Ecological factors influencing the breeding distribution and success of a nomadic, specialist predator

Terraube, Julien; Arroyo, Beatriz; Bragin, Alexander E.; Bragin, Evgeny A.; Mougeot, François

doi:10.1007/s10531-012-0282-6

Cited by 17 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…The temporal variation in the breeding densities of roughlegged buzzards found in the Kevo study area is consistent with a specialist foraging strategy and high inter-annual mobility associated to high rates of breeding dispersal (Korpimäki 1994, Terraube et al 2012b, Therrien et al 2014. This confirms that, in north Europe, rough-legged buzzards mostly subsist on small rodents (Pasanen and Sulkava 1971).…”

Section: Does Climate Change Induce a Phenological Mismatch In Breedisupporting

confidence: 75%

Coping with fast climate change in northern ecosystems: mechanisms underlying the population‐level response of a specialist avian predator

et al. 2014

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Northern ecosystems are facing unprecedented climate modifications, which pose a major threat for arctic species, especially the specialist predator guild. However, the mechanisms underlying responses of predators to climate change remain poorly understood. Climate can influence fitness parameters of predators either through reduced reproduction or survival following adverse weather conditions, or via changes in the population dynamics of their main prey. Here, we combined three overlapping long‐term datasets on the breeding density and parameters of a rodent‐specialist predator, the rough‐legged buzzard Buteo lagopus, its main prey population dynamics and climate variables, collected in subarctic areas of Finland and Norway, to assess the impact of changing climate on the predator reproductive response. Rough‐legged buzzards responded to ongoing climate change by advancing their laying date (0.1 d yr−1 over the 21 yr of the study period), as a consequence of earlier snowmelt. However, we documented for the same period a decrease in breeding success, which principally resulted from an indirect effect of changes in the dynamics of their main prey, i.e. grey‐sided voles Microtus oeconomus, and not from the expected negative effect of unfavorable weather conditions during the brood‐rearing period on nestling survival. Additionally, we showed the striking impact of autumn and winter weather conditions on vole population growth rates in subarctic ecosystems, with a strong positive correlation between mean snow depth in autumn and winter and both winter and summer population growth rates. Our results highlighted that, in northern ecosystems, ongoing climate change has the potential to impact specialist predator species through two mechanistic linkages, which may in the long‐run, threaten the viability of their populations, and lead to potential severe cascading trophic effects at the ecosystem level.

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Section: Does Climate Change Induce a Phenological Mismatch In Breedisupporting

confidence: 75%

Coping with fast climate change in northern ecosystems: mechanisms underlying the population‐level response of a specialist avian predator

et al. 2014

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“…Strikingly, the largest brood sizes at fledging were associated to increased breeding dispersal distances. This pattern could result from those high‐quality individuals that achieve high reproductive performance by efficiently tracking spatial variation in vole abundance from one breeding season to the other (Terraube et al ). Low nest predation rates were observed in nest‐boxes, but adult predation risks could also influence breeding habitat selection and breeding dispersal decisions in our study area, at least in areas close to forest edges.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Longer dispersal distances were not associated to later relative laying dates suggesting that breeding was not delayed in dispersing females. Prospecting movements between arrival on the breeding grounds and settlement, aimed at locating high‐quality breeding areas and mates could indeed delay breeding initiation (Terraube et al ). However, such dispersal costs could not be identified in this study, suggesting that female kestrels are able to track efficiently small scale spatio‐temporal variations in vole abundance through the study area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms and reproductive consequences of breeding dispersal in a specialist predator under temporally varying food conditions

