Signals from the Wadden sea: Population declines dominate among waterbirds depending on intertidal mudflats

Roomen, M. van; Laursen, Karsten; Turnhout, Chris van; Winden, E. van; Blew, Jan; Eskildsen, Kai; Günther, Klaus; Hälterlein, Bernd; Kleefstra, Romke; Potel, Petra; Schrader, Stefan; Lüerßen, G.; Ens, Bruno J.

doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2012.04.004

Cited by 57 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Numbers of H. ostralegus have declined sharply, with declines of 3% per annum in the region since 1991 [45]. Consequently, the area of the study was expanded over time to sample a similar number of breeding pairs.…”

Section: (B) Study Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sea-wall territories typically encompass habitat in both low-elevation saltmarsh and on the high-elevation sea wall. Over time, territory boundaries are likely to have changed to incorporate a larger proportion of sea-wall habitat, driven by both the disappearance of other pairs that compete for sea-wall space as the population has declined [45] and the loss of available saltmarsh habitat due to coastal erosion (LD Bailey 2014, personal observation). Population declines and saltmarsh erosion will likely lead to greater utilization of sea-wall nest sites without any need for behavioural plasticity in nest elevation, with individuals selecting sea-wall nest sites more often by chance.…”

Section: (C) Counter-acting Selection Pressuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

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No phenotypic plasticity in nest-site selection in response to extreme flooding events

Bailey

Ens

Both

et al. 2017

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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One contribution of 14 to a theme issue 'Behavioural, ecological and evolutionary responses to extreme climatic events'. Phenotypic plasticity is a crucial mechanism for responding to changes in climatic means, yet we know little about its role in responding to extreme climatic events (ECEs). ECEs may lack the reliable cues necessary for phenotypic plasticity to evolve; however, this has not been empirically tested. We investigated whether behavioural plasticity in nest-site selection allows a long-lived shorebird (Haematopus ostralegus) to respond to flooding. We collected longitudinal nest elevation data on individuals over two decades, during which time flooding events have become increasingly frequent. We found no evidence that individuals learn from flooding experiences, showing nest elevation change consistent with random nest-site selection. There was also no evidence of phenotypic plasticity in response to potential environmental cues (lunar nodal cycle and water height). A small number of individuals, those nesting near an artificial sea wall, did show an increase in nest elevation over time; however, there is no conclusive evidence this occurred in response to ECEs. Our study population showed no behavioural plasticity in response to changing ECE patterns. More research is needed to determine whether this pattern is consistent across species and types of ECEs. If so, ECEs may pose a major challenge to the resilience of wild populations.This article is part of the themed issue 'Behavioural, ecological and evolutionary responses to extreme climatic events'.

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Section: (B) Study Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (C) Counter-acting Selection Pressuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

No phenotypic plasticity in nest-site selection in response to extreme flooding events

Bailey

Ens

Both

et al. 2017

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

Self Cite

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“…The trends found in this study were compared to similar analyses available for a range of other European countries: Bulgaria (Michev and Profirov 2003), Sweden (Nilsson 2008), Ireland , the Netherlands (Hustings et al 2009), France (Fouque et al 2009), the UK (Calbrade et al 2010), Portugal (Catry et al 2011), the Czech Republic (Musil et al 2011), Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands (Wadden Sea; Van Roomen et al 2012), and as found in this study, the number of increasing species was higher than the number of decreasing species in Bulgaria, Sweden, the Netherlands (part), France, the UK and the Czech Republic. In contrast, decreasing species were in the majority in the Irish and Wadden Sea (German/Danish/Dutch) studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

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

Liordos

Pergantis²,

Perganti³

et al. 2014

Zool. Stud.

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“…migratory shorebirds (Swennen 1976;van de Kam et al 2004;Reise et al 2010;van Roomen et al 2012). This ecosystem is subject to many external forces, many of the human ones contributing to the degradation of ecosystem functioning (de Jonge and Essink 1993;Wolff 2005;Eriksson et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unexpected dietary preferences of Eurasian Spoonbills in the Dutch Wadden Sea: spoonbills mainly feed on small fish not shrimp

et al. 2018

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After an historical absence, over the last decades Eurasian Spoonbills Platalea leucorodia leucorodia have returned to breed on the barrier islands of the Wadden Sea. The area offers an abundance of predator-free nesting habitat, low degrees of disturbance, and an extensive intertidal feeding area with increasing stocks of brown shrimp Crangon crangon, the assumed main prey of P. leucorodia leucorodia. Nevertheless, newly established and expanding colonies of spoonbills have surprisingly quickly reached plateau levels. Here we tested the often stated assertion that spoonbills mainly rely on brown shrimp as food, by quantifying the diet of chicks on the basis of regurgitates and by analysis of blood isotopes using stable isotope Bayesian mixing models. Both methods showed that, rather than brown shrimp being the staple food of spoonbill chicks, small flatfish (especially plaice Pleuronectes platessa) and gobies (Pomatoschistus spp.) were their main prey. Unlike shrimp, small flatfish have been reported to be rather scarce in the Wadden Sea in recent years, which may explain the rapid saturation of colony size due to food-related density-dependent recruitment declines of growing colonies. By way of their diet and colony growth characteristics, spoonbills may thus indicate the availability of small fish in the Wadden Sea. We predict that the recovery to former densities of young flatfish and other juvenile/small fish in the Wadden Sea will be tracked by changing diets (more fish) and an increase in the size of Eurasian Spoonbill colonies across the Wadden Sea. Keywords

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Signals from the Wadden sea: Population declines dominate among waterbirds depending on intertidal mudflats

Cited by 57 publications

References 17 publications

No phenotypic plasticity in nest-site selection in response to extreme flooding events

No phenotypic plasticity in nest-site selection in response to extreme flooding events

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

Unexpected dietary preferences of Eurasian Spoonbills in the Dutch Wadden Sea: spoonbills mainly feed on small fish not shrimp

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