Nest survival in year‐round breeding tropical red‐capped larks <i>Calandrella cinerea</i> increases with higher nest abundance but decreases with higher invertebrate availability and rainfall

Mwangi, Joseph; Ndithia, Henry K.; Kentie, Rosemarie; Muchai, Muchane; Tieleman, B. Irene

doi:10.1111/jav.01645

Cited by 19 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 77 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We measured ground invertebrate biomass using pitfalls, and flying invertebrate biomass using sweep nets once a month (Ndithia et al 2017a, Mwangi et al 2018. We recorded ground and flying invertebrates in all months with the exception of December and October 2015, due to tampering of the pitfall traps by local herders.…”

Section: Weather Evi Invertebrates and Breeding Intensitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We searched for nests, on average (AE se), for 20 AE 1.0 days per month (range 7-31 days/month) and 245 AE 31.2 h/month (range 17À825 h/ month) during the study period (Mwangi et al 2018). To quantify breeding intensity, we calculated a monthly nest index, defined as the total number of nests found in a month per 10-person hours of search effort.…”

Section: Weather Evi Invertebrates and Breeding Intensitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Red-capped Larks Callandrella cineria are small, gregarious birds found in short-grass and bareground habitats widely distributed across Africa (Zimmerman et al 2005). They feed on a variety of insects and seeds (Ndithia et al 2017a, Mwangi et al 2018. Tropical populations of Red-capped Larks, with year-round breeding at the population level and frequent co-occurrence of breeding and non-breeding individuals (Ndithia et al 2017a,b), provide an ideal study system to tease apart effects of breeding intensity, weather and food availability on home-range.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Breeding year-round conveys the advantage of comparing the home-range of birds under an energetically expensive life history stage of breeding with non-breeding birds experiencing the same environmental conditions. Likewise, the abundance of invertebrates, the main food for Red-capped Larks, is unpredictable and not linked to weather patterns (Ndithia et al 2017b, Mwangi et al 2018, and neither weather patterns nor food availability explains timing of breeding (Ndithia et al 2017a). The Red-capped Lark's shift in social structure, congregating in mixed-sex flocks when not breeding (fusion) and splitting up into pairs during breeding (fission; Ndithia et al 2017a, Mwangi et al 2018, suggests that changes in habitat use are an essential component of its life history.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Likewise, the abundance of invertebrates, the main food for Red-capped Larks, is unpredictable and not linked to weather patterns (Ndithia et al 2017b, Mwangi et al 2018, and neither weather patterns nor food availability explains timing of breeding (Ndithia et al 2017a). The Red-capped Lark's shift in social structure, congregating in mixed-sex flocks when not breeding (fusion) and splitting up into pairs during breeding (fission; Ndithia et al 2017a, Mwangi et al 2018, suggests that changes in habitat use are an essential component of its life history. Studying their home-range and movement patterns over multiple years can provide insights into their habitat needs during different life cycle stages, independent of the time of the year.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Home‐ranges of tropical Red‐capped Larks are influenced by breeding rather than vegetation, rainfall or invertebrate availability

Mwangi

Klaassen

Muchai

et al. 2019

Ibis

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Home‐range studies have received considerable attention from ecologists but are greatly skewed towards the north temperate areas. Tropical areas offer an ideal setting to tease apart hypotheses about weather, food availability and social interactions as important factors influencing home‐range. In this study, we investigated home‐range and movement patterns of the tropical Red‐capped Lark Callandrella cineria, a year‐round breeding bird with a dynamic social structure. We tracked 56 individuals using radiotransmitters and colour‐ring readings over a 23‐month period. Our objective was to understand year‐round variation in home‐range size in the context of the highly aseasonal and unpredictable variation in weather and resources typical of many equatorial habitats, in addition to the birds’ changing social structure and year‐round breeding. The mean composite monthly home‐range of Red‐capped Larks was 58.0 ha, and the mean individual home‐range size was 19.9 ha, but this varied considerably between individuals. The total number of nests found per month (breeding intensity) best predicted home‐range size of non‐breeding birds, and of breeding and non‐breeding birds combined. We show for the first time that breeding intensity decreases the home‐range size of non‐breeding individuals. Our study also underlines the relevance of conducting more studies in aseasonal tropical areas in order to disentangle effects of weather, food availability and breeding that vary in parallel, peaking simultaneously in most seasonal areas.

