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Boom MP, Lameris TK, Schreven KHT, Buitendijk NH, Moonen S, de Vries PP, Zaynagutdinova E, Nolet BA, van der Jeugd HP, Eichhorn G. Year-round activity levels reveal diurnal foraging constraints in the annual cycle of migratory and non-migratory barnacle geese. Oecologia 2023:10.1007/s00442-023-05386-x. [PMID: 37270441 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-023-05386-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Performing migratory journeys comes with energetic costs, which have to be compensated within the annual cycle. An assessment of how and when such compensation occurs is ideally done by comparing full annual cycles of migratory and non-migratory individuals of the same species, which is rarely achieved. We studied free-living migratory and resident barnacle geese belonging to the same flyway (metapopulation), and investigated when differences in foraging activity occur, and when foraging extends beyond available daylight, indicating a diurnal foraging constraint in these usually diurnal animals. We compared foraging activity of migratory (N = 94) and resident (N = 30) geese throughout the annual cycle using GPS-transmitters and 3D-accelerometers, and corroborated this with data on seasonal variation in body condition. Migratory geese were more active than residents during most of the year, amounting to a difference of over 370 h over an entire annual cycle. Activity differences were largest during the periods that comprised preparation for spring and autumn migration. Lengthening days during spring facilitated increased activity, which coincided with an increase in body condition. Both migratory and resident geese were active at night during winter, but migratory geese were also active at night before autumn migration, resulting in a period of night-time activity that was 6 weeks longer than in resident geese. Our results indicate that, at least in geese, seasonal migration requires longer daily activity not only during migration but throughout most of the annual cycle, with migrants being more frequently forced to extend foraging activity into the night.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michiel P Boom
- Vogeltrekstation-Dutch Centre for Avian Migration and Demography (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands.
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands.
- Theoretical and Computational Ecology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Thomas K Lameris
- NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Den Burg, The Netherlands
| | - Kees H T Schreven
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Theoretical and Computational Ecology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Nelleke H Buitendijk
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Theoretical and Computational Ecology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Sander Moonen
- Wageningen Environmental Reseach (WEnR), Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Institute of Avian Research, Wilhelmshaven, Germany
- Institute for Wetlands and Waterbird Research e.V., Verden (Aller), Germany
| | - Peter P de Vries
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Elmira Zaynagutdinova
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Saint Petersburg State University, St Petersburg, Russia
| | - Bart A Nolet
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Theoretical and Computational Ecology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Henk P van der Jeugd
- Vogeltrekstation-Dutch Centre for Avian Migration and Demography (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Götz Eichhorn
- Vogeltrekstation-Dutch Centre for Avian Migration and Demography (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
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Boom MP, van der Jeugd HP, Steffani B, Nolet BA, Larsson K, Eichhorn G. Postnatal growth rate varies with latitude in range-expanding geese: The role of plasticity and day length. J Anim Ecol 2021; 91:417-427. [PMID: 34807466 PMCID: PMC9300058 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 11/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The postnatal growth period is a crucial life stage, with potential lifelong effects on an animal's fitness. How fast animals grow depends on their life-history strategy and rearing environment, and interspecific comparisons generally show higher growth rates at higher latitudes. However, to elucidate the mechanisms behind this gradient in growth rate, intraspecific comparisons are needed. Recently, barnacle geese expanded their Arctic breeding range from the Russian Barents Sea coast southwards, and now also breed along the Baltic and North Sea coasts. Baltic breeders shortened their migration, while barnacle geese breeding along the North Sea stopped migrating entirely. We collected cross-sectional data on gosling tarsus length, head length and body mass, and constructed population-specific growth curves to compare growth rates among three populations (Barents Sea, Baltic Sea and North Sea) spanning 17° in latitude. Growth rate was faster at higher latitudes, and the gradient resembled the latitudinal gradient previously observed in an interspecific comparison of precocial species. Differences in day length among the three breeding regions could largely explain the observed differences in growth rate. In the Baltic, and especially in the Arctic population, growth rate was slower later in the season, most likely because of the stronger seasonal decline in food quality. Our results suggest that differences in postnatal growth rate between the Arctic and temperate populations are mainly a plastic response to local environmental conditions. This plasticity can increase the individuals' ability to cope with annual variation in local conditions, but can also increase the potential to re-distribute and adapt to new breeding environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michiel P Boom
- Vogeltrekstation-Dutch Centre for Avian Migration and Demography (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands.,Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Henk P van der Jeugd
- Vogeltrekstation-Dutch Centre for Avian Migration and Demography (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Boas Steffani
- Vogeltrekstation-Dutch Centre for Avian Migration and Demography (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Bart A Nolet
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands.,Department of Theoretical and Computational Ecology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Kjell Larsson
- Kalmar Maritime Academy, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden
| | - Götz Eichhorn
- Vogeltrekstation-Dutch Centre for Avian Migration and Demography (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands.,Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
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