Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Comparing demographic parameters for philopatric and immigrant individuals in a long-lived bird adapted to unstable habitats

  • Population ecology - Original Paper
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Theoretical models about the benefits of philopatry predict that immigrant fitness can be higher, lower or similar to that of philopatrics depending on habitat heterogeneity, dispersal costs, distance between patches or population densities. In this study, we compared transience rates, local survival and recruitment among philopatric and immigrant individuals of Audouin’s gull Larus audouinii, a long-lived bird with high dispersal capacities. Several previous studies have shown that these capacities were probably the result of adaptation to unstable and highly discrete habitats; hence, we tested the hypothesis that fitness components for philopatrics and immigrants were similar. During 1988–2006, ca. 27,800 chicks were marked in 31 colonies in the western Mediterranean metapopulation, and more than 52,000 resightings were made in a single, high-quality colony, to estimate local demographic parameters by capture–recapture analyses. Results suggest that, even though parameters related to site-tenacity (e.g. recapture rates) were higher for philopatrics than for immigrants, survival and recruitment were fundamentally similar. Small differences between philopatrics and immigrants were probably influenced by a highly suitable habitat at the study site, which reduced dispersal costs for immigrants; furthermore, the similarities in most fitness components were also probably the result of a life-history strategy of a species living in unpredictable, unstable habitats with high emigration rates among local populations, and with a relatively low cost of dispersal.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson PK (1989) Dispersal in rodents: a resident fitness hypothesis. American Society of Mammalogists, Lawrence

    Google Scholar 

  • Andersson M (1980) Nomadism and site tenacity as alternative reproductive tactics in birds. J Anim Ecol 49:175–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balkız Ö, Béchet A, Rouan L, Choquet R, Germain C, Amat JA, Rendón-Martos M, Baccetti N, Özesmi U, Pradel R (2009) Metapopulation dynamics of the greater flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus in the Mediterranean: implications for conservation. Flamingo 1:12–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Bélichon S, Clobert J, Massot M (1996) Are there differences in fitness components between philopatric and dispersing individuals? Acta Oecol 17:503–517

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowler DE, Benton TG (2005) Causes and consequences of animal dispersal strategies: relating individual behaviour to spatial dynamics. Biol Rev 80:205–225

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bullock JM, Kenward RE, Hails RS (2002) Dispersal ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Cam E, Oro D, Pradel R, Jimenez J (2004) Assessment of hypotheses about dispersal in a long-lived seabird using multistate capture-recapture models. J Anim Ecol 73:723–736

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choquet R, Reboulet AM, Pradel R, Gimenez O, Lebreton JD (2004) M-SURGE: new software specifically designed for multistate capture recapture models. Anim Biod Cons 27:207–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Choquet R, Reboulet AM, Lebreton J-D, Gimenez O, Pradel R (2005) U-CARE 22 user manual mimeographed document CEFE/CNRS

  • Clobert J, Danchin E, Dhondt AA, Nichols JD (2001) Dispersal. Oxford University Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Clobert J, Le Galliard J-F, Cote J, Meylan S, Massot M (2009) Informed dispersal, heterogeneity in animal dispersal syndromes and the dynamics of spatially structured populations. Ecol Lett 12:197–209

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Crawford RJ, Dyer BM, Brooke RK (1994) Breeding nomadism in southern African seabirds—constraints, causes and conservation. Ostrich 65:231–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danchin E, Giraldeau LA, Valone TJ, Wagner RH (2004) Public information: from nosy neighbors to cultural evolution. Science 305:487–491

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Denno RF, Roderick GK, Olmstead KL, Dobel HG (1991) Density-related migration in planthoppers (Homoptera: Delphacidae): the role of habitat persistence. Am Nat 138:1513–1541

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devillard S, Bray Y (2009) Assessing the effect on survival of natal dispersal using multistate capture-recapture models. Ecology 90:2902–2912

