Demographic profiles and environmental drivers of variation relate to individual breeding state in a long-lived trans-oceanic migratory seabird, the Manx shearwater.

Understanding the points in a species breeding cycle when they are most vulnerable to environmental fluctuations is key to understanding interannual demography and guiding effective conservation and management. Seabirds represent one of the most threatened groups of birds in the world, and climate change and severe weather is a prominent and increasing threat to this group. We used a multi-state capture-recapture model to examine how the demographic rates of a long-lived trans-oceanic migrant seabird, the Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus, are influenced by environmental conditions experienced at different stages of the annual breeding cycle and whether these relationships vary with an individual's breeding state in the previous year (i.e., successful breeder, failed breeder and non-breeder). Our results imply that populations of Manx shearwaters are comprised of individuals with different demographic profiles, whereby more successful reproduction is associated with higher rates of survival and breeding propensity. However, we found that all birds experienced the same negative relationship between rates of survival and wind force during the breeding season, indicating a cost of reproduction (or central place constraint for non-breeders) during years with severe weather conditions. We also found that environmental effects differentially influence the breeding propensity of individuals in different breeding states. This suggests individual spatio-temporal variation in habitat use during the annual cycle, such that climate change could alter the frequency that individuals with different demographic profiles breed thereby driving a complex and less predictable population response. More broadly, our study highlights the importance of considering individual-level factors when examining population demography and predicting how species may respond to climate change

Impact des changements globaux sur la dynamique de population des galliformes de montagne

Mountains are reservoirs of biodiversity whose strong altitudinal gradients over short distances are associated with strong spatial heterogeneity of local environmental conditions. While biodiversity has so far been rather well preserved in mountains due to poor accessibility, predictions of ongoing climate change suggest even more rapid and marked effects in mountains than in plains. My main objective is to understand how global change are impacting the population dynamics of mountain galliformes. My work has shown (1) a strong heterogeneity of demographic strategies between populations of rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) (2) that black grouse populations (Tetrao tetrix) show spatially very heterogeneous trends, influenced by local conditions (3) that for such species that are difficult to count and show strong spatial and interannual variability it is necessary to rely on long-term monitoring to reach a satifactory statistical power to detect a decline.Les montagnes sont des réservoirs de biodiversité dont les forts gradients altitudinaux sur de faibles distances sont associés à une forte hétérogénéité spatiale des conditions environnementales locales. Si la biodiversité y a été jusqu’ici plutôt bien préservée du fait de la faible accessibilité, les prédictions concernant les changements climatiques en cours suggèrent des effets encore plus rapides et marqués en montagne qu’en plaine. Mon objectif général est de comprendre comment les changements globaux impactent la dynamique des populations de galliformes de montagne. Mes travaux ont montré (1) une forte hétérogénéité des stratégies démographiques entre populations de Lagopède alpin (Lagopus muta) (2) que les populations de tétras lyre (Tetrao tetrix) présentent des tendances spatialement très hétérogènes, influencées par les conditions locales (3) que pour ces espèces difficiles à compter et qui présentent de fortes variabilité spatiales et interannuelles il est nécessaire de miser sur des suivis à long terme pour atteindre une puissance statistique permettant de conclure à un déclin

Impact of global change on the population dynamics of mountain galliformes

Les montagnes sont des réservoirs de biodiversité dont les forts gradients altitudinaux sur de faibles distances sont associés à une forte hétérogénéité spatiale des conditions environnementales locales. Si la biodiversité y a été jusqu’ici plutôt bien préservée du fait de la faible accessibilité, les prédictions concernant les changements climatiques en cours suggèrent des effets encore plus rapides et marqués en montagne qu’en plaine. Mon objectif général est de comprendre comment les changements globaux impactent la dynamique des populations de galliformes de montagne. Mes travaux ont montré (1) une forte hétérogénéité des stratégies démographiques entre populations de Lagopède alpin (Lagopus muta) (2) que les populations de tétras lyre (Tetrao tetrix) présentent des tendances spatialement très hétérogènes, influencées par les conditions locales (3) que pour ces espèces difficiles à compter et qui présentent de fortes variabilité spatiales et interannuelles il est nécessaire de miser sur des suivis à long terme pour atteindre une puissance statistique permettant de conclure à un déclin.Mountains are reservoirs of biodiversity whose strong altitudinal gradients over short distances are associated with strong spatial heterogeneity of local environmental conditions. While biodiversity has so far been rather well preserved in mountains due to poor accessibility, predictions of ongoing climate change suggest even more rapid and marked effects in mountains than in plains. My main objective is to understand how global change are impacting the population dynamics of mountain galliformes. My work has shown (1) a strong heterogeneity of demographic strategies between populations of rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) (2) that black grouse populations (Tetrao tetrix) show spatially very heterogeneous trends, influenced by local conditions (3) that for such species that are difficult to count and show strong spatial and interannual variability it is necessary to rely on long-term monitoring to reach a satifactory statistical power to detect a decline