Terraube

Vasko

Korpimäki

2014

Oikos

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Individual variation in breeding dispersal has extensive ecological and evolutionary consequences, but the factors driving individual dispersal behaviour and their fi tness consequences remain poorly understood. Our data on dispersal events of a rodent-specialist predator, the Eurasian kestrel Falco tinnunculus , over 20 years in western Finland off ers a unique opportunity to explore the mechanisms underlying breeding dispersal behaviour and its reproductive consequences in a wild bird population. Sex, age, body condition and previous breeding success aff ected breeding dispersal. Dispersal distances were longer in females than in males as well as longer in yearlings than in older individuals. Body condition was positively correlated to breeding dispersal distances, particularly for females. Th e lowest dispersal distances were recorded for intermediate brood sizes in the year preceding dispersal. Our results highlight sex-and environment-specifi c consequences of breeding dispersal on reproductive performance. During increase phases of the three-year vole cycles, males dispersing further had lower reproductive performance after dispersal, whereas in females, long breeding dispersal distances were associated with increased breeding success under all environmental conditions. Th ese results suggest benefi ts associated to breeding dispersal in females, potentially related to large spatio-temporal variation in main food abundance and intensity of intra-specifi c competition. Breeding dispersal of males was costly during increasing food abundance, indicating the potential fi tness benefi ts of environmental familiarity in this migratory species. Overall, our results indicate that both individual traits and environmental factors interact to shape breeding dispersal strategies in wide-ranging predator populations under fl uctuating food conditions.

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“…, Terraube et al . ). As such, it can also explain population dynamics, prey–predator relationships and species distributions (Newton , Moleón et al .…”

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confidence: 97%

“…Animal foraging ecology explains much of the observed variation among individual fitness correlates such as body condition, survival and breeding success (Schoener 1971, Pyke 1984, Terraube et al 2012. As such, it can also explain population dynamics, prey-predator relationships and species distributions (Newton 1998, Mole on et al 2009, Cort es-Avizanda et al 2011.…”

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confidence: 99%

Comparing pellet and stable isotope analyses of nestling Bonelli's Eagle Aquila fasciata diet

Resano‐Mayor

Hernández‐Matías

Real

et al. 2013

Ibis

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Diet analyses are central to the study of avian trophic ecology, and stable isotope analyses have made an increasing contribution in the last two decades. Few isotopic studies have assessed the diet of raptor species, which are more frequently analysed by conventional diet methods such as pellet analysis. In this study, we compare prey consumption estimates of nestling Bonelli's Eagles Aquila fasciata from conventional pellet analysis (in terms of items and biomass) and stable isotopic mixing models (SIAR) using δ13C, δ15N and δ34S of feathers. The pellet analysis showed that European Rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus, pigeons (mainly Common Wood Pigeons Columba palumbus and Domestic Pigeons Columba livia dom.), Red‐legged Partridges Alectoris rufa, passerines, Yellow‐legged Gulls Larus michahellis and Eurasian Red Squirrels Sciurus vulgaris were the main prey, so they were selected for diet reconstructions in SIAR. At the population level, mean prey consumption estimates were similar for pellets (both items and biomass) and SIAR. At the territory level, the weighted kappa statistic showed good ordinal scale agreement in main prey consumption between items or biomass and SIAR. Although the intraclass correlation coefficient showed poor method agreement when considering all prey in the same analysis, the intraclass correlation coefficients for each prey category showed significant agreement between pellets and SIAR when estimating the consumption of Rabbits, pigeons and Gulls, with lower agreement for passerines and Squirrels. Lastly, there was poor method agreement for estimates of Partridges. Our results suggest an overall agreement between the pellet analysis and SIAR when estimating nestling Bonelli's Eagle diet at both the population and, to a lesser extent, the territory level, supporting the usefulness of isotopic mixing models when identifying the terrestrial and marine components of raptor diets.

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Ecological factors influencing the breeding distribution and success of a nomadic, specialist predator

Cited by 17 publications

References 51 publications

Coping with fast climate change in northern ecosystems: mechanisms underlying the population‐level response of a specialist avian predator

Coping with fast climate change in northern ecosystems: mechanisms underlying the population‐level response of a specialist avian predator

Mechanisms and reproductive consequences of breeding dispersal in a specialist predator under temporally varying food conditions

Comparing pellet and stable isotope analyses of nestling Bonelli's Eagle Aquila fasciata diet

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