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Scridel D, Anderle M, Capelli F, Forti A, Bettega C, Alessandrini C, Del Mar Delgado M, Pedrotti L, Partel P, Bogliani G, Pedrini P, Brambilla M. Coping with unpredictable environments: fine-tune foraging microhabitat use in relation to prey availability in an alpine species. Oecologia 2024; 204:845-860. [PMID: 38594420 PMCID: PMC11062978 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-024-05530-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2023] [Accepted: 02/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024]
Abstract
Microhabitat utilisation holds a pivotal role in shaping a species' ecological dynamics and stands as a crucial concern for effective conservation strategies. Despite its critical importance, microhabitat use has frequently been addressed as static, centering on microhabitat preference. Yet, a dynamic microhabitat use that allows individuals to adjust to fine-scale spatio-temporal prey fluctuations, becomes imperative for species thriving in challenging environments. High-elevation ecosystems, marked by brief growing seasons and distinct abiotic processes like snowmelt, winds, and solar radiation, feature an ephemeral distribution of key resources. To better understand species' strategies in coping with these rapidly changing environments, we delved into the foraging behaviour of the white-winged snowfinch Montifringilla nivalis, an emblematic high-elevation passerine. Through studying microhabitat preferences during breeding while assessing invertebrate prey availability, we unveiled a highly flexible microhabitat use process. Notably, snowfinches exhibited specific microhabitat preferences, favoring grass and melting snow margins, while also responding to local invertebrate availability. This behaviour was particularly evident in snow-associated microhabitats and less pronounced amid tall grass. Moreover, our investigation underscored snowfinches' fidelity to foraging sites, with over half located within 10 m of previous spots. This consistent use prevailed in snow-associated microhabitats and high-prey-density zones. These findings provide the first evidence of dynamic microhabitat use in high-elevation ecosystems and offer further insights into the crucial role of microhabitats for climate-sensitive species. They call for multi-faceted conservation strategies that go beyond identifying and protecting optimal thermal buffering areas in the face of global warming to also encompass locations hosting high invertebrate densities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Scridel
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, via L. Giorgieri 10, 34127, Trieste, Italy.
- Museo delle Scienze di Trento (MUSE), Ufficio Ricerca e Collezioni, Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 3, 38122, Trento, Italy.
| | - Matteo Anderle
- Museo delle Scienze di Trento (MUSE), Ufficio Ricerca e Collezioni, Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 3, 38122, Trento, Italy
- Institute for Alpine Environment, Eurac Research, viale Druso 1, 39100, Drususallee Bolzano/Bozen, Italy
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Milan University, via Celoria 26, 20123, Milan, Italy
- Department of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, Sternwartestrasse 15/Technikerstrasse 25, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Federico Capelli
- Museo delle Scienze di Trento (MUSE), Ufficio Ricerca e Collezioni, Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 3, 38122, Trento, Italy
| | - Alessandro Forti
- Museo delle Scienze di Trento (MUSE), Ufficio Ricerca e Collezioni, Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 3, 38122, Trento, Italy
| | - Chiara Bettega
- Museo delle Scienze di Trento (MUSE), Ufficio Ricerca e Collezioni, Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 3, 38122, Trento, Italy
| | - Corrado Alessandrini
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Milan University, via Celoria 26, 20123, Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Del Mar Delgado
- Biodiversity Research Institute (IMIB, CSIC-Oviedo University, Principality of Asturias), Campus Mieres, Mieres (Asturias), Spain
| | - Luca Pedrotti
- Stelvio National Park, via de Simoni 42, 23032, Bormio, Italy
| | - Piergiovanni Partel
- Ente Parco Naturale Paneveggio-Pale di San Martino, località Castelpietra 2, 38054, Primiero San Martino di Castrozza, Trento, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Bogliani
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Pavia, via Ferrata 1, 27100, Pavia, Italy
| | - Paolo Pedrini
- Museo delle Scienze di Trento (MUSE), Ufficio Ricerca e Collezioni, Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 3, 38122, Trento, Italy
| | - Mattia Brambilla
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Milan University, via Celoria 26, 20123, Milan, Italy
- CRC Ge.S.Di.Mont, Milan University, sede di Edolo, via Morino 8, 25048, Edolo, BS, Italy
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Favretto MA, Machado-de-Souza T, Golec C, Reinert BL, Bornschein MR. Habitat selection in Many-colored Rush Tyrant ( Tachuris rubrigastra) and Wren-like Rushbird ( Phleocryptes melanops) in the subtropical salt marshes of Brazil. STUDIES ON NEOTROPICAL FAUNA AND ENVIRONMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/01650521.2022.2101351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mario Arthur Favretto
- Centro de Ciências de Saúde, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil
| | - Tiago Machado-de-Souza
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Centro Politécnico, Curitiba, Brazil
- Mater Natura – Instituto de Estudos Ambientais, Curitiba, Brazil
| | - Cláudia Golec
- Mater Natura – Instituto de Estudos Ambientais, Curitiba, Brazil
| | | | - Marcos Ricardo Bornschein
- Mater Natura – Instituto de Estudos Ambientais, Curitiba, Brazil
- Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, São Vicente, Brazil