Joint estimation of survival and breeding probability in female dolphins and calves with uncertainty in state assignment

International audienceWhile the population growth rate in long-lived species is highly sensitive to adult survival, reproduction can also significantly drive population dynamics. Reproductive parameters can be challenging to estimate as breeders and nonbreeders may vary in resighting probability and reproductive status may be difficult to assess. We extended capture-recapture (CR) models previously fitted for data on other long-lived marine mammals to estimate demographic parameters while accounting for detection heterogeneity between individuals and state uncertainty regarding reproductive status. We applied this model to data on 106 adult female bottlenose dolphins observed over 13 years. The detection probability differed depending on breeding status. Concerning state uncertainty, offspring were not always sighted with their mother, and older calves were easier to detect than young-of-the-year (YOY), respectively, 0.79 (95% CI 0.59-0.90) and 0.58 (95% CI 0.46-0.68). This possibly led to inaccurate reproductive status assignment of females. Adult female survival probability was high (0.97 CI 95% 0.96-0.98) and did not differ according to breeding status. Young-of-the-year and 1-year-old calves had a significantly higher survival rate than 2-year-old (respectively, 0.66 CI 95% 0.50-0.78 and 0.45 CI 95% 0.29-0.61). This reduced survival is probably related to weaning, a period during which young are exposed to more risks since they lose protection and feeding from the mother. The probability of having a new YOY was high for breeding females that had raised a calf to the age of 3 or lost a 2-year-old calf (0.71, CI 95% 0.45-0.88). Yet, this probability was much lower for nonbreeding females and breeding females that had lost a YOY or a 1-year-old calf (0.33, 95% CI 0.26-0.42). The multievent CR framework we used is highly flexible and could be easily modified for other study questions or taxa (marine or terrestrial) aimed at modeling reproductive parameters

Contrasted impacts of weather conditions in species sensitive to both survival and fecundity: A montane bird case study

Abstract There is growing evidence that the Earth's climate is undergoing profound changes that are affecting biodiversity worldwide. This gives rise to the pressing need to develop robust predictions on how species will respond in order to inform conservation strategies and allow managers to adapt mitigation measures accordingly. While predictions have begun to emerge on how species at the extremes of the so‐called slow‐fast continuum might respond to climate change, empirical studies for species for which all demographic traits contribute relatively equally to population dynamics are lacking. Yet, climate change is expected to strongly affect them throughout their entire lifecycle. We built a 21‐year integrated population model to characterize the population dynamics of the rock partridge ( Alectoris graeca ) in France, and tested the influence of nine weather covariates on demographic parameters. As predicted, both annual survival and breeding success were affected by weather covariates. Thick snow cover during winter was associated with low survival and small brood size the following breeding season. Brood size was higher with intermediate winter temperatures and snowmelt timing, positively correlated to breeding period temperature, but negatively correlated to temperature during the coldest fortnight and precipitation during the breeding period. Survival was positively correlated to winter temperature, but negatively to breeding period precipitation. Large‐scale indices indicated that cold and wet winters were associated with small brood size the following breeding season but with high survival. Expected changes of weather conditions due to climate change are likely to impact demographic traits of the rock partridge both positively and negatively depending on the traits and on the affected weather variables. Future population dynamics will thus depend on the magnitude of these different impacts. Our study illustrates the difficulty to make strong predictions about how species with a population dynamic influenced by both survival and fecundity will respond to climate change

