Dataset Information

Alligator presence influences colony site selection of long-legged wading birds through large scale facilitative nest protector relationship.

ABSTRACT: Positive ecological relationships, such as facilitation, are an important force in community organization. The effects of facilitative relationships can be strong enough to cause changes in the distributions of species and in many cases have evolved as a response to predation pressure, however, very little is known about this potential trend in vertebrate facilitative relationships. Predation is an important selective pressure that may strongly influence breeding site selection by nesting birds. The American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) facilitates a safer nesting location for wading birds (Ciconiiformes and Pelecaniformes) by deterring mammalian nest predators from breeding sites. However, alligators do not occur throughout the breeding range of most wading birds, and it is unclear whether alligator presence affects colony site selection. We predicted that nesting wading birds change colony site preferences when alligators are not present to serve as nest protectors. Within the northern fringe of alligator distribution we compared colony characteristics in locations where alligator presence was either likely or unlikely while controlling for availability of habitat. Wading birds preferred islands that were farther from the mainland and farther from landmasses?>?5 ha when alligator presence was unlikely compared to when alligators were likely. These findings indicate that wading birds are seeking nesting locations that are less accessible to mammalian predators when alligators are not present, and that this requirement is relaxed when alligators are present. This study illustrates how a landscape-scale difference between realized and fundamental niche can result from a facilitative relationship in vertebrates.

SUBMITTER: Gabel W

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7806806 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Alligator presence influences colony site selection of long-legged wading birds through large scale facilitative nest protector relationship.

Gabel Wray W Frederick Peter P Zabala Jabi J

Scientific reports 20210113 1

Positive ecological relationships, such as facilitation, are an important force in community organization. The effects of facilitative relationships can be strong enough to cause changes in the distributions of species and in many cases have evolved as a response to predation pressure, however, very little is known about this potential trend in vertebrate facilitative relationships. Predation is an important selective pressure that may strongly influence breeding site selection by nesting birds. ...[more]

PMID: 33441857

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Project description:BackgroundAs for other life history traits, variation occurs in movement patterns with important impacts on population demography and community interactions. Individuals can show variation in the extent of seasonal movement (or migration) or can change migratory routes among years. Internal factors, such as age or body condition, may strongly influence changes in movement patterns. Indeed, young individuals often tend to move across larger spatial scales compared to adults, but relatively few studies have investigated the proximate and ultimate factors driving such variation. This is particularly the case for seabirds in which the sub-adult period is long and difficult to follow. Here, we examine migration variation and the factors that affect it in a common Mediterranean seabird, the Yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis).MethodsThe data include the encounter histories of 5158 birds marked as fledglings between 1999 and 2004 at 14 different colonies in southern France and resighted over 10 years. Using a multi-event mark-recapture modeling framework, we use these data to estimate the probability of movement and survival, taking into account recapture heterogeneity and age.ResultsIn accordance with previous studies, we find that young individuals have greater mobility than older individuals. However, the spatial extent of juvenile movements depends on natal colony location, with a strong difference in the proportion of sedentary individuals among colonies less than 50 km apart. Colony quality or local population dynamics may explain these differences. Indeed, young birds from colonies with strong juvenile survival probabilities (~ 0.75) appear to be more sedentary than those from colonies with low survival probabilities (~ 0.36).ConclusionsThis study shows the importance of studying individuals of different ages and from different colonies when trying to understand seabird movement strategies. Local breeding success and the availability of food resources may explain part of the among colony differences we observe and require explicit testing. We discuss our results with respect to the feedback loop that may occur between breeding success and mobility, and its potential implications for population demography and the dissemination of avian disease at different spatial scales.

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Dataset Information

Alligator presence influences colony site selection of long-legged wading birds through large scale facilitative nest protector relationship.

Publications

Alligator presence influences colony site selection of long-legged wading birds through large scale facilitative nest protector relationship.

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