Data Associated with Earlier Nesting by Predatory Bird is Associated with Human
            Responses to Climate Change

Smith, Shawn Heath; Steenhoff, Karen; McClure, Christopher J. W.; Heath, Julie A.

doi:10.18122/b2pc78

Cited by 2 publications

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“…In line with our expectations, AR sizes and MDs decreased with increasing primary productivity (normalized difference vegetation index, NDVI). NDVI has been used as proxy for food availability in many other raptor species, as it can be linked to the abundance of prey species such as arthropods or small mammals (Schaub et al 2005, Trierweiler et al 2013, Klaassen et al 2014, La Sorte et al 2014, Smith et al 2016). Hence, the result supports our assumption that NDVI is also a good proxy for resource availability for a generalist like the red kite.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…NDVI is the most common proxy for primary productivity (Fernández‐Tizón et al 2020). NDVI has already been linked successfully to the abundance of arthropods or small mammals, as primary and secondary productivity are positively correlated (Trierweiler et al 2013, Smith et al 2016, Fernández‐Tizón et al 2020). We therefore assume NDVI to be a good proxy for food availability for a generalist like the red kite.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sex, landscape diversity and primary productivity shape the seasonal space use of a migratory European raptor

Spatz

Katzenberger

Frieß

et al. 2022

Journal of Avian Biology

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Intrinsic and extrinsic drivers shape the space use of wide-ranging raptors. A large proportion of raptors are migrants that shift their activity ranges between summer and winter habitats, where they encounter different environmental conditions. Analysing the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic drivers on the space use in summer and winter habitats provides crucial insights into the ecology of migratory raptors. Here, we investigated the seasonal space use by 43 red kites Milvus milvus tracked by GPStransmitters across central and south-western Europe over seven consecutive years. We compared space use patterns, i.e. activity range sizes and mean daily distances of the birds between summer and winter, and analysed the influence of extrinsic (landscape diversity, primary productivity) and intrinsic factors (sex). Within summer, we investigated the influence of breeding success and sex on activity range sizes. We further analysed differences in habitat availability and habitat selection between seasons. We found that space use was smaller in summers than in winters. When compared to those of males, activity ranges of female red kites were larger in summers and smaller in winters, with shorter mean daily distances in both seasons. Within summer, successfully breeding red kites had smaller activity range sizes in both sexes, but this effect was stronger in females than in males. Regardless of the season, landscape diversity was positively correlated with space use, whereas primary productivity was negatively correlated with it. The habitat use differed between seasons, with agricultural landscapes being less proportionally used in summers than in winters. Overall, we showed that both intrinsic and extrinsic drivers shaped space use in both seasons, leading to differences in space use patterns and habitat use in migratory raptors between their summer and winter habitats. Our findings underline the importance of consideration of the entire annual cycle of migratory species for conservation management.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex, landscape diversity and primary productivity shape the seasonal space use of a migratory European raptor

Spatz

Katzenberger

Frieß

et al. 2022

Journal of Avian Biology

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Earlier nesting by generalist predatory bird is associated with human responses to climate change

Smith

Steenhof²,

McClure

et al. 2016

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Summary1. Warming temperatures cause temporal changes in growing seasons and prey abundance that drive earlier breeding by birds, especially dietary specialists within homogeneous habitat. Less is known about how generalists respond to climate-associated shifts in growing seasons or prey phenology, which may occur at different rates across land cover types. 2. We studied whether breeding phenology of a generalist predator, the American kestrel (Falco sparverius), was associated with shifts in growing seasons and, presumably, prey abundance, in a mosaic of non-irrigated shrub/grasslands and irrigated crops/pastures. We examined the relationship between remotely-sensed normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and abundance of small mammals that, with insects, constitute approximately 93% of kestrel diet biomass. We used NDVI to estimate the start of the growing season (SoGS) in irrigated and non-irrigated lands from 1992 to 2015 and tested whether either estimate of annual SoGS predicted the timing of kestrel nesting. Finally, we examined relationships among irrigated SoGS, weather and crop planting. 3. NDVI was a useful proxy for kestrel prey because it predicted small mammal abundance and past studies showed that NDVI predicts insect abundance. NDVI-estimated SoGS advanced significantly in irrigated lands (b = À1Á09 AE 0Á30 SE) but not in non-irrigated lands (b = À0Á57 AE 0Á53). Average date of kestrel nesting advanced 15 days in the past 24 years and was positively associated with the SoGS in irrigated lands, but not the SoGS in non-irrigated lands. Advanced SoGS in irrigated lands was related to earlier planting of crops after relatively warm winters, which were more common in recent years. 4. Despite different patterns of SoGS change between land cover types, kestrel nesting phenology shifted with earlier prey availability in irrigated lands. Kestrels may preferentially track prey in irrigated lands over non-irrigated lands because of higher quality prey on irrigated lands, or earlier prey abundance may release former constraints on other selective pressures to breed early, such as seasonal declines in fecundity or competition for high-quality mates. 5. This is one of the first examples of an association between human adaptation to climate change and shifts in breeding phenology of wildlife.

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Data Associated with Earlier Nesting by Predatory Bird is Associated with Human Responses to Climate Change

Cited by 2 publications

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Sex, landscape diversity and primary productivity shape the seasonal space use of a migratory European raptor

Sex, landscape diversity and primary productivity shape the seasonal space use of a migratory European raptor

Earlier nesting by generalist predatory bird is associated with human responses to climate change

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