Improving trajectories of amphibians in wildlife passages

Linear transport infrastructure can alter the viability of populations and wildlife passages are used to mitigate their impacts. The assessment of their outcomes is often limited to recording the use of the tunnels by a focal species. For amphibians, the effectiveness of tunnels is poorly evaluated with little information about whether certain features encourage individuals that may be reluctant to pass through tunnels. One study showed that acoustic enrichment with anuran calls can increase the crossing of tunnels by newts. This study recorded the behavior of three European amphibian species in three tunnels, tracking them with PIT tags and detection with four RFID antennas installed on the floor of the tunnels. We tested (1) the effectiveness of the antennas in detecting the species, (2) the effect of the length of the tunnels, and (3) the effect of acoustic enrichment. Using a multi-state capture–recapture model, we evaluated the probability of an individual advancing between the tunnel sections. The effectiveness of the antennas varied according to species, higher for Urodela species than for Anuran species. Several types of paths were detected (constant and varying speeds, halt, and back-and-forth movements). The fire salamander and the great crested newt individuals exhibited a similar variety of movements in the tunnels (21 and 40 m length). Triturus cristatus made similar movements in the tunnels with and without acoustic enrichment. In water frogs, all the individuals ( n = 16) made a complete crossing in the tunnel with enrichment vs. 75% ( n = 71) in the tunnel without enrichment. In T. cristatus , the probability of going forward at the entrance of the tunnel was 18% higher with enrichment in one tunnel. No significant effect of acoustic enrichment was observed in two others tunnels for this species. In Pelophylax esculentus , this probability was 78% higher in the tunnel with enrichment. This multi-antenna RFID system was able to provide valuable information on the behavior of these small animals when traversing the tunnels, as well as to test the effectiveness of tunnel features. The findings indicate that acoustic enrichment to attract animals to specific locations holds promise as a new conservation tool

Nest design in a changing world: Great tit Parus major nests from a Mediterranean city environment as a case study

Investigations of urbanization effects on birds have focused mainly on breeding traits expressed after the nest-building stage (e.g. first-egg date, clutch size, breeding success, and offspring characteristics). Urban studies largely ignored how and why the aspects of nest building might be associated with the degree of urbanization. As urban environments are expected to present novel environmental changes relative to rural environments, it is important to evaluate how nest-building behavior is impacted by vegetation modifications associated with urbanization. To examine nest design in a Mediterranean city environment, we allowed urban great tits (Parus major) to breed in nest boxes in areas that differed in local vegetation cover. We found that different measures of nest size or mass were not associated with vegetation cover. In particular, nests located adjacent to streets with lower vegetation cover were not smaller or lighter than nests in parks with higher vegetation cover. Nests adjacent to streets contained more pine needles than nests in parks. In addition, in nests adjacent to streets, nests from boxes attached to pine trees contained more pine needles than nests from boxes attached to other trees. We suggest that urban-related alterations in vegetation cover do not directly impose physical limits on nest size in species that are opportunistic in the selection of nesting material. However, nest composition as reflected in the use of pine needles was clearly affected by habitat type and the planted tree species present, which implies that rapid habitat change impacts nest composition. We do not exclude that urbanization might impact other aspects of nest building behaviour not covered in our study (e.g. costs of searching for nest material), and that the strengths of the associations between urbanization and nest structures might differ among study populations or species

Building spaces of interactions between researchers and managers: Case studies with wildlife monitoring and conservation in France

International audience1. To document and halt biodiversity loss, monitoring, quantifying trends and assessing management and conservation strategies on wildlife populations and communities are crucial steps. 2. With increasing technological innovations, more and more data are collected and new quantitative methods are constantly developed. These rapid developments come with an increasing need for analytical skills, which are hardly accessible to managers. On the other hand, researchers spend more and more time on research grant applications and administrative tasks, which leaves fewer opportunities for knowledge transfer. This situation tends to increase the gap between researchers and managers. Here, we illustrate how to fill this gap by presenting two long-term collaborations between a research unit—Centre for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology; CEFE—and a national agency—French Biodiversity Agency; OFB. 3. The first example is a collaboration providing statistical support to national parks for the design and implementation of scientific monitoring protocols. It relies on the recruitment of a research engineer funded by OFB and physically based at CEFE, who works closely with OFB and managers. The second example is a collaboration on the management of large carnivores. For more than 10 years, it has involved several PhD students and post-doctoral fellows co-supervised by CEFE and OFB, and has recently resulted in the recruitment of a permanent OFB researcher who works half-time at CEFE and half-time at OFB. These case studies illustrate the modalities of collaborative work between public institutions acting at different levels of biodiversity conservation for the co-construction of research agendas and the exchange of knowledge. 4. These collaborations also bring out some challenges. Inter-knowledge and mutual learning remain difficult at scales larger than that of the teams concerned. The staff working at this interface needs to possess good listening skills, respect all partners' needs and demonstrate flexibility. Knowledge exchanges require time, thus reducing productivity according to quantitative metrics such as scientific publications or institutional reports. These collaborations can therefore be difficult to assume socially, and remain tenuous because they rely on a good understanding of the differences in governance of the various partners. 5. Based on our experience, success is favoured by long-term and close relationships, and by co-construction of projects at early stage. Sharing a space (i.e. office or building) facilitates face-to- face interactions during planned work sessions and casual meetings that build up a shared scientific culture and mutual trust