Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Migration confers survival benefits against avian predators for partially migratory freshwater fish

Skov, Christian ; Chapman, Ben LU ; Baktoft, Henrik ; Brodersen, Jakob ; Brönmark, Christer LU ; Hansson, Lars-Anders LU orcid ; Hulthén, Kaj LU and Nilsson, Anders LU orcid (2013) In Biology letters 9(2).
Abstract
The importance of predation risk in shaping patterns of animal migration is not well studied, mostly owing to difficulties in accurately quantifying predation risk for migratory versus resident individuals. Here, we present data from an extensive field study, which shows that migration in a freshwater fish (roach, Rutilus rutilus) that commonly migrates from lakes to streams during winter confers a significant survival benefit with respect to bird (cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo spp.) predation. We tagged over 2000 individual fish in two Scandinavian lakes over 4 years and monitored migratory behaviour using passive telemetry. Next, we calculated the predation vulnerability of fish with differing migration strategies, by recovering data... (More)
The importance of predation risk in shaping patterns of animal migration is not well studied, mostly owing to difficulties in accurately quantifying predation risk for migratory versus resident individuals. Here, we present data from an extensive field study, which shows that migration in a freshwater fish (roach, Rutilus rutilus) that commonly migrates from lakes to streams during winter confers a significant survival benefit with respect to bird (cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo spp.) predation. We tagged over 2000 individual fish in two Scandinavian lakes over 4 years and monitored migratory behaviour using passive telemetry. Next, we calculated the predation vulnerability of fish with differing migration strategies, by recovering data from passive integrated transponder tags of fish eaten by cormorants at communal roosts close to the lakes. We show that fish can reduce their predation risk from cormorants by migrating into streams, and that probability of being preyed upon by cormorants is positively related to the time individuals spend in the lake during winter. Our data add to the growing body of evidence that highlights the importance of predation for migratory dynamics, and, to our knowledge, is one of the first studies to directly quantify a predator avoidance benefit to migrants in the field. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
predation, migration, fish, residency, partial migration, roach
in
Biology letters
volume
9
issue
2
article number
20121178
publisher
Royal Society Publishing
external identifiers
  • wos:000331305400017
  • scopus:84878406000
  • pmid:23445943
ISSN
1744-9561
DOI
10.1098/rsbl.2012.1178
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
3891df16-d972-4d21-9dfc-816cdc8e65c3 (old id 4376586)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:16:03
date last changed
2024-04-22 07:01:45
@article{3891df16-d972-4d21-9dfc-816cdc8e65c3,
  abstract     = {{The importance of predation risk in shaping patterns of animal migration is not well studied, mostly owing to difficulties in accurately quantifying predation risk for migratory versus resident individuals. Here, we present data from an extensive field study, which shows that migration in a freshwater fish (roach, Rutilus rutilus) that commonly migrates from lakes to streams during winter confers a significant survival benefit with respect to bird (cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo spp.) predation. We tagged over 2000 individual fish in two Scandinavian lakes over 4 years and monitored migratory behaviour using passive telemetry. Next, we calculated the predation vulnerability of fish with differing migration strategies, by recovering data from passive integrated transponder tags of fish eaten by cormorants at communal roosts close to the lakes. We show that fish can reduce their predation risk from cormorants by migrating into streams, and that probability of being preyed upon by cormorants is positively related to the time individuals spend in the lake during winter. Our data add to the growing body of evidence that highlights the importance of predation for migratory dynamics, and, to our knowledge, is one of the first studies to directly quantify a predator avoidance benefit to migrants in the field.}},
  author       = {{Skov, Christian and Chapman, Ben and Baktoft, Henrik and Brodersen, Jakob and Brönmark, Christer and Hansson, Lars-Anders and Hulthén, Kaj and Nilsson, Anders}},
  issn         = {{1744-9561}},
  keywords     = {{predation; migration; fish; residency; partial migration; roach}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  publisher    = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
  series       = {{Biology letters}},
  title        = {{Migration confers survival benefits against avian predators for partially migratory freshwater fish}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2012.1178}},
  doi          = {{10.1098/rsbl.2012.1178}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}