Range of the Greater Flamingo, Phoenicopterus roseus, metapopulation in the Mediterranean: new insights from Turkey

Abstract

Metapopulation conservation should rely on a flyway approach aiming at assessing the spatial range of metapopulations by estimating the level of exchanges among local populations. In the western Mediterranean, Greater Flamingos have been shown to constitute a metapopulation with natal and breeding dispersal among colonies. In this paper, we examine whether this metapopulation reaches Turkey using a band-resighting study. Our results are the first evidence of natal and breeding dispersal from the western Mediterranean to Turkey, and suggest that the Gediz Delta, one of the two Turkish breeding colonies, can play a significant role in the recruitment of flamingos from the western Mediterranean. In 2003 and 2004, breeders of western Mediterranean origin accounted for more than 1.2 and 1.9% of the estimated breeding population of the Gediz Delta, respectively. Our observations also indicate that the western Mediterranean and Southwest Asia may constitute two sets of populations, which overlap in Turkey. Finally, the resightings of flamingos banded in Turkey show that post-fledging dispersal from Turkey reaches both the eastern and western Mediterranean wetlands. Future data on the natal and breeding dispersal of flamingos born in Turkey could clarify further the connection between Turkey and the western Mediterranean metapopulation.

Long-term population trends reveal increasing importance of a Mediterranean wetland complex (Messolonghi lagoons, Greece) for wintering waterbirds

“…The southwest Asian population of greater flamingo is currently stable, whereas the West Mediterannean population is currently increasing, mainly due to the protection of breeding sites (Martos and Johnson 1996;Miltiadou 2005). It has been demonstrated by band re-sightings that the East Mediterranean population receives influxes from both the West Mediterranean and southwest Asia (Handrinos and Akriotis 1997; Balkiz et al 2007;FP and VL, personal observation), which have probably contributed to the increase of the Messolonghi wintering population.…”

Connectivity between the Algerian population of Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus and those of the Mediterranean basin

“…In order to estimate the proportions of breeders at Algerian colonies born to the north of the Mediterranean Sea, we used the approach of Balkız et al (2007). The number of ringed flamingos from European colonies that were confirmed as breeders at Algerian colonies represent only a proportion of the total number of such breeders that might move to Algerian colonies because: (1) in colonies where ringing was carried out, not all chicks were ringed, so that unringed birds from the European colonies may have bred at the Algerian colonies; and (2) the probability of resighting ringed breeders was less than one due to field conditions and limited observer effort.…”

“…Data include all the ringed birds resighted at least once in Algeria for six non- During the three seasons, totals of 92 and 17 d, amounting to 276 h and 51 h, were spent conducting observations at the Garaet Ezzemoul and El Goléa colonies, respectively. A bird was considered to be a breeder if it was observed incubating an egg, attending a chick or at the same nest for more than 24 h. Nests were identified from each other using background landscape features (Balkız et al 2007). At the end of each breeding season, numbers of nests were counted to estimate the minimum size of the breeding population.…”

“…With the exception of a few managed sites in the northern part of the Mediterranean region, successful breeding of the Greater Flamingo occurs irregularly and depends on rainfall (McCulloch andIrvine 2004, Johnson andCézilly 2007). Ringed Greater Flamingos born in France, Spain and Italy have been observed to breed at other colonies in the Mediterranean and in West Africa, often moving to a third colony thereafter (Balkız et al 2007, Diawara et al 2007, Balkız et al 2010. It has been suggested that the Mediterranean colonies could function as a metapopulation (Balkız et al 2010).…”

Metapopulation models for seasonally migratory animals

“…The main obstacle is the difficulty of identifying demographically independent subpopulations in migratory species [7]; individuals occurring in separate subpopulations in the breeding season may be not separated in the non-breeding season, and vice versa. In the few cases in which metapopulation models have been applied to migratory animals, the assumption of a spatially homogeneous nonbreeding habitat is implicit [8,9]. When habitat in both seasons is spatially discrete, it becomes difficult to separate a population into demographically independent units, leaving uncertainty as to how, or whether, migratory species fit into the metapopulation concept [10].…”