Vulnerability to predation may affect species distribution: plovers with broader arctic breeding range nest in safer habitat

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Léandri-Breton, Don-Jean, Bêty, Joël
• Other Authors: Gouvernement du Canada | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Nature et Technologies, ArcticNet, Polar Knowledge Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Northern Scientific Training Program
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2020
• Subjects: Multidisciplinary; Arctic; Arctic Fox; Tundra
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61956-6; http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-61956-6.pdf; http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-61956-6

Abstract Lower vulnerability to predation should increase the capacity of prey populations to maintain positive population growth rate in regions characterized by high predation pressure. Some arctic-nesting shorebirds nest almost exclusively in areas where predation pressure is regularly released. The few species that can breed within the entire distribution range of the Arctic Fox, the main nest predator in the arctic tundra, are supposedly less sensitive to predation. However, empirical data supporting this hypothesis are scarce and mechanisms driving interspecific variation in vulnerability to nest predation are poorly documented. We monitored nest success of two arctic-nesting shorebirds with contrasting breeding distribution and nesting habitat. We found that (i) when co-existing at the same breeding site, the widely distributed Ringed Plovers nesting along stony shores showed a higher nest survival rate than the Golden Plovers nesting in mesic tundra, and (ii) such differences in nest survival were at least partly driven by the nesting habitat type per se , with lower predation risk in stony shores than in adjacent mesic tundra. We suggest that the use of safer nesting habitat by some shorebird species can contribute to maintaining viable breeding populations over a broader distribution range.