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Data from: Factors determining species richness patterns of breeding birds along an elevational gradient in the Horn of Africa region
Aim: To document the species richness patterns of breeding birds along elevational gradients and explore its drivers in the Horn of Africa Region. Location: Horn of Africa Region Taxon: Breeding species of birds Methods: Distributional data for breeding birds were collected. Elevational distribution data were extracted, interpolated, and assembled for all birds, passerines and non-passerines. In order to tease apart how different environmental factors contributed to the variation in species richness, we found it necessary to divide the area into four subregions with different climatic regimes and topographic structure. Then, the species richness in each 100 m elevational band was counted along the elevational gradients of each subregion. Pearson's correlation analyses and ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions were used to examine the relationships between species richness and factors Results: The variation in species richness followed hump-shaped patterns for all subregions, although with peak values at different elevations. The bird species groups on the western and eastern slopes showed low and high plateaus with mid-elevational peaks, respectively, but very low species diversities at the highest elevations. Species richness was significantly correlated with temperature range and productivity in each subregion. The temperature range, area and productivity explained 82% of the species richness variations for all birds on the western slope. Main conclusions: The separate analyses of four area subdivisions provide strong indications of how various factors interact. Productivity and temperature range were the best driving factors for shaping the richness patterns, but deviations from expected patterns suggest modifying roles of mist formation zones in the valleys that deeply intersect the large highlands in the west and rich riparian vegetation where water from cool and humid environments at high elevation reaches lower elevations in the arid east. Conservation is recommended in each subregion based on the elevational richness scenarios.
Conservation genomic analysis of the Croatian indigenous Black Slavonian and Turopolje pig breeds
<p>The majority of the nearly 400 existing local pig breeds are adapted to specific environments and human needs. The demand for large production quantities and the industrialized pig production have caused a rapid decline of many local pig breeds in recent decades. Black Slavonian pig and Turopolje pig, the latter highly threatened, are the two Croatian local indigenous breeds typically grown in extensive or semi-intensive systems. In order to guide a long-term breeding program to prevent the disappearance of these breeds, we analyzed their genetic diversity, inbreeding level and relationship with other local breeds across the world, as well as modern breeds and several wild populations, using high throughput genomic data obtained using the Illumina Infinium PorcineSNP60 v2 BeadChip. Multidimensional scaling analysis positioned Black Slavonian pigs close to the UK/North American breeds, while the Turopolje pig clustered within the Mediterranean breeds. Turopolje pig showed a very high inbreeding level (F<sub>ROH>4Mb</sub>=0.400 and F<sub>ROH>8Mb</sub>=0.332) that considerably exceeded the level of full-sib mating, while Black Slavonian pig showed much lower inbreeding (F<sub>ROH>4Mb</sub>=0.098 and F<sub>ROH>8Mb</sub>=0.074), indicating a planned mating strategy. In Croatian local breeds we identified several genome regions showing adaptive selection signals that were not present in commercial breeds. The results obtained in this study reflect the current genetic status and breeding management of the two Croatian indigenous local breeds. Given the small populations of both breeds, a controlled management activity has been implemented in Black Slavonian pigs since their commercial value has been recognized. In contrast, the extremely high inbreeding level observed in Turopolje pig argues for an urgent conservation plan with a long-term, diversity-oriented breeding program.</p>
Correlated and geographically predictable Neanderthal and Denisovan legacies are difficult to reconcile with a simple model based on inter-breeding
