Irruptive movements and breeding dispersal of snowy owls: a specialized predator exploiting a pulsed resource
International audience Mobility and irruptive movements have been proposed as mechanisms that could allow some diet specialists to inhabit and breed in environments with highly unpredictable resources, like the arctic tundra. Th e snowy owl, one of the main avian predators of the tundra, is known to...
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ftunivnantes:oai:HAL:hal-00994261v1 2023-05-15T14:55:41+02:00 Irruptive movements and breeding dispersal of snowy owls: a specialized predator exploiting a pulsed resource Therrien, Jean-François Gauthier, Gilles Pinaud, David Bêty, Joël Département de biologie and Centre d'études nordiques Université Laval Québec (ULaval) Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC) Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Departement de Biologie & Centre d'Etudes Nordiques Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR) 2014 https://hal.science/hal-00994261 https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.00426 en eng HAL CCSD Wiley info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1111/jav.00426 hal-00994261 https://hal.science/hal-00994261 doi:10.1111/jav.00426 ISSN: 0908-8857 EISSN: 1600-048X Journal of Avian Biology https://hal.science/hal-00994261 Journal of Avian Biology, 2014, 45, pp.001-009. ⟨10.1111/jav.00426⟩ [SDE]Environmental Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2014 ftunivnantes https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.00426 2023-02-14T23:50:02Z International audience Mobility and irruptive movements have been proposed as mechanisms that could allow some diet specialists to inhabit and breed in environments with highly unpredictable resources, like the arctic tundra. Th e snowy owl, one of the main avian predators of the tundra, is known to specialize on lemmings during the breeding season. Th ese small mammals are also well known for their tremendous spatial and temporal variations in abundance. We examined the spring (pre-breeding, from March to June) movements of snowy owls by tracking 9 breeding females in the Canadian Arctic for up to 3 yr with satellite transmitters. We used state-space modeling to assess searching behavior and measure breeding dispersal distances. We also ascertain lemming abundance at some of the sites used by the marked owls. Tracked owls displayed searching movements for extended periods (up to 108 d) and traveled over large distances (up to 4093 km) each spring. Th e distance between furthest apart searching areas in a given year averaged 828 km (range 220 to 2433 km). Settlement date, distance between searching areas, traveled distance and the duration of prospecting movements were longer in the year where density of lemmings recorded in the eastern High-Arctic (Bylot Island) was lowest. Nonetheless, snowy owls settled in areas where local lemming abundance was relatively high. Individual breeding dispersal distance between consecutive years averaged 725 km (range 18 to 2224). Overall, the high mobility of female snowy owls allowed these diet specialists to behave as irruptive migrants and to sustain their reproductive activities during consecutive years even under highly fl uctuating resources. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Bylot Island snowy owl Tundra Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES Arctic Bylot Island Journal of Avian Biology 45 6 536 544 |
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Open Polar |
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Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES |
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ftunivnantes |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDE]Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
[SDE]Environmental Sciences Therrien, Jean-François Gauthier, Gilles Pinaud, David Bêty, Joël Irruptive movements and breeding dispersal of snowy owls: a specialized predator exploiting a pulsed resource |
topic_facet |
[SDE]Environmental Sciences |
description |
International audience Mobility and irruptive movements have been proposed as mechanisms that could allow some diet specialists to inhabit and breed in environments with highly unpredictable resources, like the arctic tundra. Th e snowy owl, one of the main avian predators of the tundra, is known to specialize on lemmings during the breeding season. Th ese small mammals are also well known for their tremendous spatial and temporal variations in abundance. We examined the spring (pre-breeding, from March to June) movements of snowy owls by tracking 9 breeding females in the Canadian Arctic for up to 3 yr with satellite transmitters. We used state-space modeling to assess searching behavior and measure breeding dispersal distances. We also ascertain lemming abundance at some of the sites used by the marked owls. Tracked owls displayed searching movements for extended periods (up to 108 d) and traveled over large distances (up to 4093 km) each spring. Th e distance between furthest apart searching areas in a given year averaged 828 km (range 220 to 2433 km). Settlement date, distance between searching areas, traveled distance and the duration of prospecting movements were longer in the year where density of lemmings recorded in the eastern High-Arctic (Bylot Island) was lowest. Nonetheless, snowy owls settled in areas where local lemming abundance was relatively high. Individual breeding dispersal distance between consecutive years averaged 725 km (range 18 to 2224). Overall, the high mobility of female snowy owls allowed these diet specialists to behave as irruptive migrants and to sustain their reproductive activities during consecutive years even under highly fl uctuating resources. |
author2 |
Département de biologie and Centre d'études nordiques Université Laval Québec (ULaval) Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC) Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Departement de Biologie & Centre d'Etudes Nordiques Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Therrien, Jean-François Gauthier, Gilles Pinaud, David Bêty, Joël |
author_facet |
Therrien, Jean-François Gauthier, Gilles Pinaud, David Bêty, Joël |
author_sort |
Therrien, Jean-François |
title |
Irruptive movements and breeding dispersal of snowy owls: a specialized predator exploiting a pulsed resource |
title_short |
Irruptive movements and breeding dispersal of snowy owls: a specialized predator exploiting a pulsed resource |
title_full |
Irruptive movements and breeding dispersal of snowy owls: a specialized predator exploiting a pulsed resource |
title_fullStr |
Irruptive movements and breeding dispersal of snowy owls: a specialized predator exploiting a pulsed resource |
title_full_unstemmed |
Irruptive movements and breeding dispersal of snowy owls: a specialized predator exploiting a pulsed resource |
title_sort |
irruptive movements and breeding dispersal of snowy owls: a specialized predator exploiting a pulsed resource |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-00994261 https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.00426 |
geographic |
Arctic Bylot Island |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Bylot Island |
genre |
Arctic Bylot Island snowy owl Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Bylot Island snowy owl Tundra |
op_source |
ISSN: 0908-8857 EISSN: 1600-048X Journal of Avian Biology https://hal.science/hal-00994261 Journal of Avian Biology, 2014, 45, pp.001-009. ⟨10.1111/jav.00426⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1111/jav.00426 hal-00994261 https://hal.science/hal-00994261 doi:10.1111/jav.00426 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.00426 |
container_title |
Journal of Avian Biology |
container_volume |
45 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
536 |
op_container_end_page |
544 |
_version_ |
1766327715307192320 |