Variation and correlation in the timing of breeding of North Atlantic seabirds across multiple scales

  1. Keogan, Katharine 1
  2. Daunt, Francis 2
  3. Wanless, Sarah 2
  4. Phillips, Richard 3
  5. Alvarez, David 4
  6. Anker-Nilssen, Tycho 5
  7. Barrett, Robert 6
  8. Bech, Claus 7
  9. Becker, Peter 8
  10. Berglund, Per-Arvid 9
  11. Bouwhuis, Sandra 8
  12. Burr, Zofia 10
  13. Chastel, Olivier 11
  14. Christensen-Dalsgaard, Signe 5
  15. Descamps, Sébastien 12
  16. Diamond, Tony 13
  17. Elliott, Kyle 14
  18. Erikstad, Kjell Einar 5
  19. Harris, Mike 2
  20. Hentati-Sundberg, Jonas 15
  21. Heubeck, Martin 16
  22. Langset, Magdalene 5
  23. Lorentsen, Svein 5
  24. Major, Heather 13
  25. Mallory, Mark 17
  26. Mellor, Mick 18
  27. Miles, Will 18
  28. Moe, Børge 5
  29. Mostello, Carolyn 19
  30. Newell, Mark 2
  31. Nisbet, Ian 20
  32. Reiertsen, Tone 5
  33. Rock, Jennifer 21
  34. Varpe, Øystein 5
  35. Lewis, Sue 1
  36. Phillimore, Albert 1
  37. Shannon, Paula 22
  38. Kress, Stephen 22
  39. Show all authors +
  1. 1 University of Edinburgh
    info

    University of Edinburgh

    Edimburgo, Reino Unido

    ROR https://ror.org/01nrxwf90

  2. 2 UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
  3. 3 British Antarctic Survey
    info

    British Antarctic Survey

    Cambridge, Reino Unido

  4. 4 Universidad de Oviedo
    info

    Universidad de Oviedo

    Oviedo, España

    ROR https://ror.org/006gksa02

  5. 5 Norwegian Institute for Nature Research
    info

    Norwegian Institute for Nature Research

    Trondheim, Noruega

    ROR https://ror.org/04aha0598

  6. 6 UiT The Arctic University of Norway
  7. 7 Norwegian University of Science and Technology
    info

    Norwegian University of Science and Technology

    Trondheim, Noruega

    ROR https://ror.org/05xg72x27

  8. 8 Institute of Avian Research
    info

    Institute of Avian Research

    Wilhelmshaven, Alemania

    ROR https://ror.org/0309m1r07

  9. 9 Baltic Seabird Project
  10. 10 University Centre in Svalbard
    info

    University Centre in Svalbard

    Carolinefjellet, Svalbard y Jan Mayen

    ROR https://ror.org/03cyjf656

  11. 11 Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique et Technique (CNRST)
  12. 12 Norwegian Polar Institute
    info

    Norwegian Polar Institute

    Tromsø, Noruega

    ROR https://ror.org/03avf6522

  13. 13 University of New Brunswick
    info

    University of New Brunswick

    Saint John, Canadá

    ROR https://ror.org/05nkf0n29

  14. 14 McGill University
    info

    McGill University

    Montreal, Canadá

    ROR https://ror.org/01pxwe438

  15. 15 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    info

    Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

    Upsala, Suecia

    ROR https://ror.org/02yy8x990

  16. 16 University of Aberdeen
    info

    University of Aberdeen

    Aberdeen, Reino Unido

    ROR https://ror.org/016476m91

  17. 17 Acadia University
    info

    Acadia University

    Wolfville, Canadá

    ROR https://ror.org/00839we02

  18. 18 University of St Andrews
    info

    University of St Andrews

    Saint Andrews, Reino Unido

    ROR https://ror.org/02wn5qz54

  19. 19 Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife
  20. 20 I.C.T Nisbet & Company
  21. 21 Environment and Climate Change Canada
  22. 22 National Audubon Society
Show affiliations +

Editor: Dryad

Year of publication: 2022

Type: Dataset

CC0 1.0

DOI: 10.5061/DRYAD.V6WWPZGZ5 lock_openOpen access editor

Abstract

Timing of breeding, an important driver of fitness in many populations, is widely studied in the context of global change, yet despite considerable efforts to identify environmental drivers of seabird nesting phenology, for most populations we lack evidence of strong drivers. Here we adopt an alternative approach, examining the degree to which different populations positively covary in their annual phenology to infer whether phenological responses to environmental drivers are likely to be (i) shared across species at a range of spatial scales, (ii) shared across populations of a species, or (iii) idiosyncratic to populations. We combined 51 long-term datasets on breeding phenology spanning 50 years from nine seabird species across 29 North Atlantic sites and examined the extent to which different populations share early versus late breeding seasons depending on a hierarchy of spatial scales comprising breeding site, small-scale region, large-scale region and the whole North Atlantic. In about a third of cases we found laying dates of populations of different species sharing the same breeding site or small-scale breeding region were positively correlated, which is consistent with the hypothesis that they share phenological responses to the same environmental conditions. In comparison we found no evidence for positive phenological covariation among populations across species aggregated at larger spatial scales. In general we found little evidence for positive phenological covariation between populations of a single species, and in many instances the inter-year variation specific to a population was substantial, consistent with each population responding idiosyncratically to local environmental conditions. Black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) was the exception, with populations exhibiting positive covariation in laying dates that decayed with the distance between breeding sites, suggesting that populations may be responding to a similar driver. Our approach sheds light on the potential factors that may drive phenology in our study species, thus furthering our understanding of the scales at which different seabirds interact with interannual variation in their environment. We also identify additional systems and phenological questions to which our inferential approach could be applied.