Long-term decline in nest survival of a ground-nesting shorebird on a tropical island

Engel, Noémie; McDonald, Grant; Sandercock, Brett K.; Rice, Romy; Moreno, Rocío; Ratão, Sara S.; Székely, Tamás

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2023.e02522

Cited by 2 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…The high adult survival of Φ 2+ = 0.849 ± 0.013 SE for Kentish plovers in Maio could help to offset the long‐term declines in nest survival that have occurred during the same study period (Engel et al 2023a). If incubation is costly, then nest losses could reduce parental investment and increase survival if pairs do not renest after nest loss.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To understand how a tropical island‐breeding shorebird species is impacted by variable climatic conditions and reacts to recent nest losses (Engel et al 2023a), we analysed 15 years of data from a genetically distinct resident population of Kentish plovers on the tropical island of Maio, Cabo Verde. Analyses of our long‐term field study resulted in three major findings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This population depends on the yearly rainfalls during the summer months (July–October) to start breeding. During this time, the Salinas do Porto Inglês fill up with a mixture of sea water and rainwater, which leads to increased insect reproduction (Engel et al 2023a). The resulting increased food availability provides the necessary resources to breed and the Kentish plovers produce between 50 and 150 clutches each year (Carmona‐Isunza 2015, Engel et al 2023a).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During this time, the Salinas do Porto Inglês fill up with a mixture of sea water and rainwater, which leads to increased insect reproduction (Engel et al 2023a). The resulting increased food availability provides the necessary resources to breed and the Kentish plovers produce between 50 and 150 clutches each year (Carmona‐Isunza 2015, Engel et al 2023a). Data collection followed a standard protocol developed to monitor the breeding ecology of plovers (Székely et al 2008).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The island environment is xeric, and the Kentish plover population depends on the seasonal rainfall for breeding, thus climate change may disrupt demographic processes (Kubelka et al 2018). Nest survival and breeding densities of this population have been decreasing over the past decade (Engel et al 2023a). Continuing trends for low productivity are a concern and thus we investigated apparent adult survival rates of this population.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climatic variation influences annual survival of an island‐breeding tropical shorebird

Engel,

Sandercock,

Kosztolányi

et al. 2024

Journal of Avian Biology

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Global biodiversity loss is a major environmental concern. The wildlife on islands are particularly vulnerable to threats posed by alien predators, habitat loss and overexploitation. Effective conservation management of vulnerable species requires reliable information on vital population rates for all life stages and an understanding of key environmental drivers. However, demographic data are often not available for island populations before they decline or are extirpated. Here, we use Cormack–Jolly–Seber (CJS) models and 15 years of data for 1370 juveniles and 687 adults to estimate apparent survival for a genetically distinct resident population of Kentish plovers Charadrius alexandrinus on the island of Maio, Cabo Verde. We report two main findings. First, environmental conditions have a large effect on demographic performance since chicks that hatch during dry years experience a tenfold reduction in first‐year survival compared to chicks that hatch during wet years. Second, female and male plovers in Maio are expected to live for 7.41 ± 0.69 (mean ± SE) years and 6.75 ± 0.64 years, respectively, due to relatively high annual survival among comparable‐sized shorebirds. High adult survival thus could buffer the population against low reproductive success that this population has experienced over the last decade. Cabo Verde is typical of tropical islands with increased development that can impact native breeders and/or will accelerate habitat loss. Thus, more frequent droughts associated with climate change may exacerbate the prospects of native wildlife on many islands.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climatic variation influences annual survival of an island‐breeding tropical shorebird

Engel,

Sandercock,

Kosztolányi

et al. 2024

Journal of Avian Biology

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Variation in nest survival of three species of tropical plovers in Madagascar with clutch size, age of nest, year and El Niño effect

Tanner,

Jones,

Kubelka

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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A combination of life history traits and environmental conditions has been highlighted as the main drivers of avian breeding success. While drivers of breeding success are well known in some species, especially birds in northern, temperate regions; species in other parts of the world have received relatively little attention. In this study, we used a long‐term dataset on breeding success of tropical plovers from south‐west Madagascar to investigate whether nest survival changed over time and whether the drivers of nest survival were similar for multiple species breeding in the same arid habitat. In the 12‐year period of 2009–2020, we monitored 2077 nests for three species with different breeding strategies: 1185 nests of Kittlitz's plovers (Anarhynchus pecuarius) with a flexible breeding strategy and uniparental care; and 565 nests of white‐fronted plovers (A. marginatus) and 327 nests of Madagascar plovers (A. thoracicus) which both have biparental care. We found that nest survival was associated with a combination of clutch‐size, age of nest and year among the three plover species. In addition, annual variation in climatic conditions associated with El Niño/La Niña events were included in the most supported survival models for Kittlitz's and white‐fronted plovers, but the effects were not significant. Overall estimates of daily nest survival were similar for all three species: Kittlitz's plover: 0.950 ± 0.002 SE, Madagascar plover: 0.919 ± 0.007 SE, and white‐fronted plover: 0.862 ± 0.047 SE. Estimates of nest success for the breeding season, based on increases in daily nest survival with the clutch age during the incubation periods (26 days for Kittlitz's plovers and 29 days for Madagascar and white‐fronted plovers), were relatively low: Kittlitz's plover: 0.161 ± 0.056 SE, Madagascar plover: 0.287 ± 0.022 SE, and white‐fronted plover: 0.228 ± 0.019 SE. All three species had a combination of factors affecting nest survival, both environmental and life history traits.

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Long-term decline in nest survival of a ground-nesting shorebird on a tropical island

Cited by 2 publications

References 66 publications

Climatic variation influences annual survival of an island‐breeding tropical shorebird

Climatic variation influences annual survival of an island‐breeding tropical shorebird

Variation in nest survival of three species of tropical plovers in Madagascar with clutch size, age of nest, year and El Niño effect

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