<p>Although the presence of archaic hominin legacies in humans is taken for granted, little attention has been given as to how the data fit with how humans colonised the world. Here I show that Neanderthal and Denisovan legacies are strongly correlated and that, like heterozygosity, distance from Africa predicts legacy size. Simulations confirm that, once created, legacy size is extremely stable: it may reduce through admixture with lower legacy populations but cannot increase detectably through neutral drift. Consequently, populations carrying the highest legacies must also be those whose ancestors inter-bred most with archaics. However, the populations with the highest legacies are globally scattered and are unified, not by having origins within the known Neanderthal range, but instead by living in locations that lie furthest from Africa. Furthermore, the Simons Genome Diversity Project data reveal two very distinct correlations between Neanderthal and Denisovan legacies, one that starts in North Africa and increases west to east across Eurasia and into some parts of Oceania, and a second, much steeper trend that starts in Africa, peaking with the San and Ju/'hoansi and which, if extrapolated, predicts the large inferred legacies of both archaics found in Oceania / Australia. These trends are difficult to reconcile with classical models of how introgression occurred but may fit a speculative model in which the loss of diversity that occurred when humans moved further from Africa created a gradient in heterozygosity that in turn progressively reduced mutation rate such that populations furthest from Africa have diverged less from our common ancestor and hence from the archaics. The two distinct trends could be interpreted in terms of two 'out of Africa' events, an early one ending in Oceania and Australia and a later one that colonised Eurasia and the Americas.</p>
Oxidative costs of cooperation in cooperatively breeding Damaraland mole-rats
Within cooperatively breeding societies, individuals adjust cooperative contributions to maximise indirect fitness and minimize direct fitness costs. Yet, little is known about the physiological costs of cooperation, which may be detrimental to direct fitness. Oxidative stress, the imbalance between reactive oxygen species (by-products of energy production) and antioxidant protection, may represent such a cost when cooperative behaviours are energetically demanding. Oxidative stress can lead to the accumulation of cellular damage, compromising survival and reproduction, thus mediating the trade-off between these competing life history traits. Here we experimentally increased energetically demanding cooperative contributions in captive Damaraland mole-rats (Fukomys damarensis). We quantified oxidative stress related effects of increased cooperation on somatic and germline tissues, and the trade-off between them. Increased cooperative contributions induced oxidative stress in females and males, without increasing somatic damage. Males accumulated oxidative damage in their germline despite an increase in antioxidant defences. Finally, oxidative damage accumulation became biased towards the germline, while antioxidant protection remained biased towards the soma, suggesting that males favour the maintenance of somatic tissues, i.e. survival over reproduction. Our results show that, heightened cooperative contributions can ultimately affect direct fitness through oxidative stress costs, which may represent a key selective pressure for the evolution of cooperation.
Data from: GPS tracking and population genomics suggest itinerant breeding across drastically different habitats in the Phainopepla
Migratory birds generally divide the annual cycle between discrete breeding and non-breeding ranges. Itinerant breeders, however, reproduce twice at different geographic locations, migrating between them. This unusual flexibility in movement ecology and breeding biology suggests that some species can rapidly modulate the conflicting physiological and behavioral traits required for migration and reproduction. The Phainopepla (Phainopepla nitens), a songbird of the southwestern USA, has long been suspected to breed first in desert habitats in spring, then migrate to woodland habitats to breed again in summer. However, direct evaluation of movement and gene flow among individuals breeding in different locations has previously been logistically intractable. We deployed GPS tags on free-flying Phainopeplas in southern California, all of which migrated to hypothesized woodland breeding habitats after desert breeding (an average distance of 232 km). GPS data also revealed previously unknown fall and spring stopover sites. Population genomic analyses revealed no genetic differentiation among desert and woodland breeding populations, indicating significant movement and gene flow across the region. Finally, we used random forest analyses to quantify substantial environmental differences among temporal stages. Our results provide direct evidence that individual Phainopeplas do indeed move between two drastically different breeding habitats in the same year, representing a rare and extreme example of life-history flexibility.
