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- Eichholz, Michael W., et al.
(författare)
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Nest site selection by Holarctic waterfowl : a multi-level review
- 2014
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Ingår i: Wildfowl. - 0954-6324 .- 2052-6458. ; :Special Issue 4, s. 86-130
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Because of birds’ mobility, behaviour and many species’ migratory nature, they select repeatedly and spatially among habitats and have been central figures in studies of avian breeding habitat selection during the 20th and 21st centuries. The scientific literature on habitat use by breeding waterfowl has origins dating back to the writings of Charles Darwin in The Voyage of the Beagle, wherein he described the distribution and habitat differences of two species of geese on the Falkland Islands. Since that time, waterfowl ecologists have gone from descriptive studies of nest site characteristics used for planning waterfowl conservation and management to comparing nest site use in relation to potential habitat availability and determining selection for a wide array of ecological correlates. Waterfowl ecologists most recently have been investigating the adaptive significance of nest site selection by associating the latter with individual fitness and demographic measurements to assess the birds’ adaptability under environmental conditions at multiple scales of selection. While little direct assessment of 1st and 2nd order nest site selection has occurred (sensu Johnson 1980), available information is most consistent with the hypothesis that selection at these scales is driven by food availability. At the 3rd and 4th order of selection, data are consistent with hypotheses that both food availability and predator avoidance drive nest site selection, depending on the species and type of nesting aggregation. We also identify understudied areas of nest site selection important for the conservation and management of waterfowl and suggest that the large-scale influence of current anthropogenic and natural effects on the environment indicates that greater emphasis should be directed toward understanding waterfowl nest site selection at the 1st and 2nd orders of selection and how nesting habitat selection interfaces with community ecology of sympatric breeding waterfowl. Moreover, because habitat selection of prefledging waterfowl is inherently linked to breeding habitat selection, we suggest an updated review of brood habitat selection should ensue from our synthesis here.
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| 2. |
- Stafford, Joshua D., et al.
(författare)
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Spring migration of waterfowl in the northern hemisphere : a conservation perspective
- 2014
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Ingår i: Wildfowl. - 0954-6324 .- 2052-6458. ; :Special Issue 4, s. 70-85
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Spring migration is a key part of the annual cycle for waterfowl populations in the northern hemisphere, due to its temporal proximity to the breeding season and because resources may be limited at one or more staging sites. Research based on field observations during spring lags behind other periods of the year, despite the potential for fitness consequences through diminished survival or cross-seasonal effects of conditions experienced during migration. Consequently, conservation strategies for waterfowl on spring migration are often only refined versions of practices used during autumn and winter. Here we discuss the current state of knowledge of habitat requirements for waterfowl at their spring migratory sites and the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that lead to variability in those requirements. The provision of plant foods has become the main conservation strategy during spring because of the birds’ energy requirements at this time, not only to fuel migration but to facilitate early clutch formation on arrival at the breeding grounds. Although energy sources are important to migrants, there is little evidence on the extent to which the availability of carbohydrate-based food is limiting for many migratory waterfowl populations. Such limitation is relatively unlikely among populations that exploit agricultural grain during migration (e.g. arctic-nesting geese), suggesting that conservation strategies for these populations may be misplaced. In general, however, we found few cases in which an ecological understanding of spring-migrating waterfowl was sufficient to indicate true resource limitation during migration, and still fewer cases where conservation efforts ameliorated these limitations. We propose a framework that aims to address knowledge gaps and apply empirical research results to conservation strategies based on documented limitations and associated fitness impacts on migrating waterfowl. Such a strategy would improve allocation of scarce conservation resources during spring migration and greatly improve ecological understanding of migratory waterfowl and their habitats in the northern hemisphere.
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