Diurnal timing of nonmigratory movement by birds: the importance of foraging spatial scales

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this recordData Availability statement: R code used in analyses can be accessed at datadryad.com. Most of the data used are publicly available at www.movebank.orgTiming of activity can reveal an organism's efforts to optimize foraging either by minimizing energy loss through passive movement or by maximizing energetic gain through foraging. Here, we assess whether signals of either of these strategies are detectable in the timing of activity of daily, local movements by birds. We compare the similarities of timing of movement activity among species using six temporal variables: start of activity relative to sunrise, end of activity relative to sunset, relative speed at midday, number of movement bouts, bout duration, and proportion of active daytime hours. We test for the influence of flight mode and foraging habitat on the timing of movement activity across avian guilds. We used 64570 days of GPS movement data collected between 2002 and 2019 for local (non‐migratory) movements of 991 birds from 49 species, representing 14 orders. Dissimilarity among daily activity patterns was best explained by flight mode. Terrestrial soaring birds began activity later and stopped activity earlier than pelagic soaring or flapping birds. Broad‐scale foraging habitat explained less of the clustering patterns because of divergent timing of active periods of pelagic surface and diving foragers. Among pelagic birds, surface foragers were active throughout the day while diving foragers matched their active hours more closely to daylight hours. Pelagic surface foragers also had the greatest daily foraging distances, which was consistent with their daytime activity patterns. This study demonstrates that flight mode and foraging habitat influence temporal patterns of daily movement activity of birds.Nature ConservancyBailey Wildlife FoundationBluestone FoundationOcean View FoundationBiodiversity Research InstituteMaine Outdoor Heritage FundDavis Conservation FoundationUS Department of EnergyDarwin InitiativePortuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)Enterprise St Helena (ESH)Hawk Mountain Sanctuar

Pattern and rhythm of activity in Alpine chamois (Rupicapra r. rupicapra) during winter

Volume: 63Start Page: 183End Page: 18

Effect of domestic sheep on chamois activity, distribution and abundance on sub-alpine pastures

Resource competition and disease transmission may occur when domestic and wild ungulates live sympatricly. We investigated if the release of sheep (Ovis aries) onto alpine pasture in Switzerland affected chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) activity budgets, local population size and spatial distribution. We also evaluated the risk of transmission of Mycoplasma conjunctivae (causing a contagious eye disease) from sheep to chamois by examining if the two species had close contact with one another. We carried out the study in an alpine valley containing two adjacent areas: one containing sheep (Fochsenflue) and one where sheep were excluded (Spitzflue). We found no difference between the activity budgets of the chamois at the two sites. At the Fochsenflue, chamois and sheep mainly used separate areas. However, after approximately 1 month, sheep started to move twice per day, into the main area of the chamois. The percentage time feeding, spatial distribution and numbers of chamois did not change in response. Sheep were responsible for all encounters in which the two species came closer than 50 m to each other. The encounters were brief, body contact never occurred, they were not concentrated at saltlicks and chamois mainly ended them. The results suggest that the presence of sheep had little effect on the chamois. However, competition between the two species could still be occurring over a longer time scale. Finally, we found that the risk of inter-specific transmission of IKC through direct body contact is likely to be low, but the risk through indirect means (flies or aerosols) remains

Class and social policy in the knowledge economy

Recent studies of welfare state attitudes in the knowledge economy find very high generalized support for generous welfare state policies, both among the working and the middle classes. Has class become irrelevant as a predictor of social policy preferences? Or do we simply mis-conceptualise today's class conflict over social policy? To what extent has it changed from a divide over the level of social policy generosity to a divide over the kind of social policy and - more specifically - over the relative importance that should be given to different social policies? Answering these questions is not only relevant to understand welfare politics in the twenty-first century, but electoral politics as well: only when we understand what working- and middle-class voters care about, can we evaluate the role distributive policies play in electoral processes. We use original survey data from eight West European countries to show that middle- and working-class respondents indeed differ in the relative importance they attribute to social investment and social consumption policies. Middle-class respondents consistently attribute higher absolute and relative importance to social investment. We also show that this emphasis on investive policies relates to the middle class expecting better future economic and social opportunities than the working class. This divide in anticipated opportunities underlies a new kind of working- versus middle-class divide, which contributes to transforming the class divide from a conflict over the level of social policy to a conflict over the priorities of social policy