Selection against immigrants in wild seabird populations

• Published in: Ecology Letters
• Main Authors: Barbraud, Christophe, Delord, Karine
• Other Authors: Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: Dispersal; fitness; immigrant; seabirds; sex-biased dispersal; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Nivea; Diomedea exulans; Snow Petrel; Wandering Albatross
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02971023; https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13624

International audience Immigration is a major demographic parameter shaping population dynamics and is an importantdriver of eco-evolutionary patterns, but the fitness consequences for individuals following theirsettlement to a new population (immigrants) remain poorly tested in wild animal populations,particularly among long-lived species. Here we show that immigrants have a lower fitness thanresidents in three wild seabird populations (wandering albatross Diomedea exulans, southern fulmarFulmarus glacialoides, snow petrel Pagodroma nivea). Across all species and during a 32-yearperiod, immigrants made on average 9 to 29% fewer breeding attempts, had 5–31% fewer fledglings,had 2–16% lower breeding success and produced 6–46% fewer recruits. Female immigrationand male residency were also favored through differences in breeding performance. We provideevidence for selection against immigrants in wild populations of long-lived species and our resultsare consistent with female-biased dispersal in birds being driven by asymmetric limiting resourcesand the competitive ability of dispersers vs. non-dispersers.