Why fly the extra mile? Using stress biomarkers to assess wintering habitat quality in migratory shorebirds
Migratory birds make decisions about how far to travel based on cost-benefit trade-offs. However, in many cases the net effect of these trade-offs is unclear. We sought to address this question by measuring feather corticosterone (CORTf), leucocyte profile, avian malaria parasite prevalence and esti...
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ftunivnewengland:oai:rune.une.edu.au:1959.11/30403 2023-08-27T04:08:07+02:00 Why fly the extra mile? Using stress biomarkers to assess wintering habitat quality in migratory shorebirds Aharon-Rotman, Yaara School of Environmental and Rural Science orcid:0000-0002-2142-2718 Buchanan, Katherine L Clark, Nicholas J Klaassen, Marcel Buttemer, William A 2016-10 https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/30403 en eng Springer 10.1007/s00442-016-3679-1 https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/30403 une:1959.11/30403 Animal Physiological Ecology Journal Article 2016 ftunivnewengland 2023-08-10T18:48:54Z Migratory birds make decisions about how far to travel based on cost-benefit trade-offs. However, in many cases the net effect of these trade-offs is unclear. We sought to address this question by measuring feather corticosterone (CORTf), leucocyte profile, avian malaria parasite prevalence and estimating fueling rates in three spatially segregated wintering populations of the migratory shorebird ruddy turnstone Arenaria interpres during their stay in the winter habitat. These birds fly from the high-Arctic breeding ground to Australia, but differ in that some decide to end their migration early (Broome, Western Australia), whereas others travel further to either South Australia or Tasmania. We hypothesized that the extra costs in birds migrating greater distances and overwintering in colder climates would be offset by benefits when reaching their destination. This would be evidenced by lower stress biomarkers in populations that travel further, owing to the expected benefits of greater resources and improved vitality. We show that avian malaria prevalence and physiological stress levels were lower in birds flying to South Australia and Tasmania than those overwintering in Broome. Furthermore, our modeling predicts that birds in the southernmost locations enjoy higher fueling rates. Our data are consistent with the interpretation that birds occupying more costly wintering locations in terms of higher migratory flight and thermoregulatory costs are compensated by better feeding conditions and lower blood parasite infections, which facilitates timely and speedy migration back to the breeding ground. These data contribute to our understanding of cost-benefit trade-offs in the decision making underlying migratory behaviour. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arenaria interpres Ruddy Turnstone Research UNE - University of New England at Armidale, NSW Australia Arctic Broome ENVELOPE(-61.807,-61.807,-73.600,-73.600) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Research UNE - University of New England at Armidale, NSW Australia |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnewengland |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal Physiological Ecology |
spellingShingle |
Animal Physiological Ecology Aharon-Rotman, Yaara School of Environmental and Rural Science orcid:0000-0002-2142-2718 Buchanan, Katherine L Clark, Nicholas J Klaassen, Marcel Buttemer, William A Why fly the extra mile? Using stress biomarkers to assess wintering habitat quality in migratory shorebirds |
topic_facet |
Animal Physiological Ecology |
description |
Migratory birds make decisions about how far to travel based on cost-benefit trade-offs. However, in many cases the net effect of these trade-offs is unclear. We sought to address this question by measuring feather corticosterone (CORTf), leucocyte profile, avian malaria parasite prevalence and estimating fueling rates in three spatially segregated wintering populations of the migratory shorebird ruddy turnstone Arenaria interpres during their stay in the winter habitat. These birds fly from the high-Arctic breeding ground to Australia, but differ in that some decide to end their migration early (Broome, Western Australia), whereas others travel further to either South Australia or Tasmania. We hypothesized that the extra costs in birds migrating greater distances and overwintering in colder climates would be offset by benefits when reaching their destination. This would be evidenced by lower stress biomarkers in populations that travel further, owing to the expected benefits of greater resources and improved vitality. We show that avian malaria prevalence and physiological stress levels were lower in birds flying to South Australia and Tasmania than those overwintering in Broome. Furthermore, our modeling predicts that birds in the southernmost locations enjoy higher fueling rates. Our data are consistent with the interpretation that birds occupying more costly wintering locations in terms of higher migratory flight and thermoregulatory costs are compensated by better feeding conditions and lower blood parasite infections, which facilitates timely and speedy migration back to the breeding ground. These data contribute to our understanding of cost-benefit trade-offs in the decision making underlying migratory behaviour. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Aharon-Rotman, Yaara School of Environmental and Rural Science orcid:0000-0002-2142-2718 Buchanan, Katherine L Clark, Nicholas J Klaassen, Marcel Buttemer, William A |
author_facet |
Aharon-Rotman, Yaara School of Environmental and Rural Science orcid:0000-0002-2142-2718 Buchanan, Katherine L Clark, Nicholas J Klaassen, Marcel Buttemer, William A |
author_sort |
Aharon-Rotman, Yaara |
title |
Why fly the extra mile? Using stress biomarkers to assess wintering habitat quality in migratory shorebirds |
title_short |
Why fly the extra mile? Using stress biomarkers to assess wintering habitat quality in migratory shorebirds |
title_full |
Why fly the extra mile? Using stress biomarkers to assess wintering habitat quality in migratory shorebirds |
title_fullStr |
Why fly the extra mile? Using stress biomarkers to assess wintering habitat quality in migratory shorebirds |
title_full_unstemmed |
Why fly the extra mile? Using stress biomarkers to assess wintering habitat quality in migratory shorebirds |
title_sort |
why fly the extra mile? using stress biomarkers to assess wintering habitat quality in migratory shorebirds |
publisher |
Springer |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/30403 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-61.807,-61.807,-73.600,-73.600) |
geographic |
Arctic Broome |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Broome |
genre |
Arctic Arenaria interpres Ruddy Turnstone |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arenaria interpres Ruddy Turnstone |
op_relation |
10.1007/s00442-016-3679-1 https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/30403 une:1959.11/30403 |
_version_ |
1775348818479415296 |