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dieckmann U, O’Hara B, Weisser W (1999) The evolutionary ecology of dispersal. Trends Ecol Evol 14:88–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dittmann T, Zinsmeister D, Becker PH (2005) Dispersal decisions: common terns, Sterna hirundo, choose between colonies during prospecting. Anim Behav 70:13–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doligez B, Pärt T (2008) Estimating fitness consequences of dispersal: a road to ‘know-where’? Non-random dispersal and the underestimation of dispersers’ fitness. J Anim Ecol 77:1199–1211

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Doligez B, Danchin E, Clobert J (2002) Public information and breeding habitat selection in a wild bird population. Science 297:1168–1170

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Doncaster CP, Clobert J, Doligez B, Danchin E, Gustafsson L (1997) Balanced dispersal between spatially varying local populations: an alternative to the source-sink model. Am Nat 150:425–445

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Erwin RM, Nichols JD, Eyler TB, Stotts DB, Truitt BR (1998) Modeling colony-site dynamics: a case study of gull-billed terns (Sterna nilotica) in coastal Virginia. Auk 115:970–978

    Google Scholar 

  • Forbes LS, Kaiser GW (1994) Habitat choice in breeding seabirds: when to cross the information barrier. Oikos 70:377–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frederiksen M, Petersen A (2000) The importance of natal dispersal in a colonial seabird, the black guillemot Cepphus grylle. Ibis 142:48–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaines MS, Vivas AM, Baker CL (1979) An experimental analysis of dispersal in fluctuating vole populations: demographic parameters. Ecology 60:814–828

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerber LR, Hyrenbach KD, Zacharias MA (2005) Do the largest protected areas conserve whales or whalers? Science 307:525–526

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gillis EA, Krebs CJ (2000) Survival of dispersing versus philopatric juvenile snowshoe hares: do dispersers die? Oikos 90:343–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood PJ, Harvey PH (1982) The natal and breeding dispersal of birds. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 13:1–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanski IA, Gaggiotti OE (2004) Ecology, genetics and evolution of metapopulations. Elsevier, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Hixon MA, Pacala SW, Sandin SA (2002) Population regulation: historical context and contemporary challenges of open vs closed systems. Ecology 83:1490–1508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Igual JM, Forero MG, Gomez T, Oro D (2007) Do introduced predators trigger an evolutionary trap in a colonial seabird? Biol Conserv 137:189–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inchausti P, Weimerskirch H (2002) Dispersal and metapopulation dynamics of an oceanic seabird, the wandering albatross, and its consequences for its response to long-line fisheries. J Anim Ecol 71:765–770

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenouvrier S, Barbraud C, Weimerskirch H (2003) Effects of climate variability on the temporal population dynamics of southern fulmars. J Anim Ecol 72:576–587

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johannesen E, Andreassen HP (1998) Survival and reproduction of resident and immigrant female root voles. Can J Zool 76:763–766

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson SR (1995) Immigration in a small population of snow geese. Auk 112:731–736

    Google Scholar 

  • Julliard R, Perret P, Blondel J (1996) Reproductive strategies of philopatric and immigrant blue tits. Acta Oecol 17:487–501

    Google Scholar 

  • Keymer JE, Marquet PA, Velasco-Hernández JX, Levin SA (2000) Extinction thresholds and metapopulation persistence in dynamic landscapes. Am Nat 156:478–494

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lebreton J-D, Burnham KP, Clobert J, Anderson DR (1992) Modeling survival and testing biological hypothesis using marked animals: a unified approach with case studies. Ecol Monogr 62:67–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemel J-Y, Belichon S, Clobert J, Hochberg ME (1997) The evolution of dispersal in a two-patch system: some consequences of differences between migrants and residents. Evol Ecol 11:613–629

