Temperature‐related increases in grass growth and greater competition for food drive earlier migrational departure of wintering Whooper Swans

Stirnemann, Rebecca L.; O’Halloran, John; Ridgway, Margaret; Donnelly, Alison

doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.2012.01230.x

Cited by 22 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…; Stirnemann et al . ), reducing the costs of waiting at the breeding grounds. Such effects may be small in dark‐bellied brent geese, however, because departure is probably more triggered by wind conditions (Green ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Faltering lemming cycles reduce productivity and population size of a migratory Arctic goose species

Nolet

Bauer

Feige

et al. 2013

Journal of Animal Ecology

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1. The huge changes in population sizes of Arctic-nesting geese offer a great opportunity to study population limitation in migratory animals. In geese, population limitation seems to have shifted from wintering to summering grounds. There, in the Arctic, climate is rapidly changing, and this may impact reproductive performance, and perhaps population size of geese, both directly (e.g. by changes in snow melt) or indirectly (e.g. by changes in trophic interactions).2. Dark-bellied brent geese (Branta bernicla bernicla L.) increased 20-fold since the 1950s. Its reproduction fluctuates strongly in concert with the 3-year lemming cycle. An earlier analysis, covering the growth period until 1988, did not find evidence for density dependence, but thereafter the population levelled off and even decreased. The question is whether this is caused by changes in lemming cycles, population density or other factors like carry-over effects.3. Breeding success was derived from proportions of juveniles. We used an information-theoretical approach to investigate which environmental factors best explained the variation in breeding success over nearly 50 years (1960–2008). We subsequently combined GLM predictions of breeding success with published survival estimates to project the population trajectory since 1991 (year of maximum population size). In this way, we separated the effects of lemming abundance and population density on population development.4. Breeding success was mainly dependent on lemming abundance, the onset of spring at the breeding grounds, and the population size of brent goose. No evidence was found for carry-over effects (i.e. effects of conditions at main spring staging site). Negative density dependence was operating at a population size above c. 200 000 individuals, but the levelling off of the population could be explained by faltering lemming cycles alone.5. Lemmings have long been known to affect population productivity of Arctic-nesting migratory birds and, more recently, possibly population dynamics of resident bird species, but this is the first evidence for effects of lemming abundance on population size of a migratory bird species. Why lemming cycles are faltering in the last two decades is unclear, but this may be associated with changes in winter climate at Taimyr Peninsula (Siberia).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Faltering lemming cycles reduce productivity and population size of a migratory Arctic goose species

Nolet

Bauer

Feige

et al. 2013

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…Generally, animal behaviours would change with changed ambient environment factors such as temperature and food conditions (Ogden et al, ; Rees et al, ). When spring temperature and food resource changed, there were different departure patterns existing between early and late migrating swans (Stirnemann et al, ). During their migratory flight, the whooper swans were not able to refuel and must store all the energetic resources before their departure (Pennycuick, Einarsson, Bradbury, & Owen, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioural responses of the whooper swansCygnus cygnusto human disturbance and their adaptability to the different habitats in the Rongcheng lagoon of China

et al. 2018

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With urbanization influences and economic development, the area and integrity of coastal wetlands are suffering destruction in China, which would affect waterfowl wintering. The Rongcheng Lake is an important wintering ground for migratory birds in Central Asia, especially for whooper swans Cygnus cygnus. In this study, we investigated the numbers and behaviours of the whooper swans in the different habitats of the Swan Lake from November in 2015 to April in 2016, collected 72 water samples in the estuaries, and carried out food addition experiments in order to analyse the behavioural responses and adaptability of the whooper swans to the changing environment. Our results showed that the dominant behaviour of the whooper swans was resting, followed by feeding and locomotion and the whooper swans mainly distributed in the beach, estuary, and lagoon. Moreover, their distributions were affected by fresh water and food availability, whereas the human disturbance played an important role in their distributions and behavioural variations. To adapt to the changing environment, different wintering strategies were adopted by the whooper swans during the different overwintering period. The estuary protection and human feeding were very vital tools to help the whooper swans adjust their body to prepare for migrating next year.

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“…Climate change affects bird migration phenology (Knudsen et al 2011;Møller 2013). Increased temperature in early spring causes changes in food availability and influences the timing of spring migration and reproductive success (Møller et al 2010;Fox & Walsh 2012;Stirnemann et al 2012;Penteriani et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Generally, the photoperiod regulates the onset of migration, whereas the migratory schedule along the route may be fine-tuned by environmental factors such as food, temperature, precipitation, wind, predators and disturbance (Newton 2008;Si et al 2015a). Temperature is one of the most important environmental factors influencing food supply, water availability and habitat conditions (Newton 2008;Tøttrup et al 2010;Møller 2011;Stirnemann et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local temperature and El Niño Southern Oscillation influence migration phenology of East Asian migratory waterbirds wintering in Poyang, China

Liu

2017

Integrative Zoology

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Temperature is a critical factor influencing avian phenology, due to its direct impact on food and water availability. Most previous studies have focused on the timing of spring migration and the arrival of birds at breeding grounds along the European and American flyways; little is known about migration ecology at the wintering sites along the Asian flyways. Using linear regression models, this study investigates how local temperature variation and EI Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influences the arrival and departure timing of 9 waterbird species breeding in Mongolia or Siberia and overwintering in Poyang, China from 2002 to 2013. Birds mainly arrive at Poyang in October and depart for their breeding sites in March. Out of the 9 species, 6 show a strong negative relationship between departure time and overwintering temperature in Poyang. Departure dates also show a negative association with overwintering ENSO and March ENSO for two species. Both local and large-scale climate indices show no influence on the arrival timing of waterbirds. We suggest that birds react to the annual variation of overwintering temperature: an earlier departure of waterbirds is facilitated by a warmer overwintering period and vice versa. The long-term accumulated temperature effect is more pronounced than ENSO and the short-term local temperature effect. Our findings could help quantify the potential impact of global warming on waterbirds.

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Temperature‐related increases in grass growth and greater competition for food drive earlier migrational departure of wintering Whooper Swans

Cited by 22 publications

References 38 publications

Faltering lemming cycles reduce productivity and population size of a migratory Arctic goose species

Faltering lemming cycles reduce productivity and population size of a migratory Arctic goose species

Behavioural responses of the whooper swansCygnus cygnusto human disturbance and their adaptability to the different habitats in the Rongcheng lagoon of China

Local temperature and El Niño Southern Oscillation influence migration phenology of East Asian migratory waterbirds wintering in Poyang, China

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