Individuals of a group-living shorebird show smaller home range overlap when food availability is low

Peng，He Bo1,2,9; Choi，Chi Yeung3,4,5; Ma，Zhijun6; Bijleveld，Allert I.2; Melville，David S.7; Piersma，Theunis1,2,8,9

2023-12-01

10.1186/s40462-023-00427-9

Movement Ecology   影响因子和分区

2051-3933

Background: Group living animals, such as shorebirds foraging on intertidal mudflats, may use social information about where to find hidden food items. However, flocking also increases intraspecific competition for resources, which may be exacerbated by food scarcity. Therefore, although aggregation may bring benefits, it may also increase the intensity of intraspecific competition. Methods: We examined this trade-off in adult great knots Calidris tenuirostris, a molluscivorous long-distance migrating shorebird species, using interannual variation based on 2 years with different levels of food availability during their northward migratory staging in the northern Yellow Sea, China. We estimated individual home ranges and the extent of spatial overlap of home ranges of individually tagged birds in 2012 and 2015, whilst discounting for possible differences in body size, body mass, sex and migration schedule between years. Results: We found that home range size was not associated with body mass, arrival date, body size, or sex of the individual. Despite a significant difference in food availability between the two study years, there was no significant change in the 50% and 95% home range size of great knots in the contrasting situations. However, there was a significantly smaller spatial overlap between individuals in the year when food was less available, suggesting that great knots operated more independently when food was scarce than when it was abundant. Conclusions: These results suggest that minimizing intraspecific competition became more important when food was scarce. Where it is impossible to monitor all habitats en route, monitoring the local movements of shorebirds may offer a way to detect changes in habitat quality in real time.

Aggregation Food shortage Migratory shorebirds Overlap Waders

SCI

英语

其他

WOS:001091411500003

2-s2.0-85175009942

Scopus

1.Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES),University of Groningen,Groningen,P.O. Box 11103,9700 CC,Netherlands
2.Department of Coastal Systems,NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research,Den Burg, Texel,PO Box 59,1790 AB,Netherlands
3.Division of Natural and Applied Sciences,Duke Kunshan University,Kunshan,Jiangsu,215316,China
4.Environmental Research Center,Duke Kunshan University,Kunshan,Jiangsu,215316,China
5.School of Environmental Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,China
6.Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity,Science and Ecological Engineering,National Observations and Research Station for Wetland Ecosystems of the Yangtze Estuary,and Institute of Eco-Chongming (SIEC),School of Life Sciences,Fudan University,Shanghai,200433,China
7.Global Flyway Network,Nelson,c/o 1261 Dovedale Road, RD2 Wakefield,7096,New Zealand
8.CEAAF Center for East Asian-Australasian Flyway Studies,Beijing Forestry University,Beijing,Qinghua East Road 35, Haidian District,100083,China
9.BirdEyes,Centre for Global Ecological Change at Faculties of Science and Engineering and Campus Fryslân,University of Groningen,Leeuwarden,Zaailand 110,8911 BN,Netherlands

Peng，He Bo,Choi，Chi Yeung,Ma，Zhijun,et al. Individuals of a group-living shorebird show smaller home range overlap when food availability is low[J]. Movement Ecology,2023,11(1).

Peng，He Bo,Choi，Chi Yeung,Ma，Zhijun,Bijleveld，Allert I.,Melville，David S.,&Piersma，Theunis.(2023).Individuals of a group-living shorebird show smaller home range overlap when food availability is low.Movement Ecology,11(1).

Peng，He Bo,et al."Individuals of a group-living shorebird show smaller home range overlap when food availability is low".Movement Ecology 11.1(2023).