Effects of harness-attached tracking devices on survival, migration, and reproduction in three species of migratory waterfowl

Lameris, Thomas K.; Müskens, G.J.D.M.; Kölzsch, Andrea; Dokter, Adriaan M.; Jeugd, Henk P. van der; Nolet, Bart A.

doi:10.1186/s40317-018-0153-3

Cited by 39 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…In the winter of 2008 and 2009, 15 female barnacle geese were captured using canon nets on their wintering grounds in the northwestern part of the province of Frysland, the Netherlands (53 37'N, 6 13'E) and fitted with PTT satellite transmitters (30 g) using cordura-nylon backpack harnesses [42]; 4 of them migrated to breeding grounds on the island of Kolguev between 2009 -2011 [53], which resulted in a total of 9 migration tracks included in this analysis. An analysis including data form both geolocators and GPS-loggers is feasible, as we found that migration timing and speed of birds with GPS-loggers did not differ from a control group equipped with geolocators [54].…”

Section: Migration Tracking Datamentioning

confidence: 94%

Arctic Geese Tune Migration to a Warming Climate but Still Suffer from a Phenological Mismatch

et al. 2018

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Climate warming challenges animals to advance their timing of reproduction [1], but many animals appear to be unable to advance at the same rate as their food species [2, 3]. As a result, mismatches can arise between the moment of largest food requirements for their offspring and peak food availability [4-6], with important fitness consequences [7]. For long-distance migrants, adjustment of phenology to climate warming may be hampered by their inability to predict the optimal timing of arrival at the breeding grounds from their wintering grounds [8]. Arrival can be advanced if birds accelerate migration by reducing time on stopover sites [9, 10], but a recent study suggests that most long-distance migrants are on too tight a schedule to do so [11]. This may be different for capital-breeding migrants, which use stopovers not only to fuel migration but also to acquire body stores needed for reproduction [12-14]. By combining multiple years of tracking and reproduction data, we show that a long-distance migratory bird (the barnacle goose, Branta leucopsis) accelerates its 3,000 km spring migration to advance arrival on its rapidly warming Arctic breeding grounds. As egg laying has advanced much less than arrival, they still encounter a phenological mismatch that reduces offspring survival. A shift toward using more local resources for reproduction suggests that geese first need to refuel body stores at the breeding grounds after accelerated migration. Although flexibility in body store use allows migrants to accelerate migration, this cannot solve the time constraint they are facing under climate warming.

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Section: Migration Tracking Datamentioning

confidence: 94%

Arctic Geese Tune Migration to a Warming Climate but Still Suffer from a Phenological Mismatch

et al. 2018

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“…Individuals were colour‐ringed with unique codes, weighed within a few hours after capture, and sexed by cloacal examination. In total, 30 adult male brent geese were tagged with UvA‐BiTS GPS trackers (Bouten, Baaij, Shamoun‐Baranes, & Camphuysen, ), which were attached as a backpack using nylon strings inserted in 4‐mm wide silicon tubing (Lameris et al., ). Twenty‐one individuals were tagged at the pasture site and nine at the saltmarsh site.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural pastures challenge the attractiveness of natural saltmarsh for a migratory goose

