Multi‐decadal trends in spring arrival of avian migrants to the central Arctic coast of Alaska: effects of environmental and ecological factors

Abstract

Warming in the Arctic has caused the transition from winter to summer to occur weeks earlier over the last half century, yet little is known about whether avian migrants have altered their timing of arrival on breeding areas to match this earlier seasonal transition. Over a 50-yr period, we examined trends in the timing of the first arrival for 16 avian migrant species at the terminus of their northward migration along the central Arctic coast of Alaska and compared these trends to factors potentially influencing migration phenology. Date of first arrival occurred an average of 0.12 d yr 1 or 6 d (range  3-10 d) earlier across all species and did not differ significantly among species between 1964 and 2013. Local climatic variables, particularly temperature, had a greater effect on a species first arrival date than did large-scale climatic predictors. First arrival date was 1.03 d earlier for every 1°C annual change in temperature, but there was nearly a 2-fold difference in the range of responses across species (0.69-1.33 d °C 1 ), implying that some species did better than others at timing their arrival with changing temperature. There was weak support for an influence of foraging strategy, migration distance, and flight path on timing of first arrival. Our findings, like others from temperate latitudes, indicate that avian migrants are responsive to changing environmental conditions, though some species appear to be more adaptive than others.

Nest-site selection and reproductive success of Common Yellowthroats in managed Iowa grasslands

“…Advances in nest initiation dates correlated with warming temperatures and earlier snowmelt have been demonstrated in several Arcticbreeding species (McKinnon et al 2012, Grabowski et al 2013). In addition, there is evidence of flexibility in arrival dates in response to local temperatures and significantly earlier spring migration phenology for birds breeding along Alaska's central Arctic Coast over a 50-yr period (Ward et al 2016). On that coastal plain, closely related Lapland Longspurs have advanced clutch initiation dates, with timing of snowmelt being the most important factor explaining this advancement (Liebezeit et al 2014).…”

Decadal declines in avian herbivore reproduction: density‐dependent nutrition and phenological mismatch in the Arctic

“…Details about the NDVI data processing are presented in Ward et al. (), and a study of sub‐arctic‐nesting Canada Geese ( Branta canadensis ) using similar NDVI data is presented in Brook et al. ().…”

Drivers and Environmental Responses to the Changing Annual Snow Cycle of Northern Alaska

“…Many Arctic birds are migrating earlier, although some species have not kept pace with the rates of environmental change (Ward et al 2016). Geese are observed to fledge fewer goslings in years with greater mismatch between nesting dates and vegetation phenology, especially when eggs hatch late (relative to the vegetation) and young growing birds are deprived of the seasonal peak in highquality forage (Brook et al 2015;Doiron et al 2015).…”