Breeding in a den of thieves: pros and cons of nesting close to egg predators
Abstract Breeding success of many Arctic‐breeding bird populations varies with lemming cycles due to prey switching behavior of generalist predators. Several bird species breed on islands to escape from generalist predators like Arctic fox Vulpes lagopus, but little is known about how these species...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1353 https://doaj.org/article/743bfccf958a4166be5f0b591ef4dc23 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:743bfccf958a4166be5f0b591ef4dc23 2023-05-15T14:31:13+02:00 Breeding in a den of thieves: pros and cons of nesting close to egg predators Jimmy deFouw Roeland A. Bom Raymond H. G. Klaassen Gerard J. D. M. Müskens Peter P. deVries Igor Yu. Popov Yakov I. Kokorev Barwolt S. Ebbinge Bart A. Nolet 2016-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1353 https://doaj.org/article/743bfccf958a4166be5f0b591ef4dc23 EN eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1353 https://doaj.org/toc/2150-8925 2150-8925 doi:10.1002/ecs2.1353 https://doaj.org/article/743bfccf958a4166be5f0b591ef4dc23 Ecosphere, Vol 7, Iss 6, Pp n/a-n/a (2016) Branta bernicla bernicla clutch size dark‐bellied brent goose guanofication gulls lemming cycle Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1353 2022-12-31T03:49:03Z Abstract Breeding success of many Arctic‐breeding bird populations varies with lemming cycles due to prey switching behavior of generalist predators. Several bird species breed on islands to escape from generalist predators like Arctic fox Vulpes lagopus, but little is known about how these species interact. We studied brent geese Branta bernicla bernicla that share islands with gulls (Larus spec.) in Taimyr, Siberia (Russia). On one hand, gulls are egg predators, which occasionally steal an egg when incubating geese leave the nest for foraging bouts. On the other hand, gulls import marine resources to the islands, enriching the soil with their guano. We considered three hypotheses regarding clutch size of brent geese after partial nest predation. According to the “predator proximity hypothesis”, clutch size is expected to be smallest close to gulls, because of enhanced predator exposure. Conversely, clutch size is expected to be largest close to gulls, because of the supposedly better feeding conditions close to gulls, which might reduce nest recess times of geese and hence egg predation risk (“guano hypothesis”). Furthermore, gulls may defend their nesting territory, and thus nearby goose nests might benefit from this protection against other gulls (“nest association hypothesis”). We mapped goose and gull nests toward the end of the goose incubation period. In accordance with the latter two hypotheses, goose clutch size decreased with distance to the nearest gull nest in all but the lemming peak year. In the lemming peak year, clutch size was consistently high, indicating that partial nest predation was nearly absent. By mapping food quantity and quality, we found that nitrogen availability was indeed higher closer to gull nests, reflecting guanofication. Unlike predicted by the nest association hypothesis, a predation pressure experiment revealed that egg predation rate decreased with distance to the focal gull nests. We therefore propose that higher food availability close to gulls enables female geese to ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Fox Arctic Branta bernicla brent geese Brent goose Taimyr Vulpes lagopus Siberia Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Guano ENVELOPE(141.604,141.604,-66.775,-66.775) Recess ENVELOPE(-61.516,-61.516,-64.500,-64.500) Ecosphere 7 6 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Branta bernicla bernicla clutch size dark‐bellied brent goose guanofication gulls lemming cycle Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
Branta bernicla bernicla clutch size dark‐bellied brent goose guanofication gulls lemming cycle Ecology QH540-549.5 Jimmy deFouw Roeland A. Bom Raymond H. G. Klaassen Gerard J. D. M. Müskens Peter P. deVries Igor Yu. Popov Yakov I. Kokorev Barwolt S. Ebbinge Bart A. Nolet Breeding in a den of thieves: pros and cons of nesting close to egg predators |
topic_facet |
Branta bernicla bernicla clutch size dark‐bellied brent goose guanofication gulls lemming cycle Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Abstract Breeding success of many Arctic‐breeding bird populations varies with lemming cycles due to prey switching behavior of generalist predators. Several bird species breed on islands to escape from generalist predators like Arctic fox Vulpes lagopus, but little is known about how these species interact. We studied brent geese Branta bernicla bernicla that share islands with gulls (Larus spec.) in Taimyr, Siberia (Russia). On one hand, gulls are egg predators, which occasionally steal an egg when incubating geese leave the nest for foraging bouts. On the other hand, gulls import marine resources to the islands, enriching the soil with their guano. We considered three hypotheses regarding clutch size of brent geese after partial nest predation. According to the “predator proximity hypothesis”, clutch size is expected to be smallest close to gulls, because of enhanced predator exposure. Conversely, clutch size is expected to be largest close to gulls, because of the supposedly better feeding conditions close to gulls, which might reduce nest recess times of geese and hence egg predation risk (“guano hypothesis”). Furthermore, gulls may defend their nesting territory, and thus nearby goose nests might benefit from this protection against other gulls (“nest association hypothesis”). We mapped goose and gull nests toward the end of the goose incubation period. In accordance with the latter two hypotheses, goose clutch size decreased with distance to the nearest gull nest in all but the lemming peak year. In the lemming peak year, clutch size was consistently high, indicating that partial nest predation was nearly absent. By mapping food quantity and quality, we found that nitrogen availability was indeed higher closer to gull nests, reflecting guanofication. Unlike predicted by the nest association hypothesis, a predation pressure experiment revealed that egg predation rate decreased with distance to the focal gull nests. We therefore propose that higher food availability close to gulls enables female geese to ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jimmy deFouw Roeland A. Bom Raymond H. G. Klaassen Gerard J. D. M. Müskens Peter P. deVries Igor Yu. Popov Yakov I. Kokorev Barwolt S. Ebbinge Bart A. Nolet |
author_facet |
Jimmy deFouw Roeland A. Bom Raymond H. G. Klaassen Gerard J. D. M. Müskens Peter P. deVries Igor Yu. Popov Yakov I. Kokorev Barwolt S. Ebbinge Bart A. Nolet |
author_sort |
Jimmy deFouw |
title |
Breeding in a den of thieves: pros and cons of nesting close to egg predators |
title_short |
Breeding in a den of thieves: pros and cons of nesting close to egg predators |
title_full |
Breeding in a den of thieves: pros and cons of nesting close to egg predators |
title_fullStr |
Breeding in a den of thieves: pros and cons of nesting close to egg predators |
title_full_unstemmed |
Breeding in a den of thieves: pros and cons of nesting close to egg predators |
title_sort |
breeding in a den of thieves: pros and cons of nesting close to egg predators |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1353 https://doaj.org/article/743bfccf958a4166be5f0b591ef4dc23 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(141.604,141.604,-66.775,-66.775) ENVELOPE(-61.516,-61.516,-64.500,-64.500) |
geographic |
Arctic Guano Recess |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Guano Recess |
genre |
Arctic Fox Arctic Branta bernicla brent geese Brent goose Taimyr Vulpes lagopus Siberia |
genre_facet |
Arctic Fox Arctic Branta bernicla brent geese Brent goose Taimyr Vulpes lagopus Siberia |
op_source |
Ecosphere, Vol 7, Iss 6, Pp n/a-n/a (2016) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1353 https://doaj.org/toc/2150-8925 2150-8925 doi:10.1002/ecs2.1353 https://doaj.org/article/743bfccf958a4166be5f0b591ef4dc23 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1353 |
container_title |
Ecosphere |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
6 |
_version_ |
1766304902712131584 |