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Apparent survival, growth rate and dispersal in a declining European Roller population

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Abstract

Studying demographic parameters and how they may influence population growth is critical to the development of meaningful conservation actions for endangered species. The European Roller Coracias garrulus has experienced a drastic decline through its breeding distribution range, but very little is known about its demography (i.e. dispersal and survival). Here, we investigated the apparent survival, population growth and breeding site fidelity in a Roller population in the south of Spain over a period of 8 years. We used capture–recapture histories of 202 ringed adults and 369 fledglings to estimate annual survival, and studied factors affecting site fidelity in 56 adults found breeding over two consecutive years. Adult male and female apparent survival overlapped widely and was similar to that found in other similar migratory species. However, juvenile apparent survival, which was markedly lower than adult survival, was low relative to that found for other birds. Population growth was nearly stable during the study period. Regarding site fidelity, males raising more fledglings one year were more prone to be faithful the following year. In females, however, we did not find any factor influencing either site fidelity decisions or distance between consecutive breeding sites. Concerning settlement decisions, males, but not females, moved to nest-boxes where density of Rollers was lower than that at the nest-box of origin. Altogether, our results suggest that the low productivity and a potential decrease in immigration might be compromising the viability of the population.

Zusammenfassung

Lokale Überlebenswahrscheinlichkeit, Wachstumsrate und Dismigration bei einer abnehmenden Blaurackenpopulation

Das Studium demografischer Parameter und ihres möglichen Einflusses auf das Populationswachstum ist von entscheidender Bedeutung für die Entwicklung sinnvoller Schutzmaßnahmen für bedrohte Arten. Die Blauracke Coracias garrulus hat in ihrem Brutverbreitungsgebiet einen dramatischen Rückgang erlebt, es ist aber nur sehr wenig über ihre Demografie (d. h. Dismigration und Überlebensraten) bekannt. Wir untersuchten hier die lokale Überlebenswahrscheinlichkeit, das Populationswachstum sowie die Brutorttreue an einer Blaurackenpopulation im Süden Spaniens über einen Zeitraum von acht Jahren. Auf der Grundlage von Fang-Wiederfang-Datenreihen von 202 beringten Altvögeln und 369 flüggen Jungvögeln schätzten wir die jährlichen Überlebensraten und erforschten die Ursachen für Brutorttreue bei 56 Altvögeln, welche in zwei aufeinanderfolgenden Jahren brüteten. Bei adulten Männchen und Weibchen überlappten die Werte für die lokale Überlebenswahrscheinlichkeit weitreichend und glichen denen, die für ähnliche Zugvogelarten ermittelt wurden. Allerdings lag die lokale Überlebenswahrscheinlichkeit der Jungvögel eindeutig unter derjenigen der Altvögel und war im Vergleich zu anderen Vogelarten niedrig. Zur Zeit der Untersuchung war das Populationswachstum nahezu stabil. In Bezug auf die Brutorttreue neigten Männchen, welche im einen Jahr mehr flügge Jungvögel aufgezogen hatten, im Folgejahr zu größerer Treue. Für die Weibchen fanden wir allerdings keinen Faktor, der Brutorttreue oder die Distanz zwischen zwei aufeinanderfolgenden Nistplätzen beeinflusst hätte. Insgesamt lassen unsere Ergebnisse vermuten, dass die geringe Produktivität und ein möglicher Rückgang bei der Zuwanderung die Überlebensfähigkeit der Population gefährden könnten.

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Acknowledgements

DP and JMA were funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science/FEDER through the projects CGL2008-00718, CGL2011-27561/BOS, CGL2014-56769-P, CGL2017-83503-P and by the Government of Extremadura through the project TA13002 to DP. Data was collected under license of the Junta de Andalucía, Spanish region in which the study was done. Therefore, data collection complies with the current laws of Spain, where the study was performed. JRR, DP, JMA conceived of and designed the research, analysed data and wrote the paper. JRR, DP, JMA and MEG collected data. All the authors contributed with comments to the final version of the manuscript. We thank two anonymous referees for constructive comments on previous drafts of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ecología Funcional y Evolutiva, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (EEZA-CSIC), Almería, Spain

    Juan Rodríguez-Ruiz, Mónica Expósito-Granados, Jesús M. Avilés & Deseada Parejo

  2. Área de Zoología, Departamento de Anatomía, Biología Celular y Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain

    Deseada Parejo

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  1. Juan Rodríguez-Ruiz
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  2. Mónica Expósito-Granados
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  3. Jesús M. Avilés
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Correspondence to Juan Rodríguez-Ruiz.

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Communicated by F. Bairlein.

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Rodríguez-Ruiz, J., Expósito-Granados, M., Avilés, J.M. et al. Apparent survival, growth rate and dispersal in a declining European Roller population. J Ornithol 161, 103–113 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-019-01699-y

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