| 1. |
- Jiguet, Frederic, et al.
(författare)
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Desert crossing strategies of migrant songbirds vary between and within species
- 2019
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2045-2322. ; 9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Each year, billions of songbirds cross large ecological barriers during their migration. Understanding how they perform this incredible task is crucial to predict how global change may threaten the safety of such journeys. Earlier studies based on radar suggested that most songbirds cross deserts in intermittent flights at high altitude, stopping in the desert during the day, while recent tracking with light loggers suggested diurnal prolongation of nocturnal flights and common non-stop flights for some species. We analyzed light intensity and temperature data obtained from geolocation loggers deployed on 130 individuals of ten migratory songbird species, and show that a large variety of strategies for crossing deserts exists between, but also sometimes within species. Diurnal stopover in the desert is a common strategy in autumn, while most species prolonged some nocturnal flights into the day. Nonstop flights over the desert occurred more frequently in spring than in autumn, and more frequently in foliage gleaners. Temperature recordings suggest that songbirds crossed deserts with flight bouts performed at various altitudes according to species and season, along a gradient ranging from low above ground in autumn to probably >2000 m above ground level, and possibly at higher altitude in spring. High-altitude flights are therefore not the general rule for crossing deserts in migrant songbirds. We conclude that a diversity of migration strategies exists for desert crossing among songbirds, with variations between but also within species.
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| 2. |
- Jiguet, Frédéric, et al.
(författare)
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Unravelling migration connectivity reveals unsustainable hunting of the declining ortolan bunting
- 2019
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Ingår i: Science Advances. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 2375-2548. ; 5:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In France, illegal hunting of the endangered ortolan bunting Emberiza hortulana has been defended for the sake of tradition and gastronomy. Hunters argued that ortolan buntings trapped in southwest France originate from large and stable populations across the whole of Europe. Yet, the European Commission referred France to the Court of Justice of the European Union (EU) in December 2016 for infringements to legislation (IP/16/4213). To better assess the impact of hunting in France, we combined Pan-European data from archival light loggers, stable isotopes, and genetics to determine the migration strategy of the species across continents. Ortolan buntings migrating through France come from northern and western populations, which are small, fragmented and declining. Population viability modeling further revealed that harvesting in southwest France is far from sustainable and increases extinction risk. These results provide the sufficient scientific evidence for justifying the ban on ortolan harvesting in France.
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| 3. |
- Raković, Marko, et al.
(författare)
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Geographic patterns of mtDNA and Z-linked sequence variation in the Common Chiffchaff and the ‘chiffchaff complex’
- 2019
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Ingår i: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 14:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Common Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita is an abundant, polytypic Palearctic bird. Validity of some of its subspecies is controversial and birds from some parts of the species range remain unclassified taxonomically. The relationships among populations from different geographic areas have not been sufficiently explored with molecular data. In this study we analyzed the relationships among the four species in the ‘chiffchaff complex’ (Common Chiffchaff, Iberian Chiffchaff P. ibericus, Canary Islands Chiffchaff P. canariensis and Mountain Chiffchaff P. sindianus), and the patterns of intraspecific geographic variation in the mtDNA ND2 gene and intron 9 of the Z-linked aconitase gene (ACO1I9) across the Common Chiffchaff range, including a recently discovered population breeding on Mt. Hermon (Anti-Lebanon mountains). Our data supported the monophyly of the chiffchaff complex and its current systematics at the species level. Within the Common Chiffchaff, the Siberian race P. c. tristis was the most differentiated subspecies and may represent a separate or incipient species. Other Common Chiffchaff subspecies also were differentiated in their mtDNA, however, lineages of neighboring subspecies formed wide zones of introgression. The Mt. Hermon population was of mixed genetic origin but contained some birds with novel unique lineage that could not be assigned to known subspecies. All Common Chiffchaff lineages diverged at the end of the Ionian stage of Pleistocene. Lineage sorting of ACO1I9 alleles was not as complete as that of mtDNA. Chiffchaff species were mostly distinct at ACO1I9, except the Common and Canary Islands Chiffchaffs that shared multiple alleles. An AMOVA identified geographic structure in Common Chiffchaff ACO1I9 variation that was broadly consistent with that of mtDNA ND2 gene. The genetic and other data suggest the chiffchaff complex to be a group of evolutionarily young taxa that represent a paradigm of ‘species evolution in action’ from intergrading subspecies through to apparently complete biological speciation.
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| 4. |
- Stanković, Daliborka, et al.
(författare)
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Diversity of avian blood parasites in wild passerines in Serbia with special reference to two new lineages
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Ornithology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2193-7192 .- 2193-7206. ; 160:2, s. 545-555
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Avian haemosporidians are vector-transmitted blood parasites that are distributed worldwide, abundant in many bird families and well studied across Europe and North America. Since avian haemosporidians have been poorly examined in the Palearctic migratory flyways of the Western Balkans, the goal of this study was to investigate which species of three haemosporidian genera, Plasmodium, Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon, infect both resident and migratory passerines in Serbia. The prevalence, distribution and parasitaemia of avian haemosporidian infections were screened using both a nested PCR method and microscopy. Out of 202 birds sampled at seven localities, 66 were infected with haemosporidians, and the total prevalence was 32.7%. The great majority of infected birds (29 individuals) had moderate levels of parasitaemia. The most abundant haemosporidian genus was Haemoproteus at 26.1% prevalence. All infected birds were adults; none of the tested juveniles were infected. Mixed infection was only recorded in one bird. We identified 31 genetic lineages of haemosporidians. Two new cytochrome b lineages, of Plasmodium and Leucocytozoon, were identified and found in the hosts Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) and Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus), respectively. We identified three new host records for previously known lineages. The lineage GRW06 (Plasmodium elongatum) occurred in Common Chaffinch, while the lineages PARUS20 and PARUS25 (Leucocytozoon sp.) were recorded in Willow Tit (Poecile montanus) and Crested Tit (Lophophanes cristatus), respectively. We found statistically significant differences in the prevalence of three haemosporidian genera among residents and partial migrants. The difference in mean parasitaemia was significant only between residents and partial migrants.
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