No phenotypic plasticity in nest-site selection in response to extreme flooding events

Abstract

One contribution of 14 to a theme issue 'Behavioural, ecological and evolutionary responses to extreme climatic events'. Phenotypic plasticity is a crucial mechanism for responding to changes in climatic means, yet we know little about its role in responding to extreme climatic events (ECEs). ECEs may lack the reliable cues necessary for phenotypic plasticity to evolve; however, this has not been empirically tested. We investigated whether behavioural plasticity in nest-site selection allows a long-lived shorebird (Haematopus ostralegus) to respond to flooding. We collected longitudinal nest elevation data on individuals over two decades, during which time flooding events have become increasingly frequent. We found no evidence that individuals learn from flooding experiences, showing nest elevation change consistent with random nest-site selection. There was also no evidence of phenotypic plasticity in response to potential environmental cues (lunar nodal cycle and water height). A small number of individuals, those nesting near an artificial sea wall, did show an increase in nest elevation over time; however, there is no conclusive evidence this occurred in response to ECEs. Our study population showed no behavioural plasticity in response to changing ECE patterns. More research is needed to determine whether this pattern is consistent across species and types of ECEs. If so, ECEs may pose a major challenge to the resilience of wild populations.This article is part of the themed issue 'Behavioural, ecological and evolutionary responses to extreme climatic events'.

Evolution caused by extreme events

“…The ecological and evolutionary impacts of extreme abiotic events are often mediated through an organism's behaviour and physiology [30,31]. Behavioural evasion is often a mobile organism's first line of defence against environmental extremes [32], but physiology helps transduce environmental variationextreme or not-into performance and fitness.…”

Behavioural, ecological and evolutionary responses to extreme climatic events: challenges and directions

“…In addition, some studies also consider ECEs to include consequential physical impacts-like flooding, hurricanes or wildfires-that are (at least partly) caused by meteorological phenomena [21]. Finally, some studies also include a spectrum of impacts for biological systems (or for economy or society in fields other than biology [22]), such as mass reproductive failure in shorebirds after flooding [23].…”

“…Another goal was to invite contributions from different fields that synthesize the ecological [2,18] and evolutionary literature on ECEs [7,35] and combine this with research papers that illustrate ways to make progress in answering important and interesting conceptual questions. The inclusion of contributions from such disparate fields as behavioural plasticity [23], community ecology [18] and evolution of thermal tolerance [35] was specifically chosen to highlight that these fields deal with similar challenges (e.g. they study events that are rare with respect to the duration of most studies in the wild), but also to illustrate that they can provide parallel insights (see later this section).…”

“…For example, evolutionary responses in thermal tolerance in response to extremes can depend on the climatic history and amount of variability organisms previously experienced [35], and evolutionary change is often strongly mediated by changes in species interactions, which vary widely among ecosystems [7]. Behaviourally plastic responses may depend on the habitat type individuals live in [23] or on their energy reserves [20], while demographic responses can be highly age-dependent [34]. Potentially as a consequence, the responses of two populations of the same species have been shown to be as different as the responses of two different plant species to the same type of climatic extreme [60].…”

“…To address this challenge, we may need to focus on model systems in which ECEs are becoming rapidly either more frequent and severe (e.g. heat waves [58], flooding [23]) or more infrequent and mild (e.g. cold spells, icesheet cover [10,66]).…”