Low fitness at low latitudes: Wintering in the tropics increases migratory delays and mortality rates in an Arctic breeding shorebird

Reneerkens, Jeroen; Versluijs, Tom S L; Piersma, Theunis; Alves, José A.; Boorman, Mark; Corse, Colin; Gilg, Olivier; Hallgrímsson, Gunnar Þór; Lang, Johannes; Loos, Bob; Ntiamoa‐Baidu, Yaa; Nuoh, Alfred A.; Potts, Peter M.; Horn, Job ten; Lok, Tamar

doi:10.1111/1365-2656.13118

Cited by 38 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…Few previous studies, however, have been able to directly connect events across seasons with both variation in individual performance and changes in survival rates for migratory species because of the difficulty in tracking individuals throughout their annual cycles and obtaining direct observations of those same individuals at multiple time points during the year (e.g. Reneerkens et al, 2020). In one of the few empirical examples, Gibson et al (2018) were able to link anthropogenic disturbances during the nonbreeding season with reduced body condition and, via reversible state effects, reduced survival and site fidelity in Piping Plovers Charadrius melodus.…”

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confidence: 99%

Seasonal survival and reversible state effects in a long‐distance migratory shorebird

Swift

Rodewald

Johnson

et al. 2020

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Events during one stage of the annual cycle can reversibly affect an individual's condition and performance not only within that stage, but also in subsequent stages (i.e. reversible state effects). Despite strong conceptual links, however, few studies have been able to empirically link individual‐level reversible state effects with larger‐scale demographic processes. We studied both survival and potential reversible state effects in a long‐distance migratory shorebird, the Hudsonian Godwit Limosa haemastica. Specifically, we estimated period‐specific survival probabilities across the annual cycle and examined the extent to which an individual's body condition, foraging success and habitat quality during the nonbreeding season affected its subsequent survival and reproductive performance. Godwit survival rates were high throughout the annual cycle, but lowest during the breeding season, only slightly higher during southbound migration and highest during the stationary nonbreeding season. Our results indicate that overwintering godwits foraging in high‐quality habitats had comparably better nutritional status and pre‐migratory body condition, which in turn improved their return rates and the likelihood that their nests and chicks survived during the subsequent breeding season. Reversible state effects thus appeared to link events between nonbreeding and breeding seasons via an individual's condition, in turn affecting their survival and subsequent reproductive performance. Our study thus provides one of the few empirical demonstrations of theoretical predictions that reversible state effects have the potential to influence population dynamics.

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confidence: 99%

Seasonal survival and reversible state effects in a long‐distance migratory shorebird

Swift

Rodewald

Johnson

et al. 2020

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…The factors that determine initial settlement at a nonbreeding site remain unknown but the authors suggest that equatorial sites in West Africa could be an ecological trap if strong site fidelity limits the options for surviving birds to explore or disperse to a better nonbreeding site. Reneerkens et al (2020) confirmed that migration distance entails fitness costs, but quite unexpectedly, they found that the relationships with fitness were nonlinear. One of the great features of their study system was that Sanderlings from different nonbreeding sites stage together at coastal estuaries in Iceland before migrating to Greenland and northern Canada.…”

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confidence: 84%

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confidence: 99%

Population fitness has a concave relationship with migration distance in Sanderlings

