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Bluethroats Luscinia svecica namnetum offset landscape constraints by expanding their home range

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Abstract

The highly fragmented landscape structures of coastal salinas are known to result in decreased terrestrial bird abundance, species richness and diversity but to promote original assemblages dominated by specialist species, such as the Bluethroat Luscinia svecica namnetum. This species is mainly found at the core of these salinas, where the landscape characteristics are a priori the most hostile for terrestrial birds. The aim of this study was to test whether individuals of a specialized species like the Bluethroat may offset such landscape constraints by expanding their home ranges. We therefore radio-tracked 21 males in 2013 and 2014 in the salinas of the Marais du Mès (Parc Naturel Régional de Brière, Western France). The data of the 18 best-monitored males were used to carry out a hierarchical partitioning of variance to test the relative influence of landscape characteristics, individual characteristics and distance to other males on their home-range sizes. We found that landscape characteristics were the factors that best explained home range sizes. Home-range sizes were significantly smaller in diversified landscapes composed of tidal creeks and salt-marsh patches and tended to be larger in landscapes dominated by the aquatic matrix consisting of water ponds. The results of this study demonstrate that although a few bird species are able to select a priori hostile landscapes, they can offset such constraints by expanding their home-range size.

Zusammenfassung

Blaukehlchen Luscinia svecica namnetum gleichen Einschränkungen im Lebensraum mit einer Erweiterung ihres Aktionsraumes aus

Es ist bekannt, dass die stark fragmentierten Landschaftsstrukturen von küstennahen Salzmarschen Häufigkeit, Artenreichtum und Vielfalt von terrestrischen Vögeln verringert, aber Gemeinschaften begünstigen, die von Spezialisten wie dem Blaukehlchen Luscinia svecica namnetum dominiert werden. Diese Art ist daher hauptsächlich im Zentrum von Salzmarschen zu finden, wo die Landschaftsstrukturen für terrestrische Vögel am widrigsten sind. Ziel dieser Studie war es zu testen, ob Individuen dieser Art die Einschränkungen ihres Lebensraumes durch eine Erweiterung ihres Aktionsraumes ausgleichen. 21 Männchen wurden in 2013 und 2014 in den Salzmarschen des Marais du Mès (Parc Naturel Régional de Brière, Westfrankreich) radio-telemetriert. Die Daten der 18 best-verfolgten Individuen wurden genutzt um in einer hierarchischen Teilung der Varianz den relativen Einfluss von (i) Landschaftsstruktur (ii) Individuellen Unterschieden, sowie (iii) Abstand zu andern Männchen, auf die Größe ihres Aktionsraums. Landschaftsstruktur war dabei der Faktor, der die Größe des Aktionsraumes am besten erklärte. Aktionsräume waren signifikant kleiner in vielfältigeren Lebensräumen mit Prielen und Salzwiesen und größer in Lebensräumen mit einer aquatischen Grundsubstanz bestehend aus Teichen. Diese Studie zeigt, dass obwohl nur wenige Vogelarten fähig sind in grundsätzlich widrigen Lebensräumen zu siedeln, jene Arten die Einschränkungen durch eine Ausweitung ihres Aktionsraumes wieder ausgleichen können.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Parc Naturel Régional de Brière and the Centre de Recherche sur la Biologie des Populations d’Oiseaux (CRBPO) of the French National Museum of Natural History. The authors thank all of the salt-workers of the site for making them welcome during the field surveys.

Ethical approval

All applicable national guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. All procedures in this study were performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the Centre de Recherche sur la Biologie des Populations d’Oiseaux (CRBPO) of the French Museum of Natural History.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Le laboratoire LETG-Nantes-Géolittomer (CNRS-UMR 6554), Nantes University, BP 81227, 44312, Nantes Cedex 03, France

    Laurent Godet, Elisa Grégoire & Sarah Monnet

  2. Parc Naturel Régional de Brière, 214, Rue du chef de l’île, Ile de Fédrun, 44720, St-Joachim, France

    Matthieu Marquet, Elisa Grégoire & Sarah Monnet

  3. Joint Research Unit ECOBIO (CNRS-UMR 6553), University of Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, Bât. 25, Avenue du Général Leclerc, 35042, Rennes Cedex, France

    Marie-Christine Eybert

  4. Le Laboratoire de BOREA (CNRS-UMR 7208), French National Museum of Natural History, 75231, Paris Cedex 05, France

    Jérôme Fournier

  5. CRBPO (Research Center for the Bird Banding Populations), French National Museum of Natural History, 75005, Paris, France

    Jérôme Fournier

Authors
  1. Laurent Godet
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  2. Matthieu Marquet
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  3. Marie-Christine Eybert
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  4. Elisa Grégoire
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  5. Sarah Monnet
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  6. Jérôme Fournier
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Correspondence to Laurent Godet.

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Communicated by T. Gottschalk.

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Godet, L., Marquet, M., Eybert, MC. et al. Bluethroats Luscinia svecica namnetum offset landscape constraints by expanding their home range. J Ornithol 156, 591–600 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-015-1172-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-015-1172-y

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