Effect of weather on the reproductive rate of Rock Ptarmigan <i>Lagopus muta </i>in the eastern Pyrenees

Novoa, Claude; Besnard, Aurélien; Brenot, J.‐F.; Ellison, Laurence N.

doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.2007.00771.x

Cited by 52 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…In addition, most of the rock ptarmigan habitats in European mountains are affected by livestock grazing, ski resort infrastructures and more generally mountain sports. In the French Pyrenees, small and threatened populations of L. muta pyrenaica survive in mountaintops of a restricted range occurring at the southern margin of the repartition area (Novoa et al, 2008). These Pyrenean populations are characterized by two genetic clusters separated by a valley (Bech et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pyrenean ptarmigans decline under climatic and human influences through the Holocene

et al. 2013

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In Europe, the Quaternary is characterized by climatic fluctuations known to have led to many cycles of contraction and expansion of species geographical ranges. In addition, during the Holocene, historical changes in human occupation such as colonization or abandonment of traditional land uses can also affect habitats. These climatically or anthropically induced geographic range changes are expected to produce considerable effective population size change, measurable in terms of genetic diversity and organization. The rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) is a small-bodied grouse occurring throughout Northern hemispheric arctic and alpine tundra. This species is not considered threatened at a continental scale, but the populations in the Pyrenees are of concern because of their small population size, geographical isolation and low genetic diversity. Here, we used 11 microsatellites to investigate genetic variations and differentiations and infer the overall demographic history of Pyrenean rock ptarmigan populations. The low genetic variability found in these populations has been previously thought to be the result of a bottleneck that occurred following the last glacial maximum (i.e., 10 000 years ago) or more recently (i.e., during the last 200 years). Our results clearly indicate a major bottleneck affecting the populations in the last tenth of the Holocene. We discuss how this decline can be explained by a combination of unfavorable and successive events that increased the degree of habitat fragmentation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pyrenean ptarmigans decline under climatic and human influences through the Holocene

et al. 2013

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“…They have a short generation time (T = 1.8, Sandercock et al 2005 andannual mortality[46 %, Sandercock et al 2011;Smith and Willebrand 1999) and each female may produce up to 12 chicks annually, although recruitment of juveniles as well as densities of breeding birds vary both in time and space (Johnsgard 1983;Kvasnes et al 2013). Several studies have documented that weather conditions during the breeding season can influence recruitment rates in ptarmigan (Hannon and Martin 2006;Novoa et al 2008;Slagsvold 1975;Martin and Wiebe 2004;Steen et al 1988a, b). A general finding is a positive effect of early onset of spring, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recruitment of juveniles in birds is strongly dependent on biotic factors such as predation on eggs and chicks (Newton 1998) and abiotic factors like weather conditions before and during the breeding season (Saether et al 2004;Newton 1998). Spatial autocorrelation in predation (Ims and Andreassen 2000) or weather (Moran 1953;Grenfell et al 1998;Kvasnes et al 2010) across large areas can potentially force demographic rates of spatially structured populations into synchrony.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In general, ptarmigan are well adapted to variability within the normal range of their extreme environment (Martin and Wiebe 2004), but severe conditions, e.g. late snowmelt (Novoa et al 2008;Martin and Wiebe 2004), delayed plant growth (Steen et al 1988a), or heavy rainfall (Steen and Haugvold 2009) may negatively affect recruitment rates. Most studies investigating climate effects on ptarmigan populations have used local climate data (Martin and Wiebe 2004;Novoa et al 2008;Steen et al 1988b;Slagsvold 1975).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…late snowmelt (Novoa et al 2008;Martin and Wiebe 2004), delayed plant growth (Steen et al 1988a), or heavy rainfall (Steen and Haugvold 2009) may negatively affect recruitment rates. Most studies investigating climate effects on ptarmigan populations have used local climate data (Martin and Wiebe 2004;Novoa et al 2008;Steen et al 1988b;Slagsvold 1975). However, Hornell-Willebrand et al (2006) and Kvasnes et al (2010) found large-scale synchrony in the recruitment of juvenile Willow Ptarmigan and rate of change in bag records, respectively, suggesting that driving factors may work across large areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Large-scale climate variability and rodent abundance modulates recruitment rates in Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus)

