Data from: Inter-annual variability and long-term trends in breeding success in a declining population of migratory swans ...

• Main Authors: Wood, Kevin A., Newth, Julia L., Hilton, Geoff M., Nolet, Bart A., Rees, Eileen C.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2016
• Subjects: Cygnus columbianus bewickii; Animal demography; Arctic; Cygnus columbianus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.65k7g; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.65k7g

Population declines among migratory Arctic-breeding birds are a growing concern for conservationists. To inform the conservation of these declining populations, we need to understand how demographic rates such as breeding success are influenced by combinations of extrinsic and intrinsic factors. In this study we examined inter-annual variation and long-term trends in two aspects of the breeding success of a migratory herbivore, the Bewick's swan Cygnus columbianus bewickii, which is currently undergoing a population decline: 1) the percentage of young within the wintering population and 2) mean brood size. We used an information-theoretic approach to test how these two measures of productivity were influenced over a 26 yr period by 12 potential explanatory variables, encompassing both environmental (e.g. temperature) and intrinsic (e.g. pair-bond duration) factors. Swan productivity exhibited sensitivity to both types of explanatory variable. Fewer young were observed on the wintering grounds in years in ... : Wood et al 2016 Bewick Swan breeding success paper dataA Microsoft Excel spreadsheet containing the raw and standardized values for all variables used in the analysis of Bewick's Swan breeding success. The data cover the period 1988-2013. A legend describing the identity of each variable is also included. Further information on the data analysis is available in the published paper.Wood et al 2016 Data for Dryad.xlsx ...