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin YK, Batzli GO (2004) Emigration to new habitats by voles: the cost of dispersal paradox. Anim Behav 68:367–372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magoulick DD, Kobza RM (2003) The role of refugia for fishes during drought: a review and synthesis. Freshw Biol 48:1186–1198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martinez-Abraín A, Viedma C, Ramón N, Oro D (2001) On the potential role of philopatry and conspecific attraction as conservation tools in Audouin’s gull. Bird Conserv Int 11:143–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Abraín A, Oro D, Forero MG, Conesa D (2003) Modeling temporal and spatial colony-site dynamics in a long-lived seabird. Popul Ecol 45:133–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maynard-Smith J (1982) Evolution and the theory of games. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • McNicholl MK (1975) Larid site tenacity and group adherence in relation to habitat. Auk 92:98–104

    Google Scholar 

  • McPeek MA, Holt RD (1992) The evolution of dispersal in spatially and temporally varying environments. Am Nat 140:1010–1027

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris DW (1992) Scales and costs of habitat selection in heterogeneous landscapes. Evol Ecol 6:412–432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murren CJ, Julliard R, Schlichting CD, Clobert J (2001) Dispersal, individual phenotype, and phenotypic plasticity. In: Clobert J et al (eds) Dispersal. Oxford University Press, London, pp 261–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Orell M (1999) Immigration and gene flow in a northern willow tit (Parus montanus) population. J Evol Biol 12:283–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oro D (1998) Audouin’s gull account. BWP Update 4:47–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Oro D (2002) Breeding biology and population dynamics of slender-billed gulls Larus genei at the Ebro Delta (western Mediterranean). Waterbirds 25:67–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oro D (2003) Managing seabird metapopulations in the Mediterranean: constraints and challenges. Sci Mar 67:13–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oro D (2008) Living in a ghetto within a local population: an empirical example of an ideal despotic distribution. Ecology 89:838–846

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oro D, Pradel R (1999) Recruitment of Audouin’s gull to the Ebro Delta colony at metapopulation level in the western Mediterranean. Mar Ecol Progr Ser 180:267–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oro D, Ruxton GD (2001) The formation and growth of seabird colonies: Audouin’s gull as a case study. J Anim Ecol 70:527–535

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oro D, Genovart X, Ruiz X, Jimenez J, Garcia-Gans J (1996) Differences in diet, population size and reproductive performance between two colonies of Audouin’s gull Larus audouinii affected by a trawling moratorium. J Avian Biol 27:245–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oro D, Pradel R, Lebreton J-D (1999) Food availability and nest predation influence life history traits in Audouin’s gull, Larus audouinii. Oecologia 118:438–445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oro D, Baccetti N, Boukhalfa D, Eken G, El Hili A, Goutner V, Karauz S, Papaconstantinou C, Recorbet B, Ruiz X (2000) Current breeding distribution and status of Audouin’s gulls Larus audouinii in the Mediterranean. In: Sultana J, Yésou P (eds) Monitoring and conservation of birds, mammals and sea turtles of the Mediterranean and Black Seas. BirdLife Malta, Malta, pp 69–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Oro D, Cam E, Pradel R, Martínez-Abrain A (2004) Influence of food availability on demography and local population dynamics in a long-lived seabird. Proc R Soc Lond B 271:387–396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oro D, Martínez-Abraín A, Paracuellos M, Nevado JC, Genovart M (2006) Influence of density-dependence on predator-prey seabird interactions at large spatio-temporal scales. Proc R Soc Lond B 273:379–383

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osorio-Beristain M, Drummond H (1993) Natal dispersal and deferred breeding in the Blue-footed booby. Auk 110:234–239

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmer AR, Strathmann RR (1981) Scale of dispersal in varying environments and its implications for life histories of marine invertebrates. Oecologia 48:308–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parejo D, Oro D, Danchin E (2006) Is “Habitat copying” used by a species adapted to variable environments? The importance of the spatial scale. Ibis 148:146–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pradel R (1993) Flexibility in survival analysis from recapture data: handling trap-dependence. In: Lebreton J-D, North PM (eds) Marked individuals in the study of bird populations. Birkhäuser, Basel, pp 29–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Pradel R (1996) Utilization of capture-mark-recapture for the study of recruitment and population growth rate. Biometrics 52:703–709