show abstract

Section: Weather Evi Invertebrates and Breeding Intensitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Weather Evi Invertebrates and Breeding Intensitymentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Home‐ranges of tropical Red‐capped Larks are influenced by breeding rather than vegetation, rainfall or invertebrate availability

Mwangi

Klaassen

Muchai

et al. 2019

Ibis

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Robust assessment of associations between weather and eastern wild turkey nest success

Boone,

Moorman,

Moscicki

et al. 2023

J Wildl Manag

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Temperature and precipitation have been identified as factors that potentially influence eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) reproduction, but robust analyses testing the relationship between weather parameters and turkey nest success are lacking. Therefore, we assessed how weather influenced turkey daily nest survival using 8 years of data collected from 715 nests across the southeastern United States. We also conducted exploratory analyses investigating if weather conditions during or prior to nesting best predicted nest success. We then assessed the possible implications of climate change through 2041–2060 for future eastern wild turkey daily nest survival and nest success for variables determined significant in analyses. During incubation, positive anomalies of minimum daily temperature were associated with greater daily nest survival. Precipitation during nesting was not a good predictor of daily nest survival. Exploratory analyses unexpectedly indicated that weather conditions in January prior to incubation were more important to nest success than weather conditions during incubation. In January, negative anomalies of minimum temperature and greater average daily precipitation were associated with greater nest success. Projections of future nest success or daily nest survival based on these relationships with the predictive covariates, and informed by climate models, suggest that nest success may increase as January precipitation increases and that daily nest survival may increase as temperature during incubation increases. These positive associations could be offset by a negative association between nest success and the expected increases in January minimum average temperature. Additional research is needed to investigate causes of these relationships and assess the implications of climate change for eastern wild turkey poult survival.

show abstract

Multi‐scale habitat selection and nest survival of whinchats and stonechats: implications for grassland conservation management

Küblbeck,

Weiß,

Korner-Nievergelt

et al. 2024

Wildlife Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Effective management for endangered grassland birds requires a sound understanding of habitat requirements and factors shaping reproductive success. We studied multi‐level habitat selection of endangered whinchats Saxicola rubetra and locally increasing stonechats Saxicola rubicola in a nature reserve using Sentinel‐2 images, LiDAR data, and habitat variables measured onsite. We monitored nest fates, and estimated how the causes of nest mortality varied with nest initiation date. Further, we analyzed how nest‐site selection, precipitation, nest initiation date, and nest age influenced daily nest survival.At the landscape‐ and site‐level, both species primarily selected for territories in lightly farmed meadows. However, stonechats appeared to be less specialized and used most available habitat types. Within home‐ranges, both species selected for nest‐sites in fallow patches, but in contrast to stonechats, whinchats also selected for large viewsheds.In both species, the main causes of nest failure were predation by red foxes Vulpes vulpes, weather‐related factors, and nest desertion. In whinchats, the probability of nest desertion increased and predation risk decreased with nest initiation date, possibly due to better nest concealment in the later season. Daily nest survival decreased with nest age and precipitation in both species, and increased with nest initiation date in whinchats. None of the habitat variables examined were positively linked to daily nest survival, and viewshed was negatively related to whinchat daily nest survival.Our study suggests that extending core habitat may help to promote settlement and potentially reproductive success of whinchats. However, as habitat selection was not positively associated with daily nest survival, land management measures alone might not be sufficient to halt rapid population declines. To effectively conserve whinchats and other grassland bird populations, the causes of nest failures must be identified and addressed. Within the examined reserve and similar habitats, flood management and predator control may yield the biggest short‐term conservation gains.

show abstract

Nest survival in year‐round breeding tropical red‐capped larks Calandrella cinerea increases with higher nest abundance but decreases with higher invertebrate availability and rainfall

Cited by 19 publications

References 77 publications

Home‐ranges of tropical Red‐capped Larks are influenced by breeding rather than vegetation, rainfall or invertebrate availability

Home‐ranges of tropical Red‐capped Larks are influenced by breeding rather than vegetation, rainfall or invertebrate availability

Robust assessment of associations between weather and eastern wild turkey nest success

Multi‐scale habitat selection and nest survival of whinchats and stonechats: implications for grassland conservation management

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About