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Understanding and predicting large-scale ecological responses to global environmental change requires comparative studies across geographic scales with coordinated efforts and standardized methodologies. We designed, applied and assessed standardized protocols to measure tundra herbivory at three spatial scales: plot, site (habitat), and study area (landscape). The plot and site-level protocols were tested in the field during summers 2014-2015 at eleven sites, nine of them comprising warming experimental plots included in the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX). The study area protocols were assessed during 2014-2018 at 24 study areas across the Arctic. Our protocols provide comparable and easy-to-implement methods for assessing the intensity of invertebrate herbivory within ITEX plots and for characterizing vertebrate herbivore communities at larger spatial scales. We discuss methodological constraints and make recommendations for how these protocols can be used and how sampling effort can be optimized to obtain comparable estimates of herbivory, both at ITEX sites and at large landscape scales. The application of these protocols across the tundra biome will allow characterizing and comparing herbivore communities across tundra sites and at ecologically relevant spatial scales, providing an important step towards a better understanding of tundra ecosystem responses to large-scale environmental change. CGB was funded by the Estonian Research Council (grant IUT 20-28), and the European Regional Development Fund (Centre of Excellence EcolChange). JDMS was supported by the Research Council of Norway (262064). OG and LB were supported by the French Polar Institute (program “1036 Interactions”) and PRC CNRS Russie 396 (program “ICCVAT”). DSH, NL, MAG, JB and JDR were supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (Canada). NL, MAG, JB and JDR were supported by the Polar Continental Shelf Program. NL was supported by the Canada Research Chair program and the Canada Foundation for Innovation. NL and JB were supported by Environment Canada and Polar Knowledge Canada. NL and MAG were supported by the Government of Nunavut, the Igloolik Community, and Université de Moncton. NL, MAG and JB were supported by the Northern Scientific Training Program. JMA was funded by Carl Tryggers stiftelse för vetenskaplig forskning and Qatar Petroleum (QUEX-CAS-QP-RD-18_19). IHM-S was funded by the UK Natural Environmental Research Council Shrub Tundra (NE/M016323/1) grant. ISJ was funded by the University of Iceland Research Fund. Fieldwork in Yamal peninsula (Erkuta, Sabetta and Belyi) for DE, NS and AS was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (No: 18-05-60261 and No: 18-54-15013), Fram Centre project YaES (No: 362259), the Russian Center of Development of the Arctic, and the “Yamal-LNG” company. Fieldwork in Utqiaġvik was supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Fieldwork in Svalbard was supported by the Norwegian Research Council (AFG No: 246080/E10), the Norwegian Polar Institute, Climate-ecological Observatory for Arctic Tundra – COAT, the Svalbard Environmental protection fund (project number 15/20), and the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) and the AB-338/AB-838 students of 2018. Sampling at Billefjorden was supported by GACR 17- 20839S.

Tracking biodiversity shifts is central to understanding past, present, and future global changes. Recent advances in bioacoustics and the low cost of high-quality automatic recorders are revolutionizing studies in biogeography and community and behavioral ecology with a robust assessment of phenology, species occurrence, and individual activity. This large volume of acoustic recordings has recently generated a plethora of data sets that can now be handled automatically, mostly via big data methods such as deep learning. These approaches need high-quality annotations to classify and detect recorded sounds efficiently. However, very few strongly annotated data sets - i.e. with detailed information on start and end time of each vocalization - are openly accessible to the public. Moreover, these data sets mostly cover temperate species and are usually limited to a single year of recordings. Here, we present ArcticBirdSounds, the first open-access, multisite, and multiyear strongly annotated data set of arctic bird vocalizations. ArcticBirdSounds offers 20?hours of annotated recordings over two years (2018, 2019), taken from 15 distinct plots within 6 locations across the Arctic, from Alaska to Greenland. Recordings cover the arctic vertebrates' breeding period and are evenly spaced during the day; they capture most species breeding there with 12,933 temporal annotations in 49 classes of sounds. While these data can be used for many pressing ecological questions, it is also a unique resource for