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Research Interests: Climate Change, Biology, Ecology, Phenology, Medicine, and 5 moreGlobal Warming, Population, Trophic Level, Biome, and Taxon
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Establishing the cues or constraints that influence avian timing of breeding is key to accurate prediction of future phenology. This study aims to identify the aspects of the environment that predict the timing of two measures of breeding... more
Establishing the cues or constraints that influence avian timing of breeding is key to accurate prediction of future phenology. This study aims to identify the aspects of the environment that predict the timing of two measures of breeding phenology (nest initiation and egg laying date) in an insectivorous woodland passerine, the blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). We analyse data collected from a 220km, 40-site transect over three years and consider spring temperatures, tree leafing phenology, invertebrate availability and photoperiod as predictors of breeding phenology. We find that mean night-time temperature in early spring is the strongest predictor of both nest initiation and lay date and suggest this finding is most consistent with temperature acting as a constraint on breeding activity. Birch budburst phenology significantly predicts lay date additionally to temperature, either as a direct cue or indirectly via a correlated variable. We use cross-validation to show that our model accurately predicts lay date in two further years, and find that similar variables predict lay date well across the UK national nest record scheme. This work refines our understanding of the principal factors influencing the timing of tit reproductive phenology, and suggests that temperature may have both a direct and indirect effect
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Telomere length and shortening rate are increasingly used as biomarkers for long-term costs in ecological and evolutionary studies because of their relationships with survival and fitness. Both early-life conditions and growth, and... more
Telomere length and shortening rate are increasingly used as biomarkers for long-term costs in ecological and evolutionary studies because of their relationships with survival and fitness. Both early-life conditions and growth, and later-life stressors can create variation in telomere shortening rate. Studies on between-population telomere length and dynamics are scarce, despite the expectation that populations exposed to varying environmental constraints would present divergent telomere length patterns. The pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) is a passerine bird breeding across Eurasia (from Spain to western Siberia) and migrating through the Iberian Peninsula to spend the non-breeding period in sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, different populations show marked differences in migration distance. We studied the large-scale variation of telomere length and early-life dynamics in the pied flycatcher by comparing six European populations across a north-south gradient (Finland, Estonia, Engla...
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Establishing the cues or constraints that influence avian timing of breeding is the key to accurate prediction of future phenology. This study aims to identify the aspects of the environment that predict the timing of two measures of... more
Establishing the cues or constraints that influence avian timing of breeding is the key to accurate prediction of future phenology. This study aims to identify the aspects of the environment that predict the timing of two measures of breeding phenology (nest initiation and egg laying date) in an insectivorous woodland passerine, the blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). We analyse data collected from a 220 km, 40-site transect over 3 years and consider spring temperatures, tree leafing phenology, invertebrate availability and photoperiod as predictors of breeding phenology. We find that mean night-time temperature in early spring is the strongest predictor of both nest initiation and lay date and suggest this finding is most consistent with temperature acting as a constraint on breeding activity. Birch budburst phenology significantly predicts lay date additionally to temperature, either as a direct cue or indirectly via a correlated variable. We use cross-validation to show that our mode...
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Although the number of studies discerning the impact of climate change on ecological systems continues to increase, there has been relatively little sharing of the lessons learnt when accumulating this evidence. At a recent workshop... more
Although the number of studies discerning the impact of climate change on ecological systems continues to increase, there has been relatively little sharing of the lessons learnt when accumulating this evidence. At a recent workshop entitled ‘Using climate data in ecological research’ held at the UK Met Office, ecologists and climate scientists came together to discuss the robust analysis of climate data in ecology. The discussions identified three common pitfalls encountered by ecologists: 1) selection of inappropriate spatial resolutions for analysis; 2) improper use of publically available data or code; and 3) insufficient representation of the uncertainties behind the adopted approach. Here, we discuss how these pitfalls can be avoided, before suggesting ways that both ecology and climate science can move forward. Our main recommendation is that ecologists and climate scientists collaborate more closely, on grant proposals and scientific publications, and informally through onli...
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Research Interests: Conservation, Phylogeography, Conservation Genetics, Gene Flow, Biology, and 14 moreUnited Kingdom, Genetic Diversity, Biological Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Mitochondrial DNA, Genetic Structure, Isle of Man, Microsatellite Markers, Microsatellite, Connectivity, Computer Program, Growth rate, Control Region Sequences, and natural populations
The integration and synthesis of the data in different areas of science is drastically slowed and hindered by a lack of standards and networking programmes. Long‐term studies of individually marked animals are not an exception. These... more
The integration and synthesis of the data in different areas of science is drastically slowed and hindered by a lack of standards and networking programmes. Long‐term studies of individually marked animals are not an exception. These studies are especially important as instrumental for understanding evolutionary and ecological processes in the wild. Furthermore, their number and global distribution provides a unique opportunity to assess the generality of patterns and to address broad‐scale global issues (e.g. climate change). To solve data integration issues and enable a new scale of ecological and evolutionary research based on long‐term studies of birds, we have created the SPI‐Birds Network and Database (www.spibirds.org)—a large‐scale initiative that connects data from, and researchers working on, studies of wild populations of individually recognizable (usually ringed) birds. Within year and a half since the establishment, SPI‐Birds has recruited over 120 members, and currentl...
