pre‐breeding period, had a significant effect on the subsequent reproductive success. Therefore, caution needs to be given to all stages of the annual cycle when predicting the influence of climate on population dynamics. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13117/suppinfo is available for this article.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking oceanographic conditions, migratory schedules and foraging behaviour during the non‐breeding season to reproductive performance in a long‐lived seabird

et al. 2018

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Jenouvrier et al. () develop a hierarchical matrix population model integrating functional traits and vital rates to predict population responses of the black‐browed albatross ( Thalassarce melanophris ) to changes in climate. Their model allows the authors to evaluate the relative contributions to population dynamics of trait shifts and direct climate effects.…”

Section: Novel Contributions Of This Special Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

Delivering the promises of trait‐based approaches to the needs of demographic approaches, and vice versa

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Few facets of biology vary more than functional traits and life‐history traits. To explore this vast variation, functional ecologists and population ecologists have developed independent approaches that identify the mechanisms behind and consequences of trait variation.Collaborative research between researchers using trait‐based and demographic approaches remains scarce. We argue that this is a missed opportunity, as the strengths of both approaches could help boost the research agendas of functional ecology and population ecology.This special feature, which spans three journals of the British Ecological Society due to its interdisciplinary nature, showcases state‐of‐the‐art research applying trait‐based and demographic approaches to examine relationships between organismal function, life history strategies and population performance across multiple kingdoms. Examples include the exploration of how functional trait × environment interactions affect vital rates and thus explain population trends and species occurrence; the coordination of seed traits and dispersal ability with the pace of life in plants; the incorporation of functional traits in dynamic energy budget models; or the discovery of linkages between microbial functional traits and the fast–slow continuum.Despite their historical isolation, collaborative work between functional ecologists and population ecologists could unlock novel research pathways. We call for an integrative research agenda to evaluate which and when traits are functional, as well as their ability to describe and predict life history strategies and population dynamics. We highlight promising, complementary research avenues to overcome current limitations. These include a more explicit linkage of selection gradients in the context of functional trait–vital rate relationships, and the implementation of standardised protocols to track changes in traits and vital rates over time at the same location and individuals, thus allowing for the explicit incorporation of trade‐offs in analyses of covariation of functional traits and life‐history traits.

show abstract

“…In marmots, as in numerous other populations (Bassar et al, ; Jenouvrier et al, ), seasonal demographic processes play an important role in life‐cycle dynamics (Armitage, ). Our prospective perturbations show that changes in both mean winter and summer survival of reproductive adults have the strongest effect on population fitness, confirming the critical role of this life‐cycle stage (Ozgul et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further support for demographic buffering comes from the fact that changes in the mean environmental quality most strongly affected those demographic processes to which the stochastic population growth rate was least sensitive, that is, yearlings gaining reproductive status. It is well known that in species where vital rates of adults are relatively buffered, juveniles are much more sensitive to environmental variation (Gaillard & Yoccoz, ; Jenouvrier et al, ). Our results indicate that demographic buffering (Pfister, ; Morris et al, ) likely persists across the seasonal environments and different masses for a high‐altitude specialist.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing seasonal demographic covariation to understand environmental‐change impacts on a hibernating mammal

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Natural populations are exposed to seasonal variation in environmental factors that simultaneously affect several demographic rates (survival, development and reproduction). The resulting covariation in these rates determines population dynamics, but accounting for its numerous biotic and abiotic drivers is a significant challenge. Here, we use a factor‐analytic approach to capture partially unobserved drivers of seasonal population dynamics. We use 40 years of individual‐based demography from yellow‐bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer) to fit and project population models that account for seasonal demographic covariation using a latent variable. We show that this latent variable, by producing positive covariation among winter demographic rates, depicts a measure of environmental quality. Simultaneously, negative responses of winter survival and reproductive‐status change to declining environmental quality result in a higher risk of population quasi‐extinction, regardless of summer demography where recruitment takes place. We demonstrate how complex environmental processes can be summarized to understand population persistence in seasonal environments.

show abstract

Climate change and functional traits affect population dynamics of a long‐lived seabird

Cited by 60 publications

References 92 publications

Linking oceanographic conditions, migratory schedules and foraging behaviour during the non‐breeding season to reproductive performance in a long‐lived seabird

Linking oceanographic conditions, migratory schedules and foraging behaviour during the non‐breeding season to reproductive performance in a long‐lived seabird

Delivering the promises of trait‐based approaches to the needs of demographic approaches, and vice versa

Assessing seasonal demographic covariation to understand environmental‐change impacts on a hibernating mammal

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About