Habitat-driven vulnerability to nest predation in Arctic-breeding plovers based on artificial nest experiment and real shorebird nest monitoring – Survival dataset ...

• Main Authors: Léandri-Breton, Don-Jean, Bêty, Joël
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2020
• Subjects: Habitat-driven vulnerability; nest predation; Predator Prey Interactions; Arctic Fox; Arctic; Bylot Island; Charadrius hiaticula; Nunavut; Ringed Plover; Sirmilik National Park; Tundra; Vulpes lagopus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4xgxd254v; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.4xgxd254v

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 (Vulpes lagopus), 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 shorebird species with contrasting breeding distribution and nesting habitat. We found that i) when co-existing at the same breeding site, the widely distributed Ringed Plover nesting along stony shores showed a higher nest survival rate than the Golden Plover nesting in mesic tundra, and ii) such differences in nest survival were at ... : Shorebirds nest monitoring This study was conducted over three years (2014-2016) on the southwest plain of Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada (73° 08’ N, 80° 00’ W), located in Sirmilik National Park. The landscape is dominated by mesic tundra on the uplands and both mesic tundra and wetlands in the lowlands. The mesic tundra is covered with relatively lush vegetation for this latitude, mainly composed of low shrubs (Salix, Vaccinium) and forbs (e.g. Cassiope, Dryas) with grasses and mosses. The American Golden Plover (Pluvialis dominica) and the Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula) are both common breeding shorebird species within the study area. The American Golden Plover prefers to breed in the low vegetation of mesic tundra, while the Ringed Plover breeds on stony and sandy shores and gravel bars with scarce vegetation along coasts and rivers. Each summer, nesting plovers were monitored along a 50-km-long coastline. We found nests either opportunistically or through systematic search (line transect surveys) ...