Sandercock

2020

Journal of Animal Ecology

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In Focus: Reneerkens, J., Versluijs, T. S. L., Piersma, T., Alves, J. A., Boorman, M., Corse, C., … Lok, T. (2020). Low fitness at low latitudes: wintering in the tropics increases migratory delays and mortality rates in an Arctic breeding shorebird. Journal of Animal Ecology, 89, 691–703. A central question in migratory ecology has been to understand the fitness consequences of individual variation in migration distance among different species and populations. Reneerkens et al. (2020) investigated the demographic consequences of long‐distance migration for Sanderlings Calidris alba, an Arctic‐breeding species of sandpiper. Their study population has a remarkable geographic distribution with a breeding range that is concentrated in northeast Greenland and Ellesmere Island, Canada but a nonbreeding range that extends across 85° of latitude from Scotland to Namibia. The authors report on unexpected patterns of latitudinal variation in three demographic parameters: timing of passage on northward migration, probability of juvenile migration and apparent survival of adults. Sanderlings travelling 1,800–2,800 km to settle at north temperate sites during the nonbreeding season had earlier passage dates, and also higher probabilities of migration and apparent survival. In contrast, birds travelling 6,000–7,800 km to equatorial sites experienced later passage dates, delayed maturity and lower apparent survival. However, if Sanderlings migrated even farther and flew over 11,000 km to nonbreeding sites in Namibia, then their performance was restored to early passage dates and higher survival. Movement tracks from birds tagged with geolocators showed that birds wintering in Namibia make nonstop flights of 7,500 km that bypass West Africa during northward migration. Thus, all lines of evidence suggest that Sanderlings face adversity when spending the nonbreeding season at equatorial latitudes. Moreover, the central finding that components of fitness can have nonlinear relationships with migration distance is a novel discovery that leads to many additional questions. The new findings have broader implications for theoretical models of migration, and for understanding how different patterns of movements may arise or be maintained in migratory species.

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“…Juvenile flight feathers of low quality might need to be replaced to retain flying efficiency that allow birds to avoid predators. Migration propensity in yearlings has been shown to be negatively related to migration distance (Fernandez et al 2004, O'Hara et al 2005, Tavera et al 2016, Reneerkens et al 2020. As flight feather wear increases with migration distance, the strategy of returning to breeding grounds retaining juvenile feathers would seem more plausible for shorebirds with shorter migration distances.…”

Section: Role Of Flight Feather Wear and Timing Of Moltmentioning

confidence: 99%

To migrate or not: drivers of over‐summering in a long‐distance migratory shorebird

Martínez‐Curci

Isacch

D'amico

et al. 2020

Journal of Avian Biology

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The phenomenon of over-summering in southern non-breeding areas by borealbreeding birds is particularly prevalent among shorebirds. Despite its frequency, it is understudied compared with most other aspects of shorebird ecology. Our aim was to expand knowledge of this subject through a study of red knots Calidris canutus rufa over-summering at a site in Argentina during the austral winter. We measured the proportion of one-year-old and adult over-summerers and evaluated the roles of flightfeather condition and physiological status (through leukocite profile, physiological stress index and presence of blood parasites) as triggers for over-summering. We also explore sex-ratio, the evolution of body mass and extent of breeding plumage within each age-class. Over-summerers were 57% yearlings and 43% adults, 46% females and 54% males. Almost all yearlings exhibited incomplete molt of primary feathers and some were in active primary molt. This suggests that the condition of flight-feathers and the timing of molt are likely to be important factors selecting for deferred migration during the first year of life. Other factors, not associated with flight-feather molt, seem to trigger over-summering in adults, which had completed flight feather molt but had low fat loads and/or incomplete alternate plumage. We found no evidence of a weakened immune system, high loads of blood parasites or high stress levels that can explain this poor migratory conditioning and therefore over-summering. Our data indicates that our adult age-class comprises both young individuals postponing first breeding until they are at least two years old and sexually mature individuals with prior reproductive experience skipping a breeding opportunity. Breeding propensity and age at first breeding are both poorly known, but key demographic parameters that determine population growth. This study suggests that potentially they can be estimated from mark-recapture at non-breeding areas and this warrants further study.

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Low fitness at low latitudes: Wintering in the tropics increases migratory delays and mortality rates in an Arctic breeding shorebird

Cited by 38 publications

References 76 publications

Seasonal survival and reversible state effects in a long‐distance migratory shorebird

Seasonal survival and reversible state effects in a long‐distance migratory shorebird

Population fitness has a concave relationship with migration distance in Sanderlings

To migrate or not: drivers of over‐summering in a long‐distance migratory shorebird

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