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Low nest survival of a breeding shorebird in Bohai Bay, China

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Abstract

Nest survival plays an important role in avian demography because of its influence on both individual fitness and population growth. It is also known to vary within species due to local factors such as climate, predation, substrate, and disturbance, among others. Therefore, an understanding of the relative influence of local factors on nest survival is of critical importance for the formulation of appropriate avian conservation and management policies/programs. Over the past 50 years the Yellow Sea has lost almost 65 % of its original intertidal habitats due to land reclamation and development. There has also been a concomitant and rapid decline in the populations of Kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) in East Asia, but the proximate causes of this decline are poorly understood. To gain a better understanding of this conservation issue, we investigated Kentish plover nest survival in Bohai Bay, China, using Program MARK to model the daily survival rate (DSR) of 417 nests. We found that in terms of nest survival, that for the Kentish plover populations in Bohai Bay [0.925 ± 0.004 (±95 % confidence interval)] is the lowest reported worldwide for this species. The most common cause of nest failure was related to anthropogenic disturbance. We determined that nests occupying salt crystallization habitat had the highest hatching success and that initiation date, nest age, and nest density had quadratic effects on DSR. If low nest survival persists for consecutive years, fecundity will unlikely compensate for adult mortality, resulting in dramatic population declines of plovers in Bohai Bay. We therefore recommend that the Local Authority managers responsible for local environmental management act accordingly to create protected alternative nesting habitat for plovers in this region.

Zusammenfassung

Niedrige Überlebensrate von Nestern eines brütenden Watvogels in der Bohai-Bucht, China

Die Überlebensrate von Nestern spielt wegen ihres Einflusses auf individuelle Fitness und Populationswachstum eine wichtige Rolle für die Demographie von Vogelpopulationen. Es ist bekannt, dass die Überlebensrate von Nestern innerhalb einer Art aufgrund von Faktoren wie Klima, Prädation, Substrat und Störungen variiert. Daher ist das Einschätzen von lokalen Einflüssen auf die Überlebensrate von Nestern von zentraler Bedeutung für das Erstellen von angemessenen Vogelschutz- und Managementplänen. Das Gelbe Meer hat über die letzten 50 Jahre beinahe 65 % seines ursprünglichen Habitats im Gezeitenbereich durch Landgewinnung und Entwicklung eingebüßt. Parallel hierzu sind Populationen des Seeregenpfeifers (Charadrius alexandrinus) in Ostasien schnell zurückgegangen, wobei die unmittelbaren Gründe hierfür nur unzureichend bekannt sind. Um diese Naturschutzproblematik zu bestätigen, untersuchten wir die Überlebensrate von Nestern des Seeregenpfeifers in der Bohai-Bucht, China. Wir nutzen das Programm MARK, um die tägliche Überlebensrate (DSR) von 417 Nestern zu modellieren, und fanden heraus, dass Nester von Seeregenpfeifern, die in der Bohai-Bucht brüten, die weltweit niedrigste bekannte Überlebensrate (0.925 ± 0.004 [±95 % KI]) für diese Art aufweisen. Der häufigste Auslöser für das Scheitern eines Nestes war anthropogene Störung. Unsere Studie zeigt, dass Nester in Salzkristallisationshabitaten den höchsten Schlupferfolg aufwiesen und dass der Zeitpunkt des Nestbeginns, das Nestalter und die Nesterdichte quadratische Effekte auf DSR hatten. Sollte die niedrige Überlebensrate für mehrere aufeinanderfolgende Jahre anhalten, ist es unwahrscheinlich, dass die Fortpflanzungsrate die adulte Sterblichkeitsrate kompensiert, was zu dramatischen Bestandsrückgängen der Regenpfeifer in der Bohai-Bucht führen würde. Daher schlagen wir vor, dass Umweltmanager vor Ort entsprechend handeln und geschützte alternative Bruthabitate für die Regenpfeifer in dieser Region schaffen.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2006CB403305), United Foundation for Natural Science of National Natural Science Foundation of China and People’s Government of Guangdong Province (No. U0833005) and the open project of State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat-sen University. We would especially like to thank Hongyan Yang and Weipan Lei who provided detailed advice and comments on our study. We also thank Zhiqin Ma, Zao Wang, and Mengjie Sun for field assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Sciences and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Pinjia Que, Yajing Chang & Zhengwang Zhang

  2. Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, Morgenbreede 45, 33615, Bielefeld, Germany

    Luke Eberhart-Phillips

  3. State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and College of Ecology and Evolution, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Yang Liu

  4. Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath, UK

    Tamás Székely

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  1. Pinjia Que
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  5. Tamás Székely
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Correspondence to Zhengwang Zhang.

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Communicated by F. Bairlein.

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Que, P., Chang, Y., Eberhart-Phillips, L. et al. Low nest survival of a breeding shorebird in Bohai Bay, China. J Ornithol 156, 297–307 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-014-1126-9

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