Abstract
Changes in the timing of reproduction of birds should provide good evidence of large-scale climate fluctuations. However, geographically separate populations of one species may respond variably. We analyzed egg laying dates of nine Eurasian populations of the Common Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus collected between 1969 and 2010. The timing of breeding differed greatly with latitude: the populations in the north started later, a breeding pair produced only one brood per season and the breeding season was shorter. Both yearly minimum and median first-egg laying dates advanced with increases in local air temperature, but the more northern populations had started at much lower temperatures, which was probably caused by the stimulation of photoperiod. The effects of large-scale climatic patterns (North Atlantic Oscillation, East Atlantic, Scandinavia/Eurasia-1) on the first-egg laying date were low. The egg laying dates advanced over the observed decades in all populations, although at a variable rate. Seven selected populations with the most complete data for the period 1986–2010 revealed an advancement of median first-egg laying dates of 0.11 days/year and 1.31 days/°C. The effect on minimum first-egg laying dates was smaller. The changes observed in two populations in Ural and western Siberia were smaller than those found in more westerly populations (Finland, central Europe). The timing of the start of breeding is probably less affected by climate change than the timing of spring migration, documented by European ornithological stations.
Zusammenfassung
Variation und langfristige Trends im zeitlichen Ablauf der Brut von verschiedenen eurasischen Populationen des Gartenrotschwanzes Phoenicurus phoenicurus
Änderungen der Fortpflanzungszeiträume von Vögeln sollten gute Hinweise auf großräumige Klimaschwankungen geben. Allerdings können geographisch getrennte Populationen einer Art unterschiedlich reagieren. Wir werteten die Eiablagedaten von neun eurasischen Populationen des Gartenrotschwanzes aus dem Zeitraum 1969–2010 aus. Der Brutzeitraum unterschied sich mit dem Breitengrad erheblich: Populationen im Norden beginnen später, ein Brutpaar hat nur eine Brut pro Saison und die Brutsaison ist kürzer. Sowohl die jährlich Frühsten wie auch die mittleren Ersteiablagedaten verfrühten sich mit Erhöhung der lokalen Lufttemperatur, wobei die nördlicheren Populationen schon bei deutlich niedrigeren Temperaturen anfingen, was vermutlich mit einer Stimulation durch die Tageslänge zu erklären ist. Die Auswirkungen von großräumigen Klimamustern (North Atlantic Oscillation, East Atlantic, Scandinavia/Eurasia-1) auf die Ersteiablagetermine waren gering. Der Zeitpunkt der Eiablage verfrühte sich bei allen beobachteten Populationen im Verlauf des Beobachtungszeitraums, allerdings mit unterschiedlicher Geschwindigkeit. Bei sieben ausgewählten Populationen mit den umfangreichsten Datensätzen für den Zeitraum von 1986 bis 2010 lässt sich eine Verfrühung des mittleren Zeitpunkts der ersten Eiablage um 0.11 Tage/Jahr und 1.31 Tage/°C erkennen. Die Auswirkung auf den frühesten Zeitpunkt der ersten Eiablage war geringer. Die Veränderungen, die in zwei Populationen im Ural und in Westsibirien beobachtet werden konnten, waren geringer als bei weiter westlich gelegenen Populationen (Finnland, Mitteleuropa). Der Brutbeginn ist möglicherweise weniger vom Klimawandel als vom Zeitpunkt des Frühjahrszugs abhängig, wie er von europäischen Beobachtungs- und Beringungsstationen dokumentiert wird.
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01 January 2015
An Erratum to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-014-1127-8
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Acknowledgments
We warmly thank all collaborators who have provided data on the Common Redstart that could not be used in our study: Azis Aslan, Malcolm Burgess, Zsolt Karcza, Jacques Laesser, Dave Leech, Nicolas Martinez, and Leonid V. Sokolov. We also thank the individuals who helped to contact all the collaborators, above all to Aleksandr V. Artemyev from Russia, Wolfgang Fiedler from Germany, and Martin Weggler from Switzerland. Karel Weidinger kindly read and criticized the manuscript. Meteorological data not supplied by the co-authors were provided by the courtesy of Ladislav Metelka from the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute. Beata Matysioková provided some of the literature on redstart biology. We are grateful to both referees for their valuable comments on the manuscript. We thank Pekka Rahko and Ismo Kreivi for their field assistance. Jan Mirejovsky helped to smooth out the English text.
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Porkert, J., Gashkov, S., Haikola, J. et al. Variation and long-term trends in the timing of breeding of different Eurasian populations of Common Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus. J Ornithol 155, 1045–1057 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-014-1092-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-014-1092-2