Why timing is everything: Energetic costs and reproductive consequences of resource mismatch for a chick‐rearing seabird

Regular, Paul M.; Hedd, April; Montevecchi, William A.; Robertson, Gregory J.; Storey, Anne E.; Walsh, Carolyn J.

doi:10.1890/es14-00182.1

Cited by 54 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…This may be a consequence of a better match between resource availability and chick need, as observed in many species, ith resources being more plentiful earlier in the season (Regular et al . ; Hinks et al . ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Carry‐over effects on the annual cycle of a migratory seabird: an experimental study

Fayet

Freeman

Shoji

et al. 2016

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Summary Long‐lived migratory animals must balance the cost of current reproduction with their own condition ahead of a challenging migration and future reproduction. In these species, carry‐over effects, which occur when events in one season affect the outcome of the subsequent season, may be particularly exacerbated. However, how carry‐over effects influence future breeding outcomes and whether (and how) they also affect behaviour during migration and wintering is unclear.Here we investigate carry‐over effects induced by a controlled, bidirectional manipulation of the duration of reproductive effort on the migratory, wintering and subsequent breeding behaviour of a long‐lived migratory seabird, the Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus. By cross‐fostering chicks of different age between nests, we successfully prolonged or shortened by ∼25% the chick‐rearing period of 42 breeding pairs. We tracked the adults with geolocators over the subsequent year and combined migration route data with at‐sea activity budgets obtained from high‐resolution saltwater‐immersion data. Migratory behaviour was also recorded during non‐experimental years (the year before and/or two years after manipulation) for a subset of birds, allowing comparison between experimental and non‐experimental years within treatment groups.All birds cared for chicks until normal fledging age, resulting in birds with a longer breeding period delaying their departure on migration; however, birds that finished breeding earlier did not start migrating earlier. Increased reproductive effort resulted in less time spent at the wintering grounds, a reduction in time spent resting daily and a delayed start of breeding with lighter eggs and chicks and lower breeding success the following breeding season. Conversely, reduced reproductive effort resulted in more time resting and less time foraging during the winter, but a similar breeding phenology and success compared with control birds the following year, suggesting that ‘positive’ carry‐over effects may also occur but perhaps have a less long‐lasting impact than those incurred from increased reproductive effort.Our results shed light on how carry‐over effects can develop and modify an adult animal's behaviour year‐round and reveal how a complex interaction between current and future reproductive fitness, individual condition and external constraints can influence life‐history decisions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, the timing of return migration to the breeding site may influence breeding success; many species match their breeding dates to food availability (Regular et al . ; Hinks et al . ), and early return often correlates with higher success (Kokko ; Bêty, Gauthier & Giroux ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carry‐over effects on the annual cycle of a migratory seabird: an experimental study

Fayet

Freeman

Shoji

et al. 2016

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…Body mass explains most of the variation in DEE between and within species (Ricklefs et al, 1996;Nagy, 2005). Yet, environmental variables are also important regulators of energy metabolism, as temperature is usually negatively correlated with DEE (Tinbergen and Dietz, 1994;Te Marvelde et al, 2011;Regular et al, 2014) and environmental stressors are suggested to increase energy expenditure (Weimerskirch et al, 2002;Welcker et al, 2009). Food availability is also a key mediator of energy expenditure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Artificial Light at Night Reduces Daily Energy Expenditure in Breeding Great Tits (Parus major)

et al. 2017

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The ecological impact of artificial light at night (ALAN) is an increasingly recognized process that accompanies expanding urbanization. Yet, we have limited knowledge on the impact of ALAN on wild species, and on the potential to mitigate any negative effects by using different light sources and colors. In birds, effects of ALAN on activity levels are reported for several species and, hence, their daily energy expenditure (DEE) may be affected. DEE is a potent mediator of life-history trade-offs and fitness and thus an important aspect to consider when examining the potential long-term ecological effects of ALAN. Previous work has suggested that birds exposed to ALAN show higher levels of provisioning and nocturnal activity, suggesting that white ALAN increases DEE. Other factors regulating DEE, such as provisioning behavior and food availability, might also respond to ALAN and thus indirectly affect DEE. We tested the hypothesis that ALAN increases DEE using an experimental setup where four previously unlit transects were illuminated with either white, green, or red LED light, or left dark as a control treatment. This setup was replicated in eight locations across the Netherlands. We measured DEE of our focal species, the great tit (Parus major), using a novel doubly labeled water technique that uses breath rather than blood samples. Contrary to our expectations, birds feeding their offspring under white and green ALAN showed lower DEE compared to birds in the control dark treatment. Differences in chick provisioning activity did not explain this result, as neither visit rates nor daily activity timing was affected by light treatment. However, food availability under white and green light was much higher compared to red light and the dark control. This difference strongly suggests that the lower DEE under white and green ALAN sites is a consequence of higher food availability in these treatments. This result shows that there can be positive, indirect effects of ALAN for breeding song birds which may balance against the negative direct effects shown in previous studies.

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“…Naturally, this will not necessarily be true in all study systems: in species that are not highly dependent on a single food type, or whose food does not exhibit a well‐defined seasonal distribution, demographic processes will either depend more strongly on MO or on neither MD nor MO (Dunn, Winkler, Whittingham, Hannon, & Robertson, ; Durant et al, ). However, studies reporting fitness and demographic consequences in this context so far have generally used (proxies of) MD to quantify phenological mismatch and reported reduced fitness in years when temporal mismatch was high (Arlt & Pärt, ; Marrot et al, ; Plard et al, ; Regular et al, ). Durant et al (), on the other hand, quantified effects of MD and food abundance on population indices of reproductive success in three study systems and found that in two of them food abundance was a better predictor than MD.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing two measures of phenological synchrony in a predator–prey interaction: Simpler works better

Ramakers

Gienapp

Visser

2019

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Global climate change has sparked a vast research effort into the demographic and evolutionary consequences of mismatches between consumer and resource phenology. Many studies have used the difference in peak dates to quantify phenological synchrony (match in dates, MD), but this approach has been suggested to be inconclusive, since it does not incorporate the temporal overlap between the phenological distributions (match in overlap, MO). We used 24 years of detailed data on the phenology of a predator–prey system, the great tit (Parus major) and the main food for its nestlings, caterpillars, to estimate MD and MO at the population and brood levels. We compared the performance of both metrics on two key demographic parameters: offspring recruitment probability and selection on the timing of reproduction. Although MD and MO correlated quadratically as expected, MD was a better predictor for both offspring recruitment and selection on timing than MO. We argue—and verify through simulations—that this is because quantifying MO has to be based on nontrivial, difficult‐to‐verify assumptions that likely render MO too inaccurate as a proxy for food availability in practice. Our results have important implications for the allocation of research efforts in long‐term population studies in highly seasonal environments.

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Why timing is everything: Energetic costs and reproductive consequences of resource mismatch for a chick‐rearing seabird

Cited by 54 publications

References 62 publications

Carry‐over effects on the annual cycle of a migratory seabird: an experimental study

Carry‐over effects on the annual cycle of a migratory seabird: an experimental study

Artificial Light at Night Reduces Daily Energy Expenditure in Breeding Great Tits (Parus major)

Comparing two measures of phenological synchrony in a predator–prey interaction: Simpler works better

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