Abstract
In the last decades, the effects of climate warming have been particularly marked in high mountain areas. High-altitude species adapted to cold temperatures are consensually held to be particularly vulnerable to climate warming. Among these species at risk, alpine birds like the Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) are expected to exhibit a strong negative response, particularly at the southern margins of their ranges in the northern hemisphere. In this study, conducted from 1998 to 2011, we investigated whether variations in the local climate affected the breeding biology of Rock Ptarmigan in the French Alps and Pyrenees. The median hatching date did not significantly advance in either massif, suggesting that Rock Ptarmigan did not breed earlier during this period. The date of snowmelt and spring temperatures influenced the onset of breeding but not consistently in both sites. In the Alps, the median hatching date was significantly correlated with the date of snowmelt, but this correlation was less clear in the Pyrenees. Unlike woodland grouse which inhabit lower elevations, the onset of breeding in Rock Ptarmigan may be related to both date of snowmelt and spring temperatures. Reproductive success varied greatly over the years and among sites. On average, the number of young per adult in the Pyrenean population was greater than that recorded in the two populations in the Alps. A significant positive trend of reproductive success over the period of 2000–2009 was detected in the Pyrenees but not in the Alps. The model that best explained annual variation in reproductive success included the additive effects of site, date of total snowmelt and rainfall after hatching. The estimates from this model showed that for all sites, reproductive success was much lower when snowmelt was late, and rainfall after hatching was high. We did not detect any altitudinal changes in locations of either breeding females or nests, suggesting that the breeding habitat of the species has not shifted upward from 1998 to 2011. To conclude, although the Rock Ptarmigan is generally considered a potential sentinel species for indicating temperature-induced changes in alpine avifauna, our study did not show a short-term effect of climate change on the breeding biology of the southern populations of this species.
Zusammenfassung
Bei Alpenschneehühnern in den französischen Alpen und Pyrenäen sind keine Kurzzeiteffekte des Klimawandels zu beobachten
Während der letzten Jahrzehnte waren die Auswirkungen der Klimaerwärmung in den Hochgebirgen besonders ausgeprägt. Hochgebirgsarten, die an kalte Temperaturen angepasst sind, gelten durch die Klimaerwärmung allgemein als besonders gefährdet. Unter diesen Risikoarten erwartet man von Gebirgsvögeln wie dem Alpenschneehuhn (Lagopus muta) eine stark negative Reaktion, speziell an den Südgrenzen ihrer Verbreitung auf der Nordhalbkugel. In dieser zwischen 1998 und 2011 durchführten Studie untersuchten wir, ob Variationen des örtlichen Klimas die Brutbiologie von Alpenschneehühnern in den französischen Alpen und Pyrenäen beeinflussten. Das mittlere Schlupfdatum war in keinem der beiden Gebirgszüge signifikant verfrüht, was nahelegt, dass die Alpenschneehühner während des Untersuchungszeitraumes nicht früher brüteten. Das Datum der Schneeschmelze und die Frühjahrstemperaturen beeinflussten den Brutbeginn, aber nicht durchgängig in beiden Regionen. In den Alpen korrelierte das mittlere Schlupfdatum signifikant mit dem Datum der Schneeschmelze, für die Pyrenäen war dieser Zusammenhang weniger deutlich. Anders als die Waldland bewohnenden Raufußhühner, die in geringeren Höhen leben, könnte der Brutbeginn bei Alpenschneehühnern sowohl an das Datum der Schneeschmelze als auch an die Frühjahrstemperaturen gekoppelt sein. Der Reproduktionserfolg variierte stark von Jahr zu Jahr und von Ort zu Ort. Im Schnitt lag die Anzahl Junge pro Altvogel in der Pyrenäenpopulation höher als bei den beiden Populationen in den Alpen. Ein signifikant positiver Trend im Reproduktionserfolg über den Zeitraum von 2000–2009 zeigte sich in den Pyrenäen, nicht jedoch in den Alpen. Das Modell, welches die jährlichen Schwankungen im Reproduktionserfolg am besten erklären konnte, beinhaltete die kombinierten Effekte von Ort, Datum der vollständigen Schneeschmelze und Regenfälle nach dem Schlupf. Schätzungen mit diesem Modell zeigten, dass an allen Orten der Bruterfolg viel niedriger war, wenn die Schneeschmelze spät eintrat und nach dem Schlupf viel Regen fiel. Wir konnten keine Höhenveränderungen bezüglich der Aufenthaltsorte brütender Weibchen oder der Neststandorte feststellen, was nahelegt, dass sich das Bruthabitat dieser Art zwischen 1998 und 2011 nicht nach oben verschoben hat. Abschließend ist zu sagen, dass—obwohl das Alpenschneehuhn generell als potenzielle Indikatorart für temperaturbedingte Veränderungen der alpinen Avifauna gilt—unsere Studie keinen kurzfristigen Effekt des Klimawandels auf die Brutbiologie der südlichen Populationen dieser Vogelart feststellen konnte.
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Acknowledgments
We are very grateful to J. & E. Resseguier, B. Muffat-Joly, M. Arvin-Bérod, Geoffrey Garcel, Josep Blanch Casadesus, Jordi Gracia Moya, J.-F. Brenot and the agents of the “Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage” in the departments of the Pyrénées Orientales and Haute Savoie for their field assistance. We also wish to thank Météo France, the Réserve Naturelle de Mantet, and Mathieu Garel for their help in collecting meteorological data, Roger Prodon for his helpful comments on an early draft of the manuscript and Elise Bradbury and Laurence Ellison for improving the English. The study was funded in part by the European Program, Alcotra “Les Galliformes des Alpes occidentales en tant qu’indicateurs des changements de l’environnement—Monitoring, conservation et gestion des espèces”.
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Novoa, C., Astruc, G., Desmet, JF. et al. No short-term effects of climate change on the breeding of Rock Ptarmigan in the French Alps and Pyrenees. J Ornithol 157, 797–810 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-016-1335-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-016-1335-5