Abstract
Predictable variation in demographic patterns among populations inhabiting extreme environments can be used to direct common management actions. Ptarmigan and other grouse are ecologically important herbivores in Arctic and alpine areas, but survival estimates are lacking for many harvested populations. This hampers more detailed assessment of how this key determinant of population growth rate is related to environmental variability and whether there is predictable between–population variation. In this article, we estimated apparent survival by age and sex of the endemic high-Arctic Svalbard rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta hyperborea) using a 6-year mark–recapture dataset from the west coast of Spitsbergen (1980–1986). Second, we tested whether seasonal climatic variability explained temporal variation in adult survival rates. Within the Svalbard rock ptarmigan population, annual adult survival did not differ between the sexes, but varied among locations. Temporal variation in adult survival was limited and could not be explained by climatic variability. A review of inter-population comparisons of vital rates (survival and reproduction) of rock ptarmigan populations suggested that the high-Arctic, low-elevation Svalbard rock ptarmigan populations resemble their low-Arctic counterparts, and settles at the ‘low survival–high reproduction’ end of the ‘slow–fast continuum’. The demographic traits of high-Arctic ptarmigan contrast with the ‘high survival–low reproduction’ of rock ptarmigan populations at low latitudes and high elevations. Our study demonstrated that spatial variation in survival rates exists both within and between Svalbard rock ptarmigan populations. We suggest that further studies focus on ecological gradients underlying the spatial variation of life history and thus shape the population dynamics and long-term resilience.
Zusammenfassung
Populationen hart an der Grenze—das Überleben des Spitzbergen-Alpenschneehuhns ( Lagopus muta hyperborea )Vorhersagbare Veränderungen demographischer Muster bei Populationen in extremen Umgebungen könnten für die Steuerung von Management-Maßnahmen genutzt werden. Schneehühner und andere Raufußhühnerarten sind in arktischen und alpinen Regionen ökologisch wichtige Pflanzenfresser, aber es gibt praktisch keine Überlebens-Einschätzungen für viele bewirtschaftete Bestände. Diese Tatsache behindert derzeit eine detaillierte Bewertung, wie dieser für das Wachstum einer Population entscheidend wichtige Schlüsselfaktor mit der Umweltvariabilität zusammenhängt und ob es zwischen Populationen vorhersagbare Variation gibt. In unserer Arbeit schätzen wir die Überlebensrate anhand von Alter und Geschlecht von in der Hocharktis endemischen Spitzbergen-Alpenschneehühnern (Lagopus muta hyperborea); die Daten stammen aus einem Datensatz von Wiederfängen 6 Jahre nach Markierung an der Westküste von Spitzbergen (1980–1986). Darüber hinaus prüften wir, ob saisonale Klimaschwankungen zeitliche Variationen der Überlebensrate adulter Vögel erklären konnten. In dieser Alpenschneehuhn-Population gab es für die jährliche Überlebensrate keinen Unterschied zwischen den Geschlechtern, wohl aber variierte sie zwischen den unterschiedlichen Örtlichkeiten. Zeitliche Schwankungen in der Überlebensrate adulter Tiere waren begrenzt und konnten nicht mit Klimaschwankungen erklärt werden. Ein Vergleich vitaler Parameter (Überleben und Fortpflanzung) innerhalb von Populationen legte nahe, dass die hocharktische, aber in geringer Höhe lebende Alpenschneehuhn-Populationen ihren niederarktischen Artgenossen darin ähneln, dass sie auf dem „Langsam-Schnell-Kontinuum“an dem Ende liegen, an dem die Überlebensrate niedrig und der Fortpflanzungserfolg hoch ist. Die demographischen Merkmale hocharktischer Alpenschneehühner stehen im Gegensatz zum Hohes Überleben–Geringe Reproduktion“der Populationen in größerer Höhe, aber auf geringerer geographischer Breite. Unsere Studie hat gezeigt, dass es sowohl innerhalb einer Alpenschneehuhn-Population als auch zwischen unterschiedlichen Populationen räumliche Unterschiede in den Überlebensraten gibt. Wir regen weitere Untersuchungen an Alpenschneehühnern an, die sich speziell mit denjenigen ökologischen Verläufen befassen sollten, die den räumlichen Schwankungen in der Life-history zugrunde liegen und damit die Populationsdynamik und die Langzeit-Belastbarkeit der Populationen ausprägen könnten.
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Acknowledgments
Funding for publishing the capture–mark–recapture Svalbard rock ptarmigan data (1980–1982 and 1984–1986) was provided by the Norwegian Polar Institute and Svalbards Miljøvernfond. Hedmark University College, Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, and UiT The Arctic University of Norway contributed personnel for writing this publication. The fieldwork in Brøgger Peninsula and surrounding areas was funded by the Norwegian Polar Institute. Permissions for capturing ptarmigan were obtained from the governor of Svalbard, according to present regulations. The study complied with existing regulations in the 1980s regarding capture of wildlife in Svalbard. We thank Oddveig Øien Ørvoll for graphical assistance, Anders Skoglund for converting GIS files, and Brett K. Sandercock and one anonymous reviewer for a careful and constructive review.
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Communicated by C. Barbraud.
Sigmund Unander and Åshild Ø. Pedersen contributed equally to this work.
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Unander, S., Pedersen, Å.Ø., Soininen, E.M. et al. Populations on the limits: survival of Svalbard rock ptarmigan. J Ornithol 157, 407–418 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-015-1282-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-015-1282-6