Late snowmelt can result in smaller eggs in Arctic shorebirds

• Published in: Polar Biology
• Main Authors: Martin, Jean-Louis, Smith, Paul Allen, Béchet, Arnaud, Daufresne, Tanguy
• Other Authors: Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Environment and Climate Change Canada, Institut de recherche de la Tour du Valat, Ecologie fonctionnelle et biogéochimie des sols et des agro-écosystèmes (UMR Eco&Sols), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro), French Institute for Polar Research and Technology (IFRTP, now IPEV)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2018
• Subjects: Breeding phenology; Response to weather; Migratory birds; Reproductive success; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; Arctic; Climate change; Polar Biology
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02371341; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-018-2365-7

International audience Migratory birds often travel long distances between non-breeding and breeding areas. The suitability of weather and foraging conditions they experience upon arrival at their breeding grounds is an essential component explaining the timing and success of reproduction. Climate change has been identified as a major contributor to "mismatches" in resource phenology and timing of reproduction in animal populations. Climate models project a disproportionate degree of warming at high latitudes, thus the potential for marked temperature-related mismatches in polar regions. Timing of breeding for many Arctic species is also governed by snowmelt. Current models project a general increase in winter precipitation for the Arctic, which can lead to years of delayed snowmelt despite the overall warming trend. This delayed snowmelt could affect phenology, or the availability of resources for egg production. We use an unplanned contrast in dates of snowmelt during a two year research program in the Canadian Arctic to explore the hypothesis that, for Arctic-breeding shorebirds with fixed clutch sizes and an income-breeding strategy, adjustment of reproductive effort to delayed snowmelt could result in a reduced egg size. We compared egg volume in clutches of several shorebird species in the two consecutive years. We found significant variation in egg volume between years, with eggs approximately 5% smaller in the year of late snowmelt, suggesting that shorebirds faced with adverse conditions upon arrival to their breeding grounds can respond by decreasing egg-size. A larger sample of years, sites and shorebird species would help to clarify the generality of this response.