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Courtois È, Garant D, Pelletier F, Bélisle M. Nonideal nest box selection by tree swallows breeding in farmlands: Evidence for an ecological trap? Ecol Evol 2021; 11:16296-16313. [PMID: 34824828 PMCID: PMC8601888 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2021] [Revised: 10/04/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Animals are expected to select a breeding habitat using cues that should reflect, directly or not, the fitness outcome of the different habitat options. However, human-induced environmental changes can alter the relationships between habitat characteristics and their fitness consequences, leading to maladaptive habitat choices. The most severe case of such nonideal habitat selection is the ecological trap, which occurs when individuals prefer to settle in poor-quality habitats while better ones are available. Here, we studied the adaptiveness of nest box selection in a tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) population breeding over a 10-year period in a network of 400 nest boxes distributed along a gradient of agricultural intensification in southern Québec, Canada. We first examined the effects of multiple environmental and social habitat characteristics on nest box preference to identify potential settlement cues. We then assessed the links between those cues and habitat quality as defined by the reproductive performance of individuals that settled early or late in nest boxes. We found that tree swallows preferred nesting in open habitats with high cover of perennial forage crops, high spring insect biomass, and high density of house sparrows (Passer domesticus), their main competitors for nest sites. They also preferred nesting where the density of breeders and their mean number of fledglings during the previous year were high. However, we detected mismatches between preference and habitat quality for several environmental variables. The density of competitors and conspecific social information showed severe mismatches, as their relationships to preference and breeding success went in opposite direction under certain circumstances. Spring food availability and agricultural landscape context, while related to preferences, were not related to breeding success. Overall, our study emphasizes the complexity of habitat selection behavior and provides evidence that multiple mechanisms may potentially lead to an ecological trap in farmlands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ève Courtois
- Département de BiologieUniversité de SherbrookeSherbrookeQuebecCanada
| | - Dany Garant
- Département de BiologieUniversité de SherbrookeSherbrookeQuebecCanada
| | - Fanie Pelletier
- Département de BiologieUniversité de SherbrookeSherbrookeQuebecCanada
| | - Marc Bélisle
- Département de BiologieUniversité de SherbrookeSherbrookeQuebecCanada
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Spear SL, Aldridge CL, Wann GT, Braun CE. Fine‐Scale Habitat Selection by Breeding White‐Tailed Ptarmigan in Colorado. J Wildl Manage 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.21776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Shelley L. Spear
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523‐1499, in cooperation with Fort Collins Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey 2150 Centre Avenue #C Fort Collins CO 80526 USA
| | - Cameron L. Aldridge
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523‐1499, in cooperation with Fort Collins Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey 2150 Centre Avenue #C Fort Collins CO 80526 USA
| | - Gregory T. Wann
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523‐1499, in cooperation with Fort Collins Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey 2150 Centre Avenue #C Fort Collins CO 80526 USA
| | - Clait E. Braun
- Grouse, Inc. 5572 N. Ventana Vista Road Tucson AZ 85750 USA
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Hale R, Colton MA, Peng P, Swearer SE. Do spatial scale and life history affect fish-habitat relationships? J Anim Ecol 2018; 88:439-449. [PMID: 30428142 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2017] [Accepted: 10/15/2018] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Understanding how animals interact with their environment is a fundamental ecological question with important implications for conservation and management. The relationships between animals and their habitat, however, can be scale-dependent. If ecologists work at suboptimal spatial scales, they will gain an incomplete picture of how animals respond to the landscape. Identifying the scale at which animal-landscape relationships are strongest (the "scale of effect") will improve our ability to better plan management and conservation activities. Several recent studies have greatly enhanced our knowledge about the scale of effect, and the potential drivers of interspecific variability, in particular life-history traits. However, while many marine systems are inherently multiscalar, research into the scale of effect has been mainly focussed on terrestrial taxa. As the scales of observation in fish-habitat association studies are often selected based on convention rather than biological reasoning, they may provide an incomplete picture of the scales where these associations are strongest. We examined fish-habitat associations across four nested spatial scales in a temperate reef system to ask: (a) at what scale are fish-habitat associations the strongest, (b) are habitat elements consistently important across scales, and (c) do scale-dependent fish-habitat associations vary in relation to either body size, geographic range size or trophic level? We found that: (a) the strongest fish-habitat associations were observed when these relationships were examined at considerably larger spatial scales than usually investigated; (b) the importance of environmental predictors varied across spatial scales, indicating that conclusions about the importance of habitat elements will depend on the scales at which studies are undertaken; and (c) scale-dependent fish-habitat associations were consistent across all life-history traits. Our results highlight the importance of considering how animals relate to their environment and suggest the small scales often chosen to examine fish-habitat associations are likely to be suboptimal. Developing a more mechanistic understanding of animal-habitat associations will greatly aid in predicting and managing responses to future anthropogenic disturbances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin Hale
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Madhavi A Colton
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Po Peng
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Stephen E Swearer
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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