Abstract
Understanding the evolution of gregarious breeding in birds necessitates assessing how fitness components vary in relation to conspecific density. So far, the ultimate causes of breeding density remain contentious, owing to the logistic challenges in both obtaining and interpreting long-term effects of density on fledgling survival, recruitment rates or natal dispersal in wild populations. Here, we used observational data from a 13-year study on the reproduction of a facultatively gregarious bird, the Spotless Starling, Sturnus unicolor, to investigate the consequences of breeding density for fitness and offspring natal dispersal. We compared breeding performance, recruitment success and dispersal distances of offspring arising from nest-boxes placed in either a high (HD) or a low density (LD). We found that although neither clutch size nor fledgling survival varied in relation to density, HD nests produced significantly fewer recruits. Moreover, recruits from HD nests settled closer to their natal territories than those from LD nests. These findings suggest that the proximity to neighbours incurs delayed fitness costs in the Spotless Starling. Furthermore, the negative density-dependent dispersal may result from the increased mortality of individuals in worse condition and with lower ability to compete for breeding vacancies in the vicinity of their natal territories. With this study, we provide long-term observational results that may be a basis for further experiments intended to unravel proximate mechanisms underpinning density-dependent patterns in wild breeding colonies.
Zusammenfassung
Langfristige Fitnesskonsequenzen der Brutdichte bei Starenkolonien: ein Beobachtungsansatz
Um die Evolution des gemeinschaftlichen Brütens bei Vögeln zu verstehen, ist es erforderlich, die wesentlichen Fitnesskomponenten festzustellen, die in Bezug auf die Siedlungsdichte variieren. Bis zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt bleiben die letztendlichen Ursachen für die Brutdichten umstritten. Ursache dafür sind die logistischen Herausforderungen bei der Feststellung und Interpretation langfristiger Auswirkungen der Brutdichte in Wildpopulationen auf die Überlebenswahrscheinlichkeit der flüggen Jungvögel, Rekrutierungsrate oder Abwanderung der Jungvögel. In dieser Studie nutzten wir die Beobachtungsdaten einer 13-jährigen Studie über die Reproduktion einer fakultativ in Kolonien brütenden Vogelart, dem Einfarbstar, Sturnus unicolor, um die Konsequenzen der Brutdichte auf die Fitness und Abwanderung der Nachkommen zu untersuchen. Wir verglichen die Brutleistung, den Rekrutierungserfolg und die Abwanderungsdistanzen der Nachkommen, die aus Nestboxen stammen, welche entweder in einer hohen (HD; engl. high density) oder niedrigen (LD; engl. low density) Dichte angebracht worden sind. Wir fanden heraus, dass HD-Nester weniger Rekruten (Erstbrüter) hervorbrachten, obwohl sich weder die Gelegegröße noch die Überlebenswahrscheinlichkeit der flüggen Jungvögel in Bezug auf die Brutdichte unterschieden. Weiterhin siedelten sich Rekruten von HD-Nestern näher am eigenen Schlupfort an als Rekruten von LD-Nestern. Diese Funde lassen vermuten, dass die Nähe zu den Artgenossen zu verspätete Fitnesskosten beim Einfarbstar führt. Weitere Gründe für die geringe Abwanderung bei einer höheren Siedlungsdichte (engl. negative density-dependent dispersal) könnten eine erhöhte Sterblichkeit bei Individuen mit schlechterer Kondition und eine niedrigere Konkurrenzfähigkeit bezüglich freier Brutmöglichkeiten in Schlupfortnähe sein. Mit dieser Studie können wir Ergebnisse aus langfristigen Beobachtungen zur Verfügung stellen, welche als Grundlage für künftige Experimente dienen können. Diese sollten zum Ziel haben, unmittelbare Mechanismen zu untersuchen, die den dichteabhängigen Mustern in Brutkolonien freilebender Vogelarten zugrunde liegen.
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Acknowledgements
Financial support was provided by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (project number CGL2014-59670-P). D.F was supported by PhD grant by the Spanish Government. The authors particularly thank Kala Thaker for kindly revising the writing style, and two reviewers for their suggestions to improve an earlier version of the manuscript.
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Fuentes, D., Rubalcaba, J.G., Veiga, J.P. et al. Long-term fitness consequences of breeding density in starling colonies: an observational approach. J Ornithol 160, 1035–1042 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-019-01674-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-019-01674-7