Abstract:Lekking is a promiscuous breeding system in which females visit groups of displaying males only for the purpose of mating. The spatial organization of these groups can range from tight aggregations of individuals, or leks, to loose clusters of males displaying on exploded-leks, and it can also include males seemingly displaying alone. As the distance between displaying males increases, it becomes possible for them to hold fixed territories and for females to select mates not for their genetic quality, as on tr… Show more
“…The Asian houbara Chlamydotis macqueenii (hereafter 'houbara') is a medium-sized bustard species adapted to arid and semi-arid ecosystems (Hoyo et al 1996, Van Heezik & Seddon 1999, Riou & Combreau 2014. It is resident in the southern extent of its range (from the Arabian Peninsula to southern Central Asia), but migratory in most of Central Asia and parts of Eastern Asia (Goriup 1997).…”
Identifying factors influencing breeding success in endangered species is vital for undertaking appropriate conservation measures. The reintroduced population of the captive-bred Asian houbara bustard Chlamydotis macqueenii in reserves of the western United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been closely monitored since releases first began in 2005. Based on 8 yr of monitoring data, we provide novel information on female breeding probability and breeding success within a desert ecosystem. Additionally, we explore factors influencing some breeding parameters. Female breeding probability was on average 0.14 ± 0.31 SD (0.01 ± 0.03 for females less than 1 yr old and 0.23 ± 0.38 for females older than 1 yr). Nest initiation date was influenced by temperature and time. Rainfall during a breeding season increased its length. The estimated nest survival rate for 23 d was 0.52, and was negatively influenced by nest initiation date. Chick survival rate to the age of 6 wk was 0.50 ± 0.39 SD, and survival rate of juveniles in their first year was 0.64 ± 0.02 SE. Our results highlight the ability of captive-bred released houbara in the UAE to breed and of wild born juveniles to survive, 2 vital prerequisites for a successful reintroduction programme. Furthermore, these breeding parameters are similar to the very few that have been reported in other studies of wild resident houbara populations. However, population recruitment rate was low (0.04 individuals per female), resulting mainly from low female breeding probability under harsh weather conditions.
“…The Asian houbara Chlamydotis macqueenii (hereafter 'houbara') is a medium-sized bustard species adapted to arid and semi-arid ecosystems (Hoyo et al 1996, Van Heezik & Seddon 1999, Riou & Combreau 2014. It is resident in the southern extent of its range (from the Arabian Peninsula to southern Central Asia), but migratory in most of Central Asia and parts of Eastern Asia (Goriup 1997).…”
Identifying factors influencing breeding success in endangered species is vital for undertaking appropriate conservation measures. The reintroduced population of the captive-bred Asian houbara bustard Chlamydotis macqueenii in reserves of the western United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been closely monitored since releases first began in 2005. Based on 8 yr of monitoring data, we provide novel information on female breeding probability and breeding success within a desert ecosystem. Additionally, we explore factors influencing some breeding parameters. Female breeding probability was on average 0.14 ± 0.31 SD (0.01 ± 0.03 for females less than 1 yr old and 0.23 ± 0.38 for females older than 1 yr). Nest initiation date was influenced by temperature and time. Rainfall during a breeding season increased its length. The estimated nest survival rate for 23 d was 0.52, and was negatively influenced by nest initiation date. Chick survival rate to the age of 6 wk was 0.50 ± 0.39 SD, and survival rate of juveniles in their first year was 0.64 ± 0.02 SE. Our results highlight the ability of captive-bred released houbara in the UAE to breed and of wild born juveniles to survive, 2 vital prerequisites for a successful reintroduction programme. Furthermore, these breeding parameters are similar to the very few that have been reported in other studies of wild resident houbara populations. However, population recruitment rate was low (0.04 individuals per female), resulting mainly from low female breeding probability under harsh weather conditions.
“…This is a hard feat, because collecting data on large leks is technically difficult 18 . Recent studies of the spatial organization of MacQueen’s Bustard ( Chlamydotis macqueenii ) have shown that individuals organize into ‘exploded’ leks where the typical distance between individual display sites becomes of the order of 1 km and males tend to hold fixed territories 19 . This feature allows a reliable determination of the spatial distribution of display sites by using GPS and radio-tracking in combination with direct observation (Fig.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“… Figure 3 Comparison between the distribution of the number of nearest neighbors in a real population of MacQueens Bustard and in our model. ( a ) Spatial distribution of the display sites in the exploded lek of a population of MacQueen’s Bustard 19 . White circles represent radio-tagged individuals, black circles non-tagged individuals and dots undetermined observations.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…For this reason, a more stringent test would be represented by a ranking-resolved comparison between our model and the results of field studies, where the geometrical distributions for high-ranking and low-ranking individuals are considered separately. Unfortunately, such a test cannot be performed in the case of MacQueen’s Bustard, because the presented data are not ranking-resolved 19 .…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…We compared the results of our simulations with the observations reported by Riou and Combreau on MacQueen’s Bustard 19 . We used the Voronoi-Delaunay tessellation algorithm to determine the distribution T ( n ) of the number of nearest neighbours for each of the display sites shown in Fig.…”
Territoriality entails demanding social interactions with competing individuals, typically males. Variation in quality of males can be predicted to affect the spatial arrangement of territories. We present a model aimed at understanding the spatial properties of territories on leks, where the presence of a hierarchy in a population of males leads to the clustering of individuals around high-ranking ‘hotshot’ males. The hierarchy results in a decrease in the number of nearest neighbors interacting directly with high-ranking males, with potential socio-sexual benefits for such males.
Understanding the behaviours and time budgets of translocated animals post‐release has the potential to improve rearing and release protocols, and therefore survival rate. Otididae (bustards) inhabit open landscapes across the Middle East and Asia, are highly mobile on the ground and have similar lifestyles and body plans. The Asian houbara Chlamydotis macqueenii is a bustard of conservation concern inhabiting the Middle East to Central Asia and is frequently reared in captivity for population management. We deployed tri‐axial accelerometers on 20 captive Asian houbaras in two seasons to catalogue basic behaviours, provide a template applicable to other bustard species and examine seasonal differences in behaviour. We created Boolean algorithms to define the following behaviours using raw acceleration data and derived metrics: stationary, eating/drinking and locomotion. We used video recordings to cross‐validate the algorithms, yielding recalls from 95 to 97%, and precisions between 97 and 98%. Houbaras spent significantly more time ‘stationary' and less time on ‘locomotion' in summer (June) compared to spring (March). Simple Boolean algorithms proved useful in identifying several behaviours and have the potential to be applicable to other bustard species, in captivity and in the wild post‐release.Keywords: accelerometer, animal behaviour, Asian houbara bustard, captive breeding, conservation translocation
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