Abstract
The exploration of the effects of urbanization on bird demography has attracted much attention, and several studies found lower reproductive success in towns, which suggested strong environmental constraints. Here, we conducted a 3-year study to explore the consequences of urbanization on the breeding success of two species that originated in forests, the Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus and the Great Tit Parus major. In two replicates of urban and forest habitats, we studied the components of reproductive success. In one replicate of each habitat, we quantified nestling growth over the three breeding seasons, and we collected data on egg quality during one breeding season. The general picture that emerges from our finding is that in urban sites breeding success was lower with smaller clutch sizes, higher clutch, higher brood failure rates and lower survival rates. Our results also showed reduced growth in urban habitats, at the embryonic and nestling stages, with potential adverse consequences on fitness. Crucial ecological factors could explain the observed contrasts between the habitats, and food limitation is among the most likely. Overall, we demonstrated the negative effects of urbanization on the reproductive success of forest birds, and our results were consistent between species and geographic areas for these negative effects. Our results suggest a mismatch between urban environments and the habitat exploitation abilities that birds have evolved in their native forest ecosystems.
Zusammenfassung
Vom Ei zum flüggen Jungvogel: negativer Einfluss von urbanem Lebensraum auf die Reproduktion bei zwei Meisenarten
Die Erforschung der Effekte von Urbanisierung auf Vogeldemografie hat viel Aufmerksamkeit auf sich gezogen und einige Studien haben einen niedrigeren Reproduktionserfolg innerhalb von Städten gefunden. Dies weist auf starke Umwelteinflüsse hin. In unserer dreijährigen Studie haben wir die Folgen der Urbanisierung auf den Bruterfolg von Blaumeisen C. caeruleus und Kohlmeisen P. major, welche beide ursprünglich in Wäldern vorkamen, erforscht. Auf je zwei Untersuchungsflächen je Lebensraum haben wir Komponenten des Reproduktionserfolgs untersucht. In einem Gebiet pro Brutsaison haben wir über je drei Jahre das Kükenwachstum aufgenommen, zudem in einem Jahr die Eiqualität untersucht. Das generelle Bild ist, dass in urbanem Gelände Bruterfolg und Gelegegröße geringer, Gelegeverluste und Brutverluste höher und die Überlebensraten geringer waren. Zudem war die Wachstumsrate in urbanen Lebensräumen während der embryonalen Phase und der Nestlingsphase geringer, was potentiell negative Auswirkungen auf die Fitness hat. Die beobachteten Unterschiede zwischen den Lebensräumen könnten von wichtigen ökologischen Faktoren erklärt werden, wobei Nahrungsbegrenzung vermutlich einer der wahrscheinlichsten ist. Wir haben den negativen Einfluss von Urbanisierung auf den Reproduktionserfolg von Waldvögeln gezeigt. Diese negativen Effekte stimmten zwischen den Arten und den geografischen Gebieten überein. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen eine Diskrepanz zwischen urbaner Umwelt und den Fähigkeiten der Vögel, diesen Lebensraum zu nutzen, welche die welche Vögel in ihren ursprünglichen Lebensräumen evolviert haben.
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Acknowledgments
The Regional Council of Burgundy and the Center for Research and Higher Education provided financial support for this work. The study site in Franche-Comté belongs to the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network “Zone Atelier Arc Jurassien” (http://zaaj.univ-fcomte.fr/). We thank S. Garnier who helped with the fieldwork. We thank G. Sorci, P. Christ, A. Grégoire, S. Cornet and M. Galipaud for statistical analyses and their comments on the results. Many thanks to I. Stewart for his comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. The authors also greatly thank D. Dominoni and the anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments on this paper. The study conforms to the legal requirements of France.
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Communicated by F. Bairlein.
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Meteorological conditions during the tit reproduction season (March–June) in Burgundy and Franche-Comté for the 3 years of study (2012–2014): minimum and maximum monthly temperatures (°C); cumulative rainfall per month (mm); cumulative sunshine per month (h). Meteorological stations used were Dijon-Longvic for Burgundy sites (47°27N, 5°09E) and Besançon-Thise for Franche-Comté sites (47°25N, 5°99E). Data obtained with permission from http://www.infoclimat.fr (all rights reserved).
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Bailly, J., Scheifler, R., Berthe, S. et al. From eggs to fledging: negative impact of urban habitat on reproduction in two tit species. J Ornithol 157, 377–392 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-015-1293-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-015-1293-3