Sequenced-based paternity analysis to improve breeding and identify self-incompatibility loci in intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium)
<p>In outcrossing species such as intermediate wheatgrass (IWG, Thinopyrum intermedium), polycrossing is often used to generate novel recombinants through each cycle of selection, but it cannot track pollen-parent pedigrees and it is unknown how self-incompatibility (SI) genes may limit the number of unique crosses obtained. This study investigated the potential of using next-generation sequencing to assign paternity and identify putative SI loci in IWG. Using a reference population of 380 individuals made from controlled crosses of 64 parents, paternity was assigned with 92% agreement using Cervus software. Using this approach, 80% of 4158 progeny (n = 3342) from a polycross of 89 parents were assigned paternity. Of the 89 pollen parents, 82 (92%) were represented with 1633 unique full-sib families representing 42% of all potential crosses. The number of progeny per successful pollen parent ranged from 1 to 123, with number of inflorescences per pollen parent significantly correlated to the number of progeny (r = 0.54, p < 0.001). Shannon's diversity index, assessing the total number and representation of families, was 7.33 compared to a theoretical maximum of 8.98. To test our hypothesis on the impact of SI genes, a genome-wide association study of the number of progeny observed from the 89 parents identified genetic effects related to non-random mating, including marker loci located near putative SI genes. Paternity testing of polycross progeny can impact future breeding gains by being incorporated in breeding programs to optimize polycross methodology, maintain genetic diversity, and reveal genetic architecture of mating patterns.</p>
Data from: Cost, risk, and avoidance of inbreeding in a cooperatively breeding bird
Inbreeding is often avoided in natural populations by passive processes such as sex-biased dispersal. But, in many social animals, opposite-sexed adult relatives are spatially clustered, generating a risk of incest and hence selection for active inbreeding avoidance. Here we show that, in long-tailed tits (Aegithalos caudatus), a cooperative breeder that risks inbreeding by living alongside opposite-sex relatives, inbreeding carries fitness costs and is avoided by active kin discrimination during mate choice. First, we identified a positive association between heterozygosity and fitness, indicating that inbreeding is costly. We then compared relatedness within breeding pairs to that expected under multiple mate-choice models, finding that pair relatedness is consistent with avoidance of first-order kin as partners. Finally, we show that the similarity of vocal cues offers a plausible mechanism for discrimination against first-order kin during mate choice. Long-tailed tits are known to discriminate between the calls of close kin and nonkin, and they favor first-order kin in cooperative contexts, so we conclude that long-tailed tits use the same kin discrimination rule to avoid inbreeding as they do to direct help toward kin.
Major inconsistencies of inferred population genetic structure estimated in a large set of domestic horse breeds using microsatellites
<p>STRUCTURE remains the most applied tool aimed at recovering the true, but unknown, population structure from observed microsatellite data or other genetic markers. About 30% of <span class="Program"><span>STRUCTURE</span></span>-based studies could not be reproduced (Gilbert et al., 2012). Here we use a large set of data from 2323 horses from 93 domestic breeds plus the Przewalski horse, typed at 15 microsatellite markers, to evaluate how program settings, in particular the so far insufficiently evaluated number of replicates, impact the estimation of the optimal number of population clusters <i>K</i><sub>opt</sub> that best describe the observed data. Domestic horses are suited as a test case as there is extensive knowledge of the history of many breeds, extensive phylogenetic analyses. Different methods based on different genetic assumptions and statistical procedures (<span class="Program"><span>DAPC</span></span>, <span class="Program"><span>FLOCK</span></span>, PCoA and <span class="Program"><span>STRUCTURE</span></span> with different run scenarios) all revealed the general, broad-scale relationships among the breeds that largely reflect known breed histories but diverged largely how they characterized small-scale patterns. <span class="Program"><span>STRUCTURE</span></span> failed to consistently identify <i>K</i><sub>opt</sub> using the most widespread approach, the ΔK method, despite very large numbers of MCMCs (3,000,000) and replicates (100). The interpretation of breed structure over increasing numbers of<i> K</i>, without assuming a <i>K</i><sub>opt</sub>, was consistent with known breed histories. The over-reliance on <i>K</i><sub>opt</sub> should be replaced by a qualitative description of clustering over increasing <i>K</i>, which is scientifically more honest and has the advantage of being much faster and less computer intensive as lower numbers of MCMC iterations and repetitions suffice for stable results. Very large data sets are highly challenging for cluster analyses, especially when populations with complex genetic histories are investigated.</p>
Tool for genomic selection and breeding to evolutionary adaptation: Development of a 100K single nucleotide polymorphism array for the honey bee
High-throughput high density genotyping arrays continue to be a fast, accurate, and cost-effective method for genotyping thousands of polymorphisms in high numbers of individuals. Here we have developed a new high-density SNP genotyping array (103 270 SNPs) for honey bees, one of the most ecologically and economically important pollinators worldwide. SNPs were detected by conducting whole genome resequencing of 61 honey bee drones (haploid males) from throughout Europe. Selection of SNPs for the chip was done in multiple steps using several criteria. The majority of SNPs were selected based on their location within known candidate regions or genes underlying a range of honey bee traits, including hygienic behaviour against pathogens, foraging and subspecies. Additionally, markers from a GWAS of hygienic behaviour against the major honey bee parasite Varroa destructor, were brought over. The chip also includes SNPs associated with each of three major breeding objectives - honey yield, gentleness and Varroa resistance. We validated the chip and make recommendations for its use by determining error rates in repeat genotypings, examining the genotyping performance of different tissues, and by testing how well different sample types represent the queen's genotype. The latter is a key test because it is highly beneficial to be able to determine the queen's genotype by non-lethal means. The array is now publicly available and we suggest it will be a useful tool in genomic selection and honey bee breeding, as well as for GWAS of different traits, and for population genomic, adaptation and conservation questions.
