Timing of Breeding Site Availability Across the North-American Arctic Partly Determines Spring Migration Schedule in a Long-Distance Neotropical Migrant
Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: Long-distance migrants are under strong selection to arrive on their breeding grounds at a time that maximizes fitness. Many arctic birds start nesting shortly after snow recedes from their breeding sites and timing of snowmelt can vary substantially over the breeding range of widespread species. We tested the hypothesis that migration schedules of individuals co-occurring at the same non-breeding areas are adapted to average local environmental conditions encountered at their specific and distant Arctic breeding locations. We predicted that timing of breeding site availability (measured here as the average snow-free date) should explain individual variation in departure time from shared non-breeding areas. We tested our prediction by tracking American Golden-Plovers (Pluvialis dominica) nesting across the North-American Arctic. These plovers use a non-breeding (wintering) area in South America and share a spring stopover area in the nearctic temperate grasslands, located >1,800 km away from their nesting locations. As plovers co-occur at the same non-breeding areas but use breeding sites segregated by latitude and longitude, we could disentangle the potential confounding effects of migration distance and timing of breeding site availability on individual migration schedule. As predicted, departure date of individuals stopping-over in sympatry was positively related to the average snow-free date at their respective breeding location, which was also related to individual onset of incubation. Departure date from the shared stopover area was not explained by the distance between the stopover and the breeding location, nor by the stopover duration of individuals. This strongly suggests that plover migration schedule is adapted to and driven by the timing of breeding site availability per se. The proximate mechanism underlying the variable migration schedule of individuals is unknown and may result from genetic differences or individual learning. Temperatures are currently changing at different speeds across the Arctic and this likely generates substantial heterogeneity in the strength of selection pressure on migratory schedule of arctic birds migrating sympatrically.
Authors: Jean-François Lamarre, Gilles Gauthier, Richard B. Lanctot, Sarah T. Saalfeld, Oliver P. Love, Eric Reed, Oscar W. Johnson, Joe Liebezeit, Rebecca McGuire, Mike Russell, Erica Nol, Laura Koloski, Felicia Sanders, Laura McKinnon, Paul A. Smith, Scott A. Flemming, Nicolas Lecomte, Marie-Andrée Giroux, Silke Bauer, Tamara Emmenegger, Joël Bêty
Institutions: Université du Québec à Rimouski, Center for Northern Studies, Polar Knowledge Canada, Université Laval, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, University of Windsor, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Montana State University, National Audubon Society, Wildlife Conservation Society, Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, Trent University, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, York University, Université de Moncton, Swiss Ornithological Institute, Lund University
Language: English
Topic: Avian ecology and behavior
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,490
Funders: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Arctic Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Université de Moncton, Government of Alberta, Parks Canada, New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, W. Garfield Weston Foundation, Churchill Northern Studies Centre, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies
OpenAlex ID: W3210076619