Declining survival rates in a reintroduced population of the Mauritius kestrel: evidence for non‐linear density dependence and environmental stochasticity

Nicoll, Malcolm A. C.; Jones, Carl G.; Norris, Ken

doi:10.1046/j.1365-2656.2003.00768.x

Cited by 65 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…The majority (more than 90%) of individuals entering the population are individually colourringed in the nest [21], and the study area is a closed systemno colour-ringed immigrants have been recorded within the population, and no colour-ringed emigrants have been recovered or resited elsewhere. Mauritius kestrels have a socially monogamous, territory-based breeding system, and their breeding season spans the Southern Hemisphere spring/summer, with the earliest eggs (clutch size two to five) being laid in early September and the latest fledgelings (brood size one to four) leaving the nest in late February [21]. Monitoring consists of locating all nesting attempts by checking all previously used sites and searching likely new areas [22].…”

Section: Methods (A) Study Population and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change and the risks associated with delayed breeding in a tropical wild bird population

Senapathi

Nicoll

Teplitsky³

et al. 2011

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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There is growing evidence of changes in the timing of important ecological events, such as flowering in plants and reproduction in animals, in response to climate change, with implications for population decline and biodiversity loss. Recent work has shown that the timing of breeding in wild birds is changing in response to climate change partly because individuals are remarkably flexible in their timing of breeding. Despite this work, our understanding of these processes in wild populations remains very limited and biased towards species from temperate regions. Here, we report the response to changing climate in a tropical wild bird population using a long-term dataset on a formerly critically endangered island endemic, the Mauritius kestrel. We show that the frequency of spring rainfall affects the timing of breeding, with birds breeding later in wetter springs. Delays in breeding have consequences in terms of reduced reproductive success as birds get exposed to risks associated with adverse climatic conditions later on in the breeding season, which reduce nesting success. These results, combined with the fact that frequency of spring rainfall has increased by about 60 per cent in our study area since 1962, imply that climate change is exposing birds to the stochastic risks of late reproduction by causing them to start breeding relatively late in the season.

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Section: Methods (A) Study Population and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change and the risks associated with delayed breeding in a tropical wild bird population

Senapathi

Nicoll

Teplitsky³

et al. 2011

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…We used capture histories of individuals ringed while still in the nest (i.e. excluding individuals of unknown age and origin), representing 694 individuals from 19 cohorts (excluding the 1989/1990 cohort as an outlier; see [29] for details) up to 2006/2007. The fit of our initial umbrella model p(sex Â t) S(sex Â t), where capture (p) and survival (S) probabilities vary with sex and time (t), was poor and indicated that the assumptions of the model were not met by the data (x 2 ¼ 376.38, d.f.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population regulation of territorial species: both site dependence and interference mechanisms matter

et al. 2010

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Spatial patterns of site occupancy are commonly driven by habitat heterogeneity and are thought to shape population dynamics through a site-dependent regulatory mechanism. When examining this, however, most studies have only focused on a single vital rate (reproduction), and little is known about how space effectively contributes to the regulation of population dynamics. We investigated the underlying mechanisms driving density-dependent processes in vital rates in a Mauritius kestrel population where almost every individual was monitored. Different mechanisms acted on different vital rates, with breeding success regulated by site dependence (differential use of space) and juvenile survival by interference (density-dependent competition for resources). Although territorial species are frequently assumed to be regulated through site dependence, we show that interference was the key regulatory mechanism in this population. Our integrated approach demonstrates that the presence of spatial processes regarding one trait does not mean that they necessarily play an important role in regulating population growth, and demonstrates the complexity of the regulatory process.

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“…Much of this work has investigated the relationship between density and reproductive success [8,17]. Studies designed to examine density-dependent effects on adult or juvenile survival have typically been conducted with relatively sedentary, small or recovering populations [18][19][20]. Investigations of migratory birds have considered the effects of density-dependent annual survival in large-bodied species with relatively slow life histories, such as great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) [21] and black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa) [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-breeding season habitat quality mediates the strength of density-dependence for a migratory bird

et al. 2015

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Our understanding of when natural populations are regulated during their annual cycle is limited, particularly for migratory species. This information is needed for parametrizing models that can inform management and conservation. Here, we use 14 years of data on colour-marked birds to investigate how conspecific density and habitat quality during the tropical non-breeding period interact to affect body condition and apparent annual survival of a long-distance migratory songbird, the American redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). Body condition and survival of birds in high-quality mangrove habitat declined as density increased. By contrast, body condition improved and survival did not vary as density increased in adjacent, lower quality scrub habitat, although mean condition and survival were almost always lower than in mangrove. High rainfall enhanced body condition in scrub but not in mangrove, suggesting factors such as food availability outweighed consequences of crowding in lower quality habitat. Thus, survival of overwintering redstarts in mangrove habitat, disproportionately males, appears to be regulated by a crowding mechanism based on densitydependent resource competition. Survival of individuals in scrub, mostly females, appears to be limited by density-independent environmental factors but not regulated by crowding. The contrasting effects of density and food limitation on individuals overwintering in adjacent habitats illustrate the complexity of processes operating during the non-breeding period for migratory animals, and emphasize the need for long-term studies of animals in multiple habitats and throughout their annual cycles.

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Declining survival rates in a reintroduced population of the Mauritius kestrel: evidence for non‐linear density dependence and environmental stochasticity

Cited by 65 publications

References 47 publications

Climate change and the risks associated with delayed breeding in a tropical wild bird population

Climate change and the risks associated with delayed breeding in a tropical wild bird population

Population regulation of territorial species: both site dependence and interference mechanisms matter

Non-breeding season habitat quality mediates the strength of density-dependence for a migratory bird

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