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Forest management affects seasonal source-sink dynamics in a territorial, group-living bird.

ABSTRACT: The persistence of wildlife populations is under threat as a consequence of human activities, which are degrading natural ecosystems. Commercial forestry is the greatest threat to biodiversity in boreal forests. Forestry practices have degraded most available habitat, threatening the persistence of natural populations. Understanding population responses is, therefore, critical for their conservation. Population viability analyses are effective tools to predict population persistence under forestry management. However, quantifying the mechanisms driving population responses is complex as population dynamics vary temporally and spatially. Metapopulation dynamics are governed by local dynamics and spatial factors, potentially mediating the impacts of forestry e.g., through dispersal. Here, we performed a seasonal, spatially explicit population viability analysis, using long-term data from a group-living territorial bird (Siberian jay, Perisoreus infaustus). We quantified the effects of forest management on metapopulation dynamics, via forest type-specific demography and spatially explicit dispersal, and how forestry impacted the stability of metapopulation dynamics. Forestry reduced metapopulation growth and stability, through negative effects on reproduction and survival. Territories in higher quality natural forest contributed more to metapopulation dynamics than managed forests, largely through demographic processes rather than dispersal. Metapopulation dynamics in managed forest were also less resilient to disturbances and consequently, may be more vulnerable to environmental change. Seasonal differences in source-sink dynamics observed in managed forest, but not natural forests, were caused by associated seasonal differences in dispersal. As shown here, capturing seasonal source-sink dynamics allows us to predict population persistence under human disturbance and to provide targeted conservation recommendations.

SUBMITTER: Layton-Matthews K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8241677 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:To better understand the source-sink flow and its relationships with zinc (Zn) and other nutrients in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plants for biofortification and improving grain nutritional quality, the effects of reducing the photoassimilate source (through the flag leaf removal and spike shading) or sink (through the removal of all spikelets from one side of the spike, i.e., 50% spikelets removal) in the field of the accumulation of Zn and other nutrients in grains of two wheat cultivars (Jimai 22 and Jimai 44) were investigated at two soil Zn application levels. The kernel number per spike (KNPS), single panicle weight (SPW), thousand kernel weight (TKW), total grain weight (TGW) sampled, concentrations and yields of various nutrient elements including Zn, iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg), phytate phosphorus (phytate-P), phytic acid (PA) and phytohormones (ABA: abscisic acid, and the ethylene precursor ACC: 1-aminocylopropane-1-carboxylic acid), and carbon/N ratios were determined. Soil Zn application significantly increased the concentrations of grain Zn, N and K. Cultivars showing higher grain yields had lower grain protein and micronutrient nutritional quality. SPW, KNPS, TKW (with the exception of TKW in the removal of half of the spikelets), TGW, and nutrient yields in wheat grains were most severely reduced by half spikelet removal, secondly by spike shading, and slightly by flag leaf removal. Grain concentrations of Zn, N and Mg consistently showed negative correlations with SPW, KNPS and TGW, but positive correlations with TKW. There were general positive correlations among grain concentrations of Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu, N and Mg, and the bioavailability of Zn and Fe (estimated by molar ratios of PA/Zn, PA/Fe, PA × Ca/Zn, or PA × Ca/Fe). Although Zn and Fe concentrations were increased and Ca was decreased in treatments of half spikelet removal and spike shading, the treatments simultaneously increased PA and limited the increase in bioavailability of Zn and Fe. In general, different nutrient elements interact with each other and are affected to different degrees by source-sink manipulation. Elevated endogenous ABA levels and ABA/ACC ratios were associated with increased TKW and grain-filling of Zn, Mn, Ca and Mg, and inhibited K in wheat grains. However, the effects of ACC were diametrically opposite. These results provide a basis for wheat grain biofortification to alleviate human malnutrition.

Project description:BackgroundA challenge faced by animals living in groups with stable long-term membership is to effectively coordinate their actions and maintain cohesion. However, as seasonal conditions alter the distribution of resources across a landscape, they can change the priority of group members and require groups to adapt and respond collectively across changing contexts. Little is known about how stable group-living animals collectively modify their movement behaviour in response to environment changes, such as those induced by seasonality. Further, it remains unclear how environment-induced changes in group-level movement behaviours might scale up to affect population-level properties, such as a population's footprint.MethodsHere we studied the collective movement of each distinct social group in a population of vulturine guineafowl (Acryllium vulturinum), a largely terrestrial and non-territorial bird. We used high-resolution GPS tracking of group members over 22 months, combined with continuous time movement models, to capture how and where groups moved under varying conditions, driven by seasonality and drought.ResultsGroups used larger areas, travelled longer distances, and moved to new places more often during drier seasons, causing a three-fold increase in the area used at the population level when conditions turned to drought. By contrast, groups used smaller areas with more regular movements during wetter seasons.ConclusionsThe consistent changes in collective outcomes we observed in response to different environments raise questions about the role of collective behaviour in facilitating, or impeding, the capacity for individuals to respond to novel environmental conditions. As droughts will be occurring more often under climate change, some group living animals may have to respond to them by expressing dramatic shifts in their regular movement patterns. These shifts can have consequences on their ranging behaviours that can scale up to alter the footprints of animal populations.

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Forest management affects seasonal source-sink dynamics in a territorial, group-living bird.

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