Shorebird Reproductive Response to Exceptionally Early and Late Springs Varies Across Sites in Arctic Alaska

McGuire, Rebecca; Lanctot, Richard B.; Saalfeld, Sarah T.; Ruthrauff, Daniel R.; Liebezeit, Joseph R.

doi:10.3389/fevo.2020.577652

Cited by 17 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 119 publications

(172 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This in general could negatively affect fitness via lower adult survival (Both, 2010) and reduced reproductive success (Kluen et al, 2011;Moreno et al, 2015;Bründl et al, 2020), even if migrants match the advanced spring conditions. We observed a generally higher variability in breeding phenology in the early spring of 2020, which was found also in McGuire et al (2020), and a delayed hatching. Clutches experiencing a rainy season or severe weather events, such as snow storms, have a prolonged incubation period, exposing the nest to predators for a longer period at the same time, and generally higher failure rates (due to abandonment, hatch failure and predation) than clutches in a dry season (Rauter et al, 2002;Kluen et al, 2011;Higgot et al, 2020;Marcelino et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

“…It is important to study biodiversity responses in climatically extreme years as they can serve as templates for likely future conditions (McGuire et al, 2020). A late snowmelt in 2019 and an exceptionally early snowmelt in 2020 across the European Alps provided a natural experiment that allowed us to explore how Alpine breeding wheatears' reproduction is affected in years when the season is advanced.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Early Breeding Conditions Followed by Reduced Breeding Success Despite Timely Arrival in an Alpine Migratory Songbird

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Timing reproduction to coincide with optimal environmental conditions is key for many organisms living in seasonal habitats. Advance in the onset of spring is a particular challenge to migratory birds that must time their arrival without knowing the conditions on the breeding grounds. This is amplified at high elevations where resource availability, which is linked to snowmelt and vegetation development, shows much annual variation. With the aim of exploring the effects of variability in the onset of local resource availability on reproduction, we compared key life history events in an Alpine population of the Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) between years of contrasting timing of snowmelt. Based on remote sensed images, we identified 2020 as an exceptionally early snowmelt and green-up year compared to the preceding year and the long-term average. Individuals tracked with light-level geolocators arrived well before the snowmelt in 2020 and clutch initiation dates across the population were earlier in 2020 compared to 2019. However, observations from a citizen science database and nest monitoring data showed that the arrival-breeding interval was shorter in 2020, thus the advance in timing lagged behind the environmental conditions. While hatching success was similar in both years, fledging success was significantly reduced in 2020. A trophic mismatch in early 2020 could be a possible explanation for the reduced reproductive success, but alternative explanations cannot be excluded. Our results show that, despite the timely arrival at the breeding grounds and a contraction of the arrival-breeding interval, Wheatears were not able to advance breeding activities in synchrony with environmental conditions in 2020. Earlier reproductive seasons are expected to become more frequent in the future. We show that the negative effects of changing seasons in Alpine migratory birds might be similar to birds breeding at high latitudes, despite their shorter migratory distance.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Breeding Conditions Followed by Reduced Breeding Success Despite Timely Arrival in an Alpine Migratory Songbird

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The information provided in this study provides valuable demographic information that will help assess the role chick survival may play in limiting population size, even if our estimates of chick survival may be inflated from predator removal. To improve our understanding of how vital rates impact population trends in this species and other shorebird species, additional information on other vital rates (e.g., probability of nesting and hatching, first-year survival, adult survival partitioned by season) and how they vary with site and annual conditions is needed 34 , 68 . By improving our knowledge and accuracy of shorebird vital rates, we can improve the accuracy of demographic models, as well as determine the cumulative impacts of climate change on shorebird populations (see below).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rapid warming at northern latitudes has led to earlier, warmer, longer, and more seasonally-variable summers 33 , 68 . Such climate change effects may have several positive effects on shorebirds and their young.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lastly, climate change may benefit shorebirds by lengthening the nesting season. This would allow adults to lay nests over a longer period of time 68 , as well as replace more nests that fail 32 (but see Cosgrove et al 76 ). However, given the strong relationship between chick survival and invertebrate availability, a longer breeding season is likely to be more detrimental than beneficial due to the increased phenological mismatch with their invertebrate prey (as discussed above).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Warming Arctic summers unlikely to increase productivity of shorebirds through renesting

Saalfeld

Hill

Hunter

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate change in the Arctic is leading to earlier summers, creating a phenological mismatch between the hatching of insectivorous birds and the availability of their invertebrate prey. While phenological mismatch would presumably lower the survival of chicks, climate change is also leading to longer, warmer summers that may increase the annual productivity of birds by allowing adults to lay nests over a longer period of time, replace more nests that fail, and provide physiological relief to chicks (i.e., warmer temperatures that reduce thermoregulatory costs). However, there is little information on how these competing ecological processes will ultimately impact the demography of bird populations. In 2008 and 2009, we investigated the survival of chicks from initial and experimentally-induced replacement nests of arcticola Dunlin (Calidris alpina) breeding near Utqiaġvik, Alaska. We monitored survival of 66 broods from 41 initial and 25 replacement nests. Based on the average hatch date of each group, chick survival (up to age 15 days) from replacement nests (Ŝi = 0.10; 95% CI = 0.02–0.22) was substantially lower than initial nests (Ŝi = 0.67; 95% CI = 0.48–0.81). Daily survival rates were greater for older chicks, chicks from earlier-laid clutches, and during periods of greater invertebrate availability. As temperature was less important to daily survival rates of shorebird chicks than invertebrate availability, our results indicate that any physiological relief experienced by chicks will likely be overshadowed by the need for adequate food. Furthermore, the processes creating a phenological mismatch between hatching of shorebird young and invertebrate emergence ensures that warmer, longer breeding seasons will not translate into abundant food throughout the longer summers. Thus, despite having a greater opportunity to nest later (and potentially replace nests), young from these late-hatching broods will likely not have sufficient food to survive. Collectively, these results indicate that warmer, longer summers in the Arctic are unlikely to increase annual recruitment rates, and thus unable to compensate for low adult survival, which is typically limited by factors away from the Arctic-breeding grounds.

show abstract

Diel timing of nest predation changes across breeding season in a subtropical shorebird

Sládeček

Brynychová

Elhassan

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Shorebird Reproductive Response to Exceptionally Early and Late Springs Varies Across Sites in Arctic Alaska

Cited by 17 publications

References 119 publications

Early Breeding Conditions Followed by Reduced Breeding Success Despite Timely Arrival in an Alpine Migratory Songbird

Early Breeding Conditions Followed by Reduced Breeding Success Despite Timely Arrival in an Alpine Migratory Songbird

Warming Arctic summers unlikely to increase productivity of shorebirds through renesting

Diel timing of nest predation changes across breeding season in a subtropical shorebird

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About