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Shifts in vegetation phenology along flyways entail varying risks of mistiming in a migratory songbird

Emmenegger, Tamara LU orcid ; Hahn, Steffen ; Arlettaz, Raphaël ; Amrhein, Valentin ; Zehtindjiev, Pavel and Bauer, Silke (2016) In Ecosphere 7(6).
Abstract

Long-term shifts in vegetation phenology generally follow the pattern of global warming. Yet, topographical complexity and biome diversity cause uneven spatial trends in the phenological response of vegetation to climate change. If phenology changes similarly along migration routes, individuals may adequately respond by shifting the whole migration schedule to still time life history with local phenological events. On the contrary, phenological shifts that differ in direction or magnitude between sites can enhance the risk of mistiming, resulting in reduced survival and reproductive success and eventually population declines. We identified the direction and magnitude of long-term shifts in vegetation phenology along avian migration... (More)

Long-term shifts in vegetation phenology generally follow the pattern of global warming. Yet, topographical complexity and biome diversity cause uneven spatial trends in the phenological response of vegetation to climate change. If phenology changes similarly along migration routes, individuals may adequately respond by shifting the whole migration schedule to still time life history with local phenological events. On the contrary, phenological shifts that differ in direction or magnitude between sites can enhance the risk of mistiming, resulting in reduced survival and reproductive success and eventually population declines. We identified the direction and magnitude of long-term shifts in vegetation phenology along avian migration routes, using remotely sensed vegetation data over 29 yr (1982-2010) to estimate the risk of mistiming for different sets of assumptions concerning cues and adaptability of migration timing. For this study, we used individual series of non-breeding, spring stopover and breeding sites (determined by light-level geolocation) of three European populations of Luscinia megarhynchos (Common Nightingale), an insectivorous Palearctic long-distance migrant. The breeding populations in France, Italy, and Bulgaria are representatives for populations migrating on the western, central, and eastern flyway toward sub-Saharan Africa. The direction and magnitude of phenological shifts differed between migration stages and across flyways and under most sets of assumptions, the resulting risk of mistiming was higher in the Western compared to Central and Eastern flyway. We emphasize that estimates for the risk of mistiming as resulting from phenological shifts highly depend on the cues that migrants use to time migratory progression and on the adaptive potential of the particular migratory species to react to phenological shifts.

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author
; ; ; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
Bird migration, Climate change, Geolocation, Green-up, Normalized difference vegetation index, Seasonality, Vegetation phenology
in
Ecosphere
volume
7
issue
6
article number
e01385
pages
9 pages
publisher
Ecological Society of America
external identifiers
  • scopus:84977623767
ISSN
2150-8925
DOI
10.1002/ecs2.1385
language
English
LU publication?
no
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2016 Emmenegger et al.
id
0628e907-d2ff-4cd2-bea8-6ca605659ec0
date added to LUP
2021-10-29 11:05:31
date last changed
2023-09-12 13:52:48
@article{0628e907-d2ff-4cd2-bea8-6ca605659ec0,
  abstract     = {{<p>Long-term shifts in vegetation phenology generally follow the pattern of global warming. Yet, topographical complexity and biome diversity cause uneven spatial trends in the phenological response of vegetation to climate change. If phenology changes similarly along migration routes, individuals may adequately respond by shifting the whole migration schedule to still time life history with local phenological events. On the contrary, phenological shifts that differ in direction or magnitude between sites can enhance the risk of mistiming, resulting in reduced survival and reproductive success and eventually population declines. We identified the direction and magnitude of long-term shifts in vegetation phenology along avian migration routes, using remotely sensed vegetation data over 29 yr (1982-2010) to estimate the risk of mistiming for different sets of assumptions concerning cues and adaptability of migration timing. For this study, we used individual series of non-breeding, spring stopover and breeding sites (determined by light-level geolocation) of three European populations of Luscinia megarhynchos (Common Nightingale), an insectivorous Palearctic long-distance migrant. The breeding populations in France, Italy, and Bulgaria are representatives for populations migrating on the western, central, and eastern flyway toward sub-Saharan Africa. The direction and magnitude of phenological shifts differed between migration stages and across flyways and under most sets of assumptions, the resulting risk of mistiming was higher in the Western compared to Central and Eastern flyway. We emphasize that estimates for the risk of mistiming as resulting from phenological shifts highly depend on the cues that migrants use to time migratory progression and on the adaptive potential of the particular migratory species to react to phenological shifts.</p>}},
  author       = {{Emmenegger, Tamara and Hahn, Steffen and Arlettaz, Raphaël and Amrhein, Valentin and Zehtindjiev, Pavel and Bauer, Silke}},
  issn         = {{2150-8925}},
  keywords     = {{Bird migration; Climate change; Geolocation; Green-up; Normalized difference vegetation index; Seasonality; Vegetation phenology}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  number       = {{6}},
  publisher    = {{Ecological Society of America}},
  series       = {{Ecosphere}},
  title        = {{Shifts in vegetation phenology along flyways entail varying risks of mistiming in a migratory songbird}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1385}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/ecs2.1385}},
  volume       = {{7}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}