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Geomagnetic disturbance associated with increased vagrancy in migratory landbirds. Sci Rep 2023; 13:414. [PMID: 36624156 PMCID: PMC9829733 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-26586-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Rare birds known as "accidentals" or "vagrants" have long captivated birdwatchers and puzzled biologists, but the drivers of these rare occurrences remain elusive. Errors in orientation or navigation are considered one potential driver: migratory birds use the Earth's magnetic field-sensed using specialized magnetoreceptor structures-to traverse long distances over often unfamiliar terrain. Disruption to these magnetoreceptors or to the magnetic field itself could potentially cause errors leading to vagrancy. Using data from 2 million captures of 152 landbird species in North America over 60 years, we demonstrate a strong association between disruption to the Earth's magnetic field and avian vagrancy during fall migration. Furthermore, we find that increased solar activity-a disruptor of the avian magnetoreceptor-generally counteracts this effect, potentially mitigating misorientation by disabling the ability for birds to use the magnetic field to orient. Our results link a hypothesized cause of misorientation to the phenomenon of avian vagrancy, further demonstrating the importance of magnetoreception among the orientation mechanisms of migratory birds. Geomagnetic disturbance may have important downstream ecological consequences, as vagrants may experience increased mortality rates or facilitate range expansions of avian populations and the organisms they disperse.
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Wan X, Holyoak M, Yan C, Le Maho Y, Dirzo R, Krebs CJ, Stenseth NC, Zhang Z. Broad-scale climate variation drives the dynamics of animal populations: a global multi-taxa analysis. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2022; 97:2174-2194. [PMID: 35942895 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12888] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2021] [Revised: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Climate is a major extrinsic factor affecting the population dynamics of many organisms. The Broad-Scale Climate Hypothesis (BSCH) was proposed by Elton to explain the large-scale synchronous population cycles of animals, but the extent of support and whether it differs among taxa and geographical regions is unclear. We reviewed publications examining the relationship between the population dynamics of multiple taxa worldwide and the two most commonly used broad-scale climate indices, El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Our review and synthesis (based on 561 species from 221 papers) reveals that population changes of mammals, birds and insects are strongly affected by major oceanic shifts or irregular oceanic changes, particularly in ENSO- and NAO-influenced regions (Pacific and Atlantic, respectively), providing clear evidence supporting Elton's BSCH. Mammal and insect populations tended to increase during positive ENSO phases. Bird populations tended to increase in positive NAO phases. Some species showed dual associations with both positive and negative phases of the same climate index (ENSO or NAO). These findings indicate that some taxa or regions are more or less vulnerable to climate fluctuations and that some geographical areas show multiple weather effects related to ENSO or NAO phases. Beyond confirming that animal populations are influenced by broad-scale climate variation, we document extensive patterns of variation among taxa and observe that the direct biotic and abiotic mechanisms for these broad-scale climate factors affecting animal populations are very poorly understood. A practical implication of our research is that changes in ENSO or NAO can be used as early signals for pest management and wildlife conservation. We advocate integrative studies at both broad and local scales to unravel the omnipresent effects of climate on animal populations to help address the challenge of conserving biodiversity in this era of accelerated climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinru Wan
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Marcel Holyoak
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, California, Davis, 95616, USA
| | - Chuan Yan
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Yvon Le Maho
- Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, 67000, France.,Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Monaco, 98000, Monaco
| | - Rodolfo Dirzo
- Department of Biology and Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 94305, USA
| | - Charles J Krebs
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Nils Chr Stenseth
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, N-0316, Norway
| | - Zhibin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Biotic Interactions, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
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Butler MJ, Stewart DR, Harris GM, Bidwell MT, Pearse AT. Space use and site fidelity of wintering whooping cranes on the Texas Gulf Coast. J Wildl Manage 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.22226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J. Butler
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Refuge System Biological Services 500 Gold Avenue SW Albuquerque NM 87102 USA
| | - David R. Stewart
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Refuge System Biological Services 500 Gold Avenue SW Albuquerque NM 87102 USA
| | - Grant M. Harris
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Refuge System Biological Services 500 Gold Avenue SW Albuquerque NM 87102 USA
| | - Mark T. Bidwell
- Canadian Wildlife Service Environment and Climate Change Canada Saskatoon SK Canada
| | - Aaron T. Pearse