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Each year, billions of songbirds cross large ecological barriers during their migration. Understanding how they perform this incredible task is crucial to predict how global change may threaten the safety of such journeys. Earlier studies... more
Each year, billions of songbirds cross large ecological barriers during their migration. Understanding how they perform this incredible task is crucial to predict how global change may threaten the safety of such journeys. Earlier studies based on radar suggested that most songbirds cross deserts in intermittent flights at high altitude, stopping in the desert during the day, while recent tracking with light loggers suggested diurnal prolongation of nocturnal flights and common non-stop flights for some species. We analyzed light intensity and temperature data obtained from geolocation loggers deployed on 130 individuals of ten migratory songbird species, and show that a large variety of strategies for crossing deserts exists between, but also sometimes within species. Diurnal stopover in the desert is a common strategy in autumn, while most species prolonged some nocturnal flights into the day. Non-stop flights over the desert occurred more frequently in spring than in autumn, and ...
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Research Interests: Information Systems, Zoology, Geography, Ecology, Ibis, and 4 moreGE, Migrant, Mediterranean Climate, and geolocator
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SummaryMost attention on tropical biodiversity conservation has focussed on protected areas. Recognising and enhancing the value of biodiversity outside, as well as inside, protected areas is increasingly important given recognition that... more
SummaryMost attention on tropical biodiversity conservation has focussed on protected areas. Recognising and enhancing the value of biodiversity outside, as well as inside, protected areas is increasingly important given recognition that biodiversity targets will not be met through protected areas alone. We investigated the extent to which protection influences colony occupancy and colony size of a species of conservation concern, the rock-nesting White-necked Picathartes Picathartes gymnocephalus. We used mixed models to compare long term trends at 42 colonies located both inside and outside a protected area of forest, Gola Rainforest National Park, and considered colonies further inside the boundary as being better protected. Colony occupation was primarily predicted by the level of protection, with occupation highest within protected areas, but was not different between colonies situated close to or far from the boundary. Mean colony occupation was consistently high in protected ...
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Increasing temperatures associated with climate change may generate phenological mismatches that disrupt previously synchronous trophic interactions. Most work on mismatch has focused on temporal trends, whereas spatial variation in the... more
Increasing temperatures associated with climate change may generate phenological mismatches that disrupt previously synchronous trophic interactions. Most work on mismatch has focused on temporal trends, whereas spatial variation in the degree of trophic synchrony has largely been neglected, even though the degree to which mismatch varies in space has implications for meso-scale population dynamics and evolution. Here we quantify latitudinal trends in phenological mismatch, using phenological data on an oak-caterpillar-bird system from across the UK. Increasing latitude delays phenology of all species, but more so for oak, resulting in a shorter interval between leaf emergence and peak caterpillar biomass at northern locations. Asynchrony found between peak caterpillar biomass and peak nestling demand of blue tits, great tits and pied flycatchers increases in earlier (warm) springs. There is no evidence of spatial variation in the timing of peak nestling demand relative to peak cate...
Research Interests: Climate Change, Biology, Ecology, Phenology, Medicine, and 3 morePopulation, Trophic Level, and Caterpillar
Many organisms adjust their reproductive phenology in response to climate change, but phenological sensitivity to temperature may vary between species. For example, resident and migratory birds have vastly different annual cycles, which... more
Many organisms adjust their reproductive phenology in response to climate change, but phenological sensitivity to temperature may vary between species. For example, resident and migratory birds have vastly different annual cycles, which can cause differential temperature sensitivity at the breeding grounds, and may affect competitive dynamics. Currently, however, adjustment to climate change in resident and migratory birds have been studied separately or at relatively small geographical scales with varying time series durations and methodologies. Here, we studied differential effects of temperature on resident and migratory birds using the mean egg laying initiation dates from 10 European nest box schemes between 1991 and 2015 that had data on at least one resident tit species and at least one migratory flycatcher species. We found that both tits and flycatchers advanced laying in response to spring warming, but resident tit populations advanced more strongly in relation to temperat...
