Tracking prospecting movements involved in breeding habitat selection: insights, pitfalls and perspectives

Abstract

Summary1. Prospecting allows individuals to gather information on the local quality of potential future breeding sites. In a variable and heterogeneous environment, it plays a major role in breeding habitat selection and potentially helps individuals make optimal dispersal decisions. Although prospecting movements, involving visits to other breeding sites, have been observed in many species at relatively fine spatial scales, little is known about their occurrence at larger scales. Furthermore, the adaptive value of dispersal strategies in response to environmental changes remains poorly investigated. 2. Here, our main objective is to highlight in what ways tracking devices could constitute powerful tools to study prospecting behaviour at various spatial scales. First, we stress the importance of considering prospecting movements involved in breeding habitat selection and we detail the type of data that can be collected. Then, we review the advantages and constraints associated with the use of tracking devices in this context, and we suggest new perspectives to investigate the behavioural strategies adopted by individuals during breeding habitat selection processes and dispersal decisions. 3. The rapid development of new powerful electronic tools for tracking individual behaviour thus opens a wide range of opportunities. More specifically, it may allow a more thorough understanding of the role of scaledependent dispersal behaviour in population responses to environmental changes.

Terrestrial animal tracking as an eye on life and planet

“…Continuous, automated tracking can detect extraterritorial prospecting movements in which individuals gather information before making decisions about mating, resource use, or long-distance movements (33). Continuous tracking also enables the precise description and study of juvenile dispersal, addressing questions of how young animals make decisions as they move through an environment that is completely foreign, and often hostile.…”

Factors influencing the occurrence of Eleonora's falcon Falco eleonorae breeding colonies on Greek islands

“…Hence, in view of our findings, we encourage future studies to monitor the movements of individuals, originating preferably from neighbouring colonies, with the use of modern telemetry technology, capture-recapture field processes (Ponchon et al 2012) coupled with molecular analysis in order to investigate resource use during the species' prebreeding and breeding season, as well as studying the mechanism of natal and breeding dispersal.…”

Full Issue

“…This exploratory behavior allows individuals to find, assess, and settle in high-quality habitat, which may yield fitness benefits, including increased survival and fecundity (Ponchon et al 2012, Saunders et al 2012, Burkhalter et al 2015. For birds with relatively high breeding site fidelity, information gained during a juvenile prospecting period could have lasting effects on breeding site selection and lifetime fitness.…”