Data from: Factors influencing plasticity in the arrival-breeding interval in a migratory species reacting to climate change
Climate change is profoundly affecting the phenology of many species. In migratory birds, there is evidence for advances in their arrival time at the breeding ground and their timing of breeding, yet empirical studies examining the interdependence between arrival and breeding time are lacking. Hence, evidence is scarce regarding how breeding time may be adjusted via the arrival-breeding interval to help local populations adapt to local conditions or climate change. We used long-term data from an intensively monitored population of the northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) to examine the factors related to the length of 734 separate arrival-to-breeding events from 549 individual females. From 1993 to 2017 the mean arrival and egg-laying dates advanced by approximately the same amount (~5-6 days), with considerable between-individual variation in the arrival-breeding interval. The arrival-breeding interval was shorter for: (1) individuals that arrived later in the season compared to early arriving birds, (2) for experienced females compared to first-year breeders, (3) as spring progressed, and (4) in later years compared to earlier ones. The influence of these factors was much larger for birds arriving earlier in the season compared to later arriving birds, with most effects on variation in the arrival-breeding interval being absent in late arriving birds. Thus, in this population it appears that the timing of breeding is not constrained by arrival for early- to mid-arriving birds, but instead is dependent on local conditions after arrival. For late arriving birds, however, the timing of breeding appears to be influenced by arrival constraints. Hence, impacts of climate change on arrival dates and local conditions are expected to vary for different parts of the population, with potential negative impacts associated with these factors likely to differ for early- versus late-arriving birds.
Data for: Maternal glucocorticoid levels during incubation predict breeding success, but not reproductive investment, in a free-ranging bird
<p>The hormone corticosterone (CORT) has been hypothesized to be linked with fitness, but the directionality of the relationship is unclear. The "CORT-fitness hypothesis" proposes that high levels of CORT arise from challenging environmental conditions, resulting in lower reproductive success (a negative relationship). In contrast, the "CORT-adaptation hypothesis" suggests that, during energetically demanding periods, CORT will mediate physiological or behavioural changes that result in increased reproductive investment and success (a positive relationship). During two breeding seasons, we experimentally manipulated circulating CORT levels in female tree swallows (<i>Tachycineta bicolor</i>) prior to egg laying, and measured subsequent reproductive effort, breeding success, and maternal survival. When females were recaptured during egg incubation and again during the nestling stage, the CORT levels were similar among individuals in each treatment group, and maternal treatment had no effect on indices of fitness. By considering variation among females, we found support for the "CORT-adaptation hypothesis"; there was a significant positive relationship between CORT levels during incubation and hatching and fledging success. During the nestling stage CORT levels were unrelated to any measure of investment or success. Within the environmental context of our study, relationships between maternal glucocorticoid levels and indices fitness vary across reproductive stages.</p>
Experimental evidence that hyperthermia limits offspring provisioning in a temperate-breeding bird
<p>In many vertebrates, parental care can require long bouts of daily exercise, that can span several weeks. Exercise, especially in the heat, raises body temperature, and can lead to hyperthermia. Typical strategies for regulating body temperature during endurance exercise include modifying performance to avoid hyperthermia (anticipatory regulation hypothesis) and allowing body temperature to rise above normothermic levels for brief periods of time (facultative hyperthermia hypothesis). Facultative hyperthermia is commonly employed by desert birds to economize on water, but this strategy may also be important for chick-rearing birds to avoid reducing offspring provisioning when thermoregulatory demands are high. In this study, we tested how chick-rearing birds balance their own body temperature against the need to provision dependent offspring. We experimentally increased the heat dissipation capacity of breeding female tree swallows (<em>Tachicyneta bicolor</em>) by trimming their ventral feathers, and remotely monitored provisioning rates, body temperature, and the probability of hyperthermia. Birds with an experimentally increased capacity to dissipate heat (i.e., trimmed treatment) maintained higher feeding rates than controls at high ambient temperatures ( ≥ 25 ºC), while maintaining lower body temperatures. However, at the highest temperatures (≥25 ºC) trimmed individuals became hyperthermic. These results provide evidence that chick-rearing tree swallows use both anticipatory regulation and facultative hyperthermia during endurance performance. With rising global temperatures, individuals may need to increase their frequency of facultative hyperthermia to maintain nestling provisioning, and thereby maximize reproductive success.</p>