Research Interests: Climate Change, Information use, Adaptation, Biology, Ecology, and 15 moreCompetition, Phenology, Global Change Biology, Medicine, Biological Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Birds, Blue Tit, Nest Site Selection, Timing, Migratory Birds, Trophic Levels, Laying Date, Geographical variation, and Nest-boxes
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Research Interests: Genetics, Sexual Selection, Biological Sciences, Color, Female, and 7 moreAnimals, Male, Colour, Body Size, Wild Bird, Passeriformes, and Environment
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Research Interests: Genetics, Sexual Selection, Biological Sciences, Color, Female, and 7 moreAnimals, Male, Colour, Body Size, Wild Bird, Passeriformes, and Environment
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Page 1. OSTRICH 2009, 80(3): 145151 Printed in South Africa All rights reserved Copyright © NISC Pty Ltd OSTRICH ISSN 00306525 EISSN 1727947X doi: 10.2989/OSTRICH.2009.80. 3.4.967 Ostrich is co-published by NISC (Pty) Ltd and Taylor... more
Page 1. OSTRICH 2009, 80(3): 145151 Printed in South Africa All rights reserved Copyright © NISC Pty Ltd OSTRICH ISSN 00306525 EISSN 1727947X doi: 10.2989/OSTRICH.2009.80. 3.4.967 Ostrich is co-published by NISC (Pty) Ltd and Taylor & Francis ...
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1. Spatial variation in habitat quality and its demographic consequences have important implications for the regulation of animal populations. Theoretically, habitat quality is typically viewed as a single gradient from... more
1. Spatial variation in habitat quality and its demographic consequences have important implications for the regulation of animal populations. Theoretically, habitat quality is typically viewed as a single gradient from 'poor' to 'good', but in wild populations it is possible that there are multiple environmental gradients that determine spatial variation in demography. 2. Understanding environmental gradients is important to gain mechanistic insights into important population processes, but also to understand how populations might respond to environmental change. Here, we explore habitat and elevation gradients and their implications for population persistence using detailed long-term data on 600 individuals of the Mauritius kestrel. These data allow us to statistically separate spatial variation in demography from variation arising out of individual or environmental quality and explore its relationships with habitat and topography. 3. Birds that breed earlier in the season have higher reproductive success, and we found that the timing of breeding varies significantly between territories. This variation is primarily driven by elevation, with birds breeding progressively later as elevation increases. 4. Pre-fledging survival from the egg to fledgling stage (independently of timing), and recruitment, also varied significantly between territories. This variation is driven by the habitat surrounding breeding sites with increasing agricultural encroachment causing survival and recruitment to decline. 5. Taken together, our results suggest that there are likely to be multiple environmental gradients affecting spatial variation in productivity in wild populations, and hence multiple and different routes through which environmental change might have consequences for population dynamics by modifying spatial processes.
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Research Interests: Information Systems, Zoology, Ecology, Agriculture, Ibis, and 5 moreTropics, Habitat, Forests, Raptor, and Radio Telemetry
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Research Interests: Pharmacology, Biochemistry, Bioinformatics, Evolutionary Biology, Genetics, and 56 moreMarine Biology, Neuroscience, Geography, Environmental Science, Geophysics, Physics, Materials Science, Quantum Physics, Developmental Biology, Immunology, Climate Change, Conservation Biology, Molecular Biology, Structural Biology, Genomics, RNA, Computational Biology, Transcriptomics, Reproduction, Biotechnology, Systems Biology, Cancer, Biology, Metabolomics, Cell Cycle, Proteomics, Ecology, Drug Discovery, Evolution, Nanotechnology, Biogeography, Biodiversity, Astrophysics, Endangered Species, Neurobiology, Medicine, Multidisciplinary, Palaeobiology, Functional Genomics, Nature, Signal Transduction, Astronomy, DNA, Birds, Animals, Cell Signalling, Medical Research, Population Density, Zoogeography, Species Richness, Endemic species, Hot Spot, Geographic distribution, Conservation of Natural Resources, Indexation, and Earth Science
Geographic variation in phenotypes plays a key role in fundamental evolutionary processes such as local adaptation, population differentiation and speciation, but the selective forces behind it are rarely known. We found support for the... more
Geographic variation in phenotypes plays a key role in fundamental evolutionary processes such as local adaptation, population differentiation and speciation, but the selective forces behind it are rarely known. We found support for the hypothesis that geographic variation in plumage traits of the pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca is explained by character displacement with the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis in the contact zone. The plumage traits of the pied flycatcher differed strongly from the more conspicuous collared flycatcher in a sympatric area but increased in conspicuousness with increasing distance to there. Phenotypic differentiation (PST ) was higher than that in neutral genetic markers (FST ), and the effect of geographic distance remained when statistically controlling for neutral genetic differentiation. This suggests that a cline created by character displacement and gene flow explains phenotypic variation across the distribution of this species. The diffe...