Kvasnes¹,

Pedersen

Storaas³

et al. 2014

J Ornithol

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Recruitment of juveniles is important for the size of the next year's breeding population in many bird species. Climate variability and predation may affect recruitment rates, and when these factors are spatially correlated, recruitment rates in spatially separated populations of a species may be synchronized. We used production data from an extensive survey of Willow Ptarmigan from 2000 to 2011 to investigate spatial synchrony in recruitment of juveniles within and among mountain region populations. In addition, we assessed the effects of predation and large-as well as local-scale climate on recruitment of juveniles. Recruitment was synchronized both within and among mountain regions, but the mean spatial correlation was strongest among mountain regions. This may be caused by small-scale factors such as predation or habitat structure, or be a result of sampling variation, which may be large at small spatial scales. The strong synchrony suggests that populations are subject to similar environmental forces. We used mixed effect models at the survey area and mountain region scales to assess the effect of rodent abundance (a proxy for predation rates) and local and regional climate during the breeding season on the recruitment of juvenile birds. Model selection based on AICc revealed that the most parsimonious models at both spatial scales included positive effects of rodent abundance and the North Atlantic oscillation during May, June and July (NAO MJJ ). The NAO MJJ index was positively related to temperature and precipitation during the pre-incubation period; temperature during the incubation period and positive NAO MJJ values accelerate plant growth. A comparison of the relative effects of NAO MJJ and rodent abundance showed that variation in NAO MJJ had greatest impact on the recruitment of juveniles. This suggests that the climate effect was stronger than the effect of rodent abundance in our study populations. This is in contrast to previous studies on Willow Ptarmigan, but may be explained by the collapse in rodent cycles since the 1990s. If Willow Ptarmigan dynamics in the past were linked to the rodent cycle through a shared predator regime, this link may have been weakened when rodent cycles became more irregular, resulting in a more pronounced effect of environmental perturbation on the dynamics of ptarmigan.

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Mismatches between breeding phenology and resource abundance of resident alpine ptarmigan negatively affect chick survival

Wann

Aldridge

Seglund

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Phenological mismatches—defined here as the difference in reproductive timing of an individual relative to the availability of its food resources—occur in many avian species. Mistiming breeding activities in environments with constrained breeding windows may have severe fitness costs due to reduced opportunities for repeated breeding attempts. Therefore, species occurring in alpine environments may be particularly vulnerable. We studied fitness consequences of timing of breeding in an alpine‐endemic species, the white‐tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), to investigate its influence on chick survival. We estimated phenological mismatch by measuring plant and arthropods used by ptarmigan in relation to their timing of breeding. We monitored 120 nests and 67 broods over a three‐year period (2013–2015) at three alpine study sites in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. During this same period, we actively monitored food resource abundance in brood‐use areas to develop year and site‐specific resource phenology curves. We developed several mismatch indices from these curves that were then fit as covariates in mark‐recapture chick survival models. A correlation analysis between seasonal changes in arthropod and food plant abundance indicated that a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was likely the best predictor for food available to hens and chicks. A survival model that included an interaction between NDVI mismatch and chick age received strong support and indicated young chicks were more susceptible to mismatch than older chicks. We provide evidence that individual females of a resident alpine species can be negatively affected by phenological mismatch. Our study focused on individual females and did not examine if phenological mismatch was present at the population level. Future work in animal populations occurring in mountain systems focusing on a combination of both individual‐ and population‐level metrics of mismatch will be beneficial.

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Effect of weather on the reproductive rate of Rock Ptarmigan Lagopus muta in the eastern Pyrenees

Cited by 52 publications

References 31 publications

Pyrenean ptarmigans decline under climatic and human influences through the Holocene

Pyrenean ptarmigans decline under climatic and human influences through the Holocene

Large-scale climate variability and rodent abundance modulates recruitment rates in Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus)

Mismatches between breeding phenology and resource abundance of resident alpine ptarmigan negatively affect chick survival

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