Effects of back‐mounted biologgers on condition, diving and flight performance in a breeding seabird
<p>Biologging devices are providing detailed insights into the behaviour and movement of animals in their natural environments. It is usually assumed that this method of gathering data does not impact on the behaviour observed. However, potential negative effects on birds have rarely been investigated before field‐based studies are initiated. Seabirds which both fly and use pursuit diving may be particularly sensitive to increases in drag and load resulting from carrying biologging devices. We studied chick‐rearing adult common guillemots (<i>Uria aalge</i>) equipped with and without back‐mounted GPS tags over short deployments of a few days. Concurrently guillemots carried small leg‐mounted TDR devices (time‐depth recorders) providing activity data throughout. Changes in body mass and breeding success were followed for device equipped and control guillemots. At the colony level guillemots lost body mass throughout the chick‐rearing period. When‐equipped with the additional GPS tag, the guillemots lost mass at close to twice the rate they did when equipped with only the smaller leg‐mounted TDR device. The elevated mass loss suggests an impact on energy expenditure or foraging performance. When equipped with GPS tags diving performance, time‐activity budgets, and daily patterns of activity were unchanged, yet dive depth distributions differed. We review studies of tag‐effects in guillemots (<i>Uria</i> spp.) finding elevated mass loss and reduced chick‐provisioning to be the most commonly observed effects. Less information is available for behavioural measures, and results vary between studies. In general, small tags deployed over several days appear to have small or no measurable effect on the behavioural variables commonly observed in most guillemot tagging studies. However, there may still be impacts on fitness via physiological effects and/or reduced chick‐provisioning, while more detailed measures of behaviour (e.g. using accelerometery) may reveal effects on diving and flight performance.</p>
Eye size and investment in frogs and toads correlate with adult habitat, activity pattern and breeding ecology
<p></p><p>Frogs and toads (Amphibia: Anura) display diverse ecologies and behaviours, which are often correlated with visual capacity in other vertebrates. Additionally, anurans exhibit a broad range of relative eye sizes, which have not previously been linked to ecological factors in this group. We measured relative investment in eye size and corneal size for 220 species of anurans representing all 55 currently recognized families and tested whether they were correlated with six natural history traits hypothesized to be associated with the evolution of eye size. Anuran eye size was significantly correlated with habitat, with notable decreases in eye investment among fossorial, subfossorial and aquatic species. Relative eye size was also associated with mating habitat and activity pattern. Compared to other vertebrates, anurans have relatively large eyes for their body size, indicating that vision is probably of high importance. Our study reveals the role that ecology and behaviour may have played in the evolution of anuran visual systems and highlights the usefulness of museum specimens, and importance of broad taxonomic sampling, for interpreting macroecological patterns.</p><p></p>
Selection signatures in two oldest Russian native cattle breeds revealed using high-density single nucleotide polymorphism analysis
<p>Native cattle breeds can carry specific signatures of selection reflecting their adaptation to the local environmental conditions and response to the breeding strategy used. In this study, we comprehensively analysed high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotypes to characterise the population structure and detect the selection signatures in Russian native Yaroslavl and Kholmogor dairy cattle breeds, which have been little influenced by introgression with transboundary breeds. Fifty-six samples of pedigree-recorded purebred animals, originating from different breeding farms and representing different sire lines, of the two studied breeds were genotyped using a genome-wide bovine genotyping array (Bovine HD BeadChip). Three statistical analyses—calculation of fixation index (<i>F</i><sub>ST</sub>) for each SNP for the comparison of the pairs of breeds, hapFLK analysis, and estimation of the runs of homozygosity (ROH) islands shared in more than 50% of animals—were combined for detecting the selection signatures in the genome of the studied cattle breeds. We confirmed nine and