Dokter

Fokkema

Ebbinge

et al. 2018

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Abstract1. Broad-scale land conversions and fertilizer use have dramatically altered the available staging area for herbivorous long-distance migrants. Instead of natural land, these birds rely increasingly on pastures for migratory fuelling and stopover, often conflicting with farming practices. To predict and manage birds' future habitat use, the relative advantages and disadvantages of natural (e.g. saltmarsh, intertidal) versus anthropogenic staging sites for foraging need to be understood.2. We compared the migratory staging of brent geese on saltmarsh and pasture sites in spring. Food quality (nitrogen and fibre content), antagonistic behaviour, and body weight were quantified at nearby sites in simultaneous seasons. Individuals were tracked with high-resolution GPS and accelerometers to compare timing of migration and time budgets during fuelling.3. On pastures, birds rested more and experienced higher ingestion rates, similar or superior food quality and reduced antagonistic interactions than on saltmarsh.4. Brent geese using fertilized grasslands advanced their fuelling and migration schedules compared to those using saltmarsh. Pasture birds reached heavy weights earlier, departed sooner, and arrived in the Arctic earlier.5. Intertidal mudflats were frequently visited by saltmarsh birds during the day, and available food there (algae, some seagrass) was of higher quality than terrestrial resources. Availability of intertidal resources was an important factor balancing the otherwise more favourable conditions on pastures relative to saltmarsh.6. Synthesis and applications. Disadvantages of longer foraging effort, more antagonistic interactions and delayed fuelling schedules on traditional saltmarshes may cause geese to exchange this traditional niche in favour of pastures, especially in a warming climate that requires advancement of migratory schedules. However, due to its high quality, intertidal forage can complement terrestrial foraging, potentially removing the incentive for habitat switches to pastures. The relatively high quality of green algae and seagrass, and birds' remarkable preference for these resources when available, provides a key for managers to create landscapes that can sustain this special- | INTRODUC TI ONHuman activity is altering our planet's surface in rapid and pervasive ways. Over 80% of the earth's land mass is now under direct human influence (Sanderson et al., 2002), with croplands and pastures occupying over 40% of the total area (Asner, Elmore, Olander, Martin, & Harris, 2004;Foley, 2005). Migratory birds need to navigate these humanaltered landscapes during their seasonal migration and depend on them as alternatives to lost natural habitat. Especially, agricultural land plays an important role in supporting migratory bird communities year-round:pastures provide wintering and breeding grounds to meadow passerines, waterfowl and waders (Knopf, 1994); rice fields (Elphick, 2015;Lourenço, Mandema, Hooijmeijer, Granadeiro, & Piersma, 2010) (Abraham, Jefferies, & Alisauskas, ...

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“…In the summer of 2014, in the breeding colony of the Kolokolkova Bay, northern Russia (68°40'N, 52°17'E;van der Jeugd et al 2003), 40 incubating female Barnacle Geese were captured on their nests using spring-traps. UvA-BiTS GPS/accelerometer tags (19 g; Bouten et al 2013) were attached to these geese with Teflon backpack harnesses (Lameris et al 2017(Lameris et al , 2018a. GPS-data was remotely downloaded from 23 GPS/accelerometer tags in the summer of 2015 at the Kolokolkova Bay.…”

Section: Gps-datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Wintering Geese Trade-Off Energetic Gains and Costs When Switching from Agricultural to Natural Habitats

Pot

Koning

Westerduin

et al. 2019

Ardea

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Migratory birds need considerable energy reserves to fuel long-distance flights to their breeding grounds in spring. To attain sufficient energy deposits before departure, birds require high daily intake rates, which can be reached by utilizing high-quality food. During such periods of high energy demand, animals often track changes in the nutritious value of their food, for example by switching to a more profitable habitat or diet. Pre-migratory Barnacle Geese Branta leucopsis staging along the Wadden Sea coast are known to switch from pastures to salt marshes during spring. Previous studies have suggested that Barnacle Geese switch habitat to track changes in protein levels, which drop in pastures as spring progresses, and to avoid high levels of disturbance. Here we made use of detailed information on pre-migratory habitat use of individual Barnacle Geese tracked by GPS/accelerometer tags to assess which factors may drive a habitat switch. We analysed habitat use and time budgets of individual birds and combined this with data on food quality in two habitats to analyse differences in food intake. We found large individual variation in pre-migratory habitat use, both in the extent of salt marsh use, as well as in the timing of a switch from pastures to salt marshes. In salt marshes, geese spent more time grazing and made fewer flight movements, potentially as they experienced lower levels of disturbance compared to geese in pastures. By increasing grazing time and reducing flight movements, geese in salt marshes may compensate for reduced food quality. Our results show that Barnacle Geese trade-off high intake rates and high costs in pastures with low intake rates and low costs in salt marshes.

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Effects of harness-attached tracking devices on survival, migration, and reproduction in three species of migratory waterfowl

Cited by 39 publications

References 33 publications

Arctic Geese Tune Migration to a Warming Climate but Still Suffer from a Phenological Mismatch

Arctic Geese Tune Migration to a Warming Climate but Still Suffer from a Phenological Mismatch

Agricultural pastures challenge the attractiveness of natural saltmarsh for a migratory goose

Wintering Geese Trade-Off Energetic Gains and Costs When Switching from Agricultural to Natural Habitats

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