- U.S. Geological Survey Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Jamestown ND 58401 USA
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Rosamond KM, Goded S, Soultan A, Kaplan RH, Glass A, Kim DH, Arcilla N. Not Singing in the Rain: Linking Migratory Songbird Declines With Increasing Precipitation and Brood Parasitism Vulnerability. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.536769] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Few empirical studies have quantified relationships between changing weather and migratory songbirds, but such studies are vital in a time of rapid climate change. Climate change has critical consequences for avian breeding ecology, geographic ranges, and migration phenology. Changing precipitation and temperature patterns affect habitat, food resources, and other aspects of birds’ life history strategies. Such changes may disproportionately affect species confined to rare or declining ecosystems, such as temperate grasslands, which are among the most altered and endangered ecosystems globally. We examined the influence of changing weather on the dickcissel (Spiza americana), a migratory songbird of conservation concern that is an obligate grassland specialist. Our study area in the North American Great Plains features high historic weather variability, where climate change is now driving higher precipitation and temperatures as well as higher frequencies of extreme weather events including flooding and droughts. Dickcissels share their breeding grounds with brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater), brood parasites that lay their eggs in the nests of other songbirds, reducing dickcissel productivity. We used 9 years of capture-recapture data collected over an 18-year period to test the hypothesis that increasing precipitation on dickcissels’ riparian breeding grounds is associated with abundance declines and increasing vulnerability to cowbird parasitism. Dickcissels declined with increasing June precipitation, whereas cowbirds, by contrast, increased. Dickcissel productivity appeared to be extremely low, with a 3:1 ratio of breeding male to female dickcissels likely undermining reproductive success. Our findings suggest that increasing precipitation predicted by climate change models in this region may drive future declines of dickcissels and other songbirds. Drivers of these declines may include habitat and food resource loss related to flooding and higher frequency precipitation events as well as increased parasitism pressure by cowbirds. Positive correlations of June-July precipitation, temperature, and time since grazing with dickcissel productivity did not mitigate dickcissels’ declining trend in this ecosystem. These findings highlight the importance of empirical research on the effects of increasing precipitation and brood parasitism vulnerability on migratory songbird conservation to inform adaptive management under climate change.
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Mukherjee J, Bhowmick AR, Ghosh PB, Ray S. Impact of environmental factors on the dependency of litter biomass in carbon cycling of Hooghly estuary, India. ECOL INFORM 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoinf.2019.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Butler MJ, Metzger KL, Harris GM. Are whooping cranes destined for extinction? Climate change imperils recruitment and population growth. Ecol Evol 2017; 7:2821-2834. [PMID: 28428872 PMCID: PMC5395435 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2016] [Revised: 01/26/2017] [Accepted: 01/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Identifying climatic drivers of an animal population's vital rates and locating where they operate steers conservation efforts to optimize species recovery. The population growth of endangered whooping cranes (Grus americana) hinges on juvenile recruitment. Therefore, we identify climatic drivers (solar activity [sunspots] and weather) of whooping crane recruitment throughout the species’ life cycle (breeding, migration, wintering). Our method uses a repeated cross‐validated absolute shrinkage and selection operator approach to identify drivers of recruitment. We model effects of climate change on those drivers to predict whooping crane population growth given alternative scenarios of climate change and solar activity. Years with fewer sunspots indicated greater recruitment. Increased precipitation during autumn migration signified less recruitment. On the breeding grounds, fewer days below freezing during winter and more precipitation during breeding suggested less recruitment. We predicted whooping crane recruitment and population growth may fall below long‐term averages during all solar cycles when atmospheric CO2 concentration increases, as expected, to 500 ppm by 2050. Species recovery during a typical solar cycle with 500 ppm may require eight times longer than conditions without climate change and the chance of population decline increases to 31%. Although this whooping crane population is growing and may appear secure, long‐term threats imposed by climate change and increased solar activity may jeopardize its persistence. Weather on the breeding grounds likely affects recruitment through hydrological processes and predation risk, whereas precipitation during autumn migration may influence juvenile mortality. Mitigating threats or abating climate change should occur within ≈30 years or this wild population of whooping cranes may begin declining.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Butler
- Division of Biological Services U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Albuquerque NM USA
| | - Kristine L Metzger
- Division of Biological Services U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Albuquerque NM USA
| | - Grant M Harris
- Division of Biological Services U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Albuquerque NM USA
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