six known regions under putative selection in the genomes of Yaroslavl and Kholmogor cattle, respectively; the flanking positions of most of these regions were elucidated. Only two of the selected regions (localised on BTA 14 at 24.4–25.1 Mbp and on BTA 16 at 42.5–43.5 Mb) overlapped in Yaroslavl, Kholmogor and Holstein breeds. In addition, we detected three novel selection sweeps in the genome of Yaroslavl (BTA 4 at 4.74–5.36 Mbp, BTA 15 at 17.80–18.77 Mbp, and BTA 17 at 45.59–45.61 Mbp) and Kholmogor breeds (BTA 12 at 82.40–81.69 Mbp, BTA 15 at 16.04–16.62 Mbp, and BTA 18 at 0.19–1.46 Mbp) by using at least two of the above-mentioned methods. We expanded the list of candidate genes associated with the selected genomic regions and performed their functional annotation. We discussed the possible involvement of the identified candidate genes in artificial selection in connection with the origin and development of the breeds. Our findings on the Yaroslavl and Kholmogor breeds obtained using high-density SNP genotyping and three different statistical methods allowed the detection of novel putative genomic regions and candidate genes that might be under selection. These results might be useful for the sustainable development and conservation of these two oldest Russian native cattle breeds.</p>
Breeding season length predicts duet coordination and consistency in Neotropical wrens (Troglodytidae)
<p>Many animals produce coordinated signals, but few are more striking than the elaborate male-female vocal duets produced by some tropical songbirds. Yet, little is known about the factors driving the extreme levels of vocal coordination between mated pairs in these taxa. We examined evolutionary patterns of duet coordination and their potential evolutionary drivers in Neotropical wrens (Troglodytidae), a songbird family well-known for highly coordinated duets. Across 23 wren species we show that the degree of coordination and precision with which pairs combine their songs into duets varies by species. This includes some species that alternate their song phrases with exceptional coordination to produce rapidly alternating duets that are highly consistent across renditions. These highly coordinated, consistent duets evolved independently in multiple wren species. Duet coordination and consistency are greatest in species with especially long breeding seasons, but neither duet coordination nor consistency are correlated with clutch size, conspecific abundance, or vegetation density. These results suggest that tightly coordinated duets play an important role in mediating breeding behaviour, possibly by signalling commitment or coalition of the pair to mates and other conspecifics.</p>
Digital biodiversity datasets reveal breeding phenology and its drivers in a widespread North American mammal
<p>Shifts in reproductive timing are among the most commonly documented responses of organisms to global climate change. However, our knowledge of these responses is biased towards taxa that are easily observable and abundant in existing biodiversity data sets. Mammals are common subjects in reproductive biology, but mammalian phenology and its drivers in the wild remain poorly understood because many species are small, secretive, or labor-intensive to monitor. We took an informatics-based approach to reconstructing breeding phenology in the widespread North American deer mouse (<i>Peromyscus maniculatus</i>) using individual-level reproductive observations from digitized museum specimens and field censuses spanning >100 years and >45 degrees of latitude. We reconstructed female phenology in different regions and tested the importance of three environmental variables (photoperiod, temperature, precipitation) as breeding cues. Photoperiod and temperature were strong positive and negative breeding cues, respectively, while precipitation was not a significant predictor of breeding phenology. However, phenologies and the use of environmental cues varied substantially among regions, and we found evidence that these cueing repertoires are tuned to ecosystem-specific limiting conditions. Our results reiterate the importance of ecological context in optimizing reproduction and demonstrate how harmonization across biodiversity data resources allows new insight into phenology and its drivers in wild mammals.</p>
Data from: Wintering bird communities are tracking climate change faster than breeding communities
<p><span>1. Global climate change is driving species' distributions towards the poles and mountain tops during both non-breeding and breeding seasons, leading to changes in the composition of natural communities. However, the degree of season differences in climate-driven community shifts has not been thoroughly investigated at large spatial scales. </span></p> <p><span>2. We compared the rates of change in the community composition during both winter (non-breeding season) and summer (breeding) and their relation to temperature changes.</span></p> <p><span>3. Based on continental-scale data from Europe and North America, we examined changes in bird community composition using the community temperature index (CTI) approach and compared the changes with observed regional temperature changes during 1980–2016.</span></p> <p><span>4. CTI increased faster in winter than in summer. This seasonal discrepancy is probably because individuals are less site-faithful in winter, and can more readily shift their wintering sites in response to weather in comparison to the breeding season. Regional long-term changes in community composition were positively associated with regional temperature changes during both seasons, but the pattern was only significant during summer due to high annual variability in winter communities. Annual changes in community composition were positively associated with the annual temperature changes during both seasons. </span></p> <p><span>5. Our results were broadly consistent across continents, suggesting some climate-driven restructuring in both European and North American avian communities. Because community composition has changed much faster during the winter than during the breeding season, it is important to increase our knowledge about climate-driven impacts during the less-studied non-breeding season.</span></p>
Foraging niche shift maintains breeding parameters of a colonial waterbird during range expansion
<p>Relating the effects of foraging niche variation to reproductive dynamics is critical to understand species response to environmental change. We examined foraging niche variations of the slender-billed gull (Chroicocephalus genei), a nomadic colonial waterbird species during its range expansion along the French Mediterranean coast over a 16 year period (1998-2013). We investigated whether range expansion was associated to a change in chick diet, breeding success and chicks body condition. We also examined whether breeding success and chicks body condition were explained by diet and colonial characteristics (number of pairs, laying phenology, habitat, and locality). Diet was characterized using dual-stable isotopic proxies (δ13C and δ15N) of feather keratin from 331 individuals subsampled from a total of 4154 chicks ringed and measured at 18 different colonies. δ13C decreased and δ15N increased significantly during range expansion suggesting that chicks were fed from preys of increasing trophic level found in the less salty habitat colonised by the end of the study period. Niche shift occurred without significant change of niche width which did not vary among periods, habitats or localities either. Breeding success and chick body condition showed no consistent trends over years. Breeding success tended to increase with decreasing δ13C at the colony level while there was no relationship between stable isotope signatures and chick body condition. Overall our results suggest that even if range expansion is associated with foraging niche shift towards the colonization of less salty and more brackish habitats, the shift had marginal effect on the breeding parameters of the Slender-billed gull. Niche width appears as an asset of this species, which likely explains its ability to rapidly colonize new locations.</p>
Breeding success of Eleonora's falcon in Cyprus revisited using survey techniques for cliff-nesting species
<p>The global breeding population of Eleonora's Falcon (Falco eleonorae) is distributed from the Canary Islands in the west, across the Mediterranean Sea, to Cyprus in the east. The remoteness of nesting colonies, which are predominantly lo- cated on sea cliffs and islets, renders breeding success estimation a challenging task, requiring a composite approach to assess each of the breeding stages. Early estimates of the breeding success of Eleonora's Falcon suggested that the Akrotiri colony in Cyprus had the lowest breeding success among all the colonies throughout the species' breeding range, at a level seemingly unsustainable, suggesting the colony might have been in danger of gradual extinction. Here we use a diversity of survey methods including boat, ground, and aerial surveys, with the incorporation of photog- raphy and photogrammetry, to reassess the breeding success and the effect of nest characteristics on the Eleonora's Falcon breeding population in Cyprus. During a 6-yr study, we found that Cyprus hosts ~138 ± 8 breeding pairs and that breeding success equals 1.54 ± 0.85 fledglings per breeding pair, and thus is considerably higher than previous es- timates. In addition, by analyzing temporal variation in breeding and nest characteristics, we found that early breeding and reuse of nests positively influence breeding success, but physical nest characteristics have a limited effect on colony productivity. The range of survey methods employed, as well as the array of photography techniques utilized, enhanced the efficiency and accuracy of this study, allowing us to overcome the challenge of inaccessibility of nesting cliffs.</p>
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Allen Brain Atlas
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Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
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