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pradel R, Johnson AR, Viallefont A, Nager RG, Cézilly F (1997) Local recruitment in the greater flamingo: a new approach using capture-mark-recapture data. Ecology 78:1431–1445

    Google Scholar 

  • Prévot-Julliard A-C (1996) Rôle de la dispersion dans la dynamique d’une population de mouette rieuse Larus ridibundus. PhD thesis, Université de Montpellier II

  • Reid JM, Bignal EM, Bignal S, McCracken DI, Monaghan P (2006) Spatial variation in demography and population growth rate: the importance of natal location. J Anim Ecol 75:1201–1211

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ronce O (2007) How does it feel to be like a rolling stone? Ten questions about dispersal evolution. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 38:231–253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Serrano D, Tella JL, Forero MG, Donázar JA (2003) Social and individual features affecting natal dispersal in the colonial lesser kestrel. Ecology 84:3044–3054

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Serrano D, Forero MG, Donázar JA, Tella JL (2004) Dispersal and social attraction affect colony selection and dynamics of Lesser Kestrels. Ecology 85:3438–3447

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Southwood TRE (1977) Habitat, the templet for ecological strategies? J Anim Ecol 46:337–365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stenseth NC, Lidicker WZ Jr (1992) Animal dispersal: small mammals as a model. Chapman & Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Tavecchia G, Pradel R, Boy V, Johnson AR, Cézilly F (2001) Sex- and age-related variation in survival and the cost of first reproduction in Greater Flamingos. Ecology 82:165–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tavecchia G, Pradel R, Genovart M, Oro D (2007) Density-dependent parameters and demographic equilibrium in open populations. Oikos 116:1481–1492

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Travis JMJ, Dytham C (1999) Habitat persistence, habitat availability and the evolution of dispersal. Proc R Soc Lond B 266:723–728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valdemoro H, Sánchez-Arcilla A, Jiménez JA (2007) Coastal dynamics and wetlands stability. The Ebro delta case. Hydrobiologia 577:17–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valentine-Darby PL, Bennetts RE, Kitchens WM (1998) Seasonal patterns of habitat use by Snail Kites in Florida. J Raptor Res 32:98–103

    Google Scholar 

  • van de Pol M, Bruinzeel LW, Heg D, Van Der Jeugd HP, Verhulst S (2006) A silver spoon for a golden future: long-term effects of natal origin on fitness prospects of oystercatchers Haematopus ostralegus. J Anim Ecol 75:616–626

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Williams BK, Conroy MJ, Nichols JD (2001) Analysis and management of animal populations. Academic, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Wissinger SA (1997) Cyclic colonization in predictably ephemeral habitats: a template for biological control in annual crop systems. Biol Control 10:4–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We dedicate this work to Prof. Xavier Ruiz, who passed away recently, for contributing to the long-term monitoring of Audouin’s gull. We are indebted to all the people who have been helping with the fieldwork over the years, particularly Albert Bertolero and Julia Piccardo. The study was partially funded and supported by Ebro Delta Natural Park and grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (ref. CGL2006-04325/BOS and CGL2009-08298). Deborah Bonner edited the English. M.G. was funded by I3P postdoctoral fellowships from CSIC (Spanish Ministry of Education and Science). David Serrano, Fabrizio Sergio and an anonymous referee greatly improved previous drafts.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Population Ecology Group, IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), 21 Miquel Marques, 07190, Esporles, Spain

    Daniel Oro, Giacomo Tavecchia & Meritxell Genovart

Authors
  1. Daniel Oro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Giacomo Tavecchia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Meritxell Genovart
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel Oro.

Additional information

Communicated by Douglas Robinson.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Oro, D., Tavecchia, G. & Genovart, M. Comparing demographic parameters for philopatric and immigrant individuals in a long-lived bird adapted to unstable habitats. Oecologia 165, 935–945 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-010-1773-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-010-1773-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation