Dataset Information

Variation in clutch size in relation to nest size in birds.

ABSTRACT: Nests are structures built to support and protect eggs and/or offspring from predators, parasites, and adverse weather conditions. Nests are mainly constructed prior to egg laying, meaning that parent birds must make decisions about nest site choice and nest building behavior before the start of egg-laying. Parent birds should be selected to choose nest sites and to build optimally sized nests, yet our current understanding of clutch size-nest size relationships is limited to small-scale studies performed over short time periods. Here, we quantified the relationship between clutch size and nest size, using an exhaustive database of 116 slope estimates based on 17,472 nests of 21 species of hole and non-hole-nesting birds. There was a significant, positive relationship between clutch size and the base area of the nest box or the nest, and this relationship did not differ significantly between open nesting and hole-nesting species. The slope of the relationship showed significant intraspecific and interspecific heterogeneity among four species of secondary hole-nesting species, but also among all 116 slope estimates. The estimated relationship between clutch size and nest box base area in study sites with more than a single size of nest box was not significantly different from the relationship using studies with only a single size of nest box. The slope of the relationship between clutch size and nest base area in different species of birds was significantly negatively related to minimum base area, and less so to maximum base area in a given study. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that bird species have a general reaction norm reflecting the relationship between nest size and clutch size. Further, they suggest that scientists may influence the clutch size decisions of hole-nesting birds through the provisioning of nest boxes of varying sizes.

SUBMITTER: Moller AP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4224533 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Variation in clutch size in relation to nest size in birds.

Møller Anders P AP Adriaensen Frank F Artemyev Alexandr A Bańbura Jerzy J Barba Emilio E Biard Clotilde C Blondel Jacques J Bouslama Zihad Z Bouvier Jean-Charles JC Camprodon Jordi J Cecere Francesco F Charmantier Anne A Charter Motti M Cichoń Mariusz M Cusimano Camillo C Czeszczewik Dorota D Demeyrier Virginie V Doligez Blandine B Doutrelant Claire C Dubiec Anna A Eens Marcel M Eeva Tapio T Faivre Bruno B Ferns Peter N PN Forsman Jukka T JT García-Del-Rey Eduardo E Goldshtein Aya A Goodenough Anne E AE Gosler Andrew G AG Góźdź Iga I Grégoire Arnaud A Gustafsson Lars L Hartley Ian R IR Heeb Philipp P Hinsley Shelley A SA Isenmann Paul P Jacob Staffan S Järvinen Antero A Juškaitis Rimvydas R Korpimäki Erkki E Krams Indrikis I Laaksonen Toni T Leclercq Bernard B Lehikoinen Esa E Loukola Olli O Lundberg Arne A Mainwaring Mark C MC Mänd Raivo R Massa Bruno B Mazgajski Tomasz D TD Merino Santiago S Mitrus Cezary C Mönkkönen Mikko M Morales-Fernaz Judith J Morin Xavier X Nager Ruedi G RG Nilsson Jan-Åke JÅ Nilsson Sven G SG Norte Ana C AC Orell Markku M Perret Philippe P Pimentel Carla S CS Pinxten Rianne R Priedniece Ilze I Quidoz Marie-Claude MC Remeš Vladimir V Richner Heinz H Robles Hugo H Rytkönen Seppo S Senar Juan Carlos JC Seppänen Janne T JT Seppänen Janne T JT da Silva Luís P LP Slagsvold Tore T Solonen Tapio T Sorace Alberto A Stenning Martyn J MJ Török János J Tryjanowski Piotr P van Noordwijk Arie J AJ von Numers Mikael M Walankiewicz Wiesław W Lambrechts Marcel M MM

Ecology and evolution 20140902 18

Nests are structures built to support and protect eggs and/or offspring from predators, parasites, and adverse weather conditions. Nests are mainly constructed prior to egg laying, meaning that parent birds must make decisions about nest site choice and nest building behavior before the start of egg-laying. Parent birds should be selected to choose nest sites and to build optimally sized nests, yet our current understanding of clutch size-nest size relationships is limited to small-scale studies ...[more]

PMID: 25478150

Similar Datasets

Project description:The increase in size of human populations in urban and agricultural areas has resulted in considerable habitat conversion globally. Such anthropogenic areas have specific environmental characteristics, which influence the physiology, life history, and population dynamics of plants and animals. For example, the date of bud burst is advanced in urban compared to nearby natural areas. In some birds, breeding success is determined by synchrony between timing of breeding and peak food abundance. Pertinently, caterpillars are an important food source for the nestlings of many bird species, and their abundance is influenced by environmental factors such as temperature and date of bud burst. Higher temperatures and advanced date of bud burst in urban areas could advance peak caterpillar abundance and thus affect breeding phenology of birds. In order to test whether laying date advance and clutch sizes decrease with the intensity of urbanization, we analyzed the timing of breeding and clutch size in relation to intensity of urbanization as a measure of human impact in 199 nest box plots across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East (i.e., the Western Palearctic) for four species of hole-nesters: blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus), great tits (Parus major), collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis), and pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca). Meanwhile, we estimated the intensity of urbanization as the density of buildings surrounding study plots measured on orthophotographs. For the four study species, the intensity of urbanization was not correlated with laying date. Clutch size in blue and great tits does not seem affected by the intensity of urbanization, while in collared and pied flycatchers it decreased with increasing intensity of urbanization. This is the first large-scale study showing a species-specific major correlation between intensity of urbanization and the ecology of breeding. The underlying mechanisms for the relationships between life history and urbanization remain to be determined. We propose that effects of food abundance or quality, temperature, noise, pollution, or disturbance by humans may on their own or in combination affect laying date and/or clutch size.

Project description:Habitat selection by animals is influenced by and mitigates the effects of predation and environmental extremes. For birds, nest site selection is crucial to offspring production because nests are exposed to extreme weather and predation pressure. Predators that forage using olfaction often dominate nest predator communities; therefore, factors that influence olfactory detection (e.g., airflow and weather variables, including turbulence and moisture) should influence nest site selection and survival. However, few studies have assessed the importance of olfactory cover for habitat selection and survival. We assessed whether ground-nesting birds select nest sites based on visual and/or olfactory cover. Additionally, we assessed the importance of visual cover and airflow and weather variables associated with olfactory cover in influencing nest survival. In managed grasslands in Oklahoma, USA, we monitored nests of Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna), and Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) during 2015 and 2016. To assess nest site selection, we compared cover variables between nests and random points. To assess factors influencing nest survival, we used visual cover and olfactory-related measurements (i.e., airflow and weather variables) to model daily nest survival. For nest site selection, nest sites had greater overhead visual cover than random points, but no other significant differences were found. Weather variables hypothesized to influence olfactory detection, specifically precipitation and relative humidity, were the best predictors of and were positively related to daily nest survival. Selection for overhead cover likely contributed to mitigation of thermal extremes and possibly reduced detectability of nests. For daily nest survival, we hypothesize that major nest predators focused on prey other than the monitored species' nests during high moisture conditions, thus increasing nest survival on these days. Our study highlights how mechanistic approaches to studying cover informs which dimensions are perceived and selected by animals and which dimensions confer fitness-related benefits.

Dataset Information

Variation in clutch size in relation to nest size in birds.

Publications

Variation in clutch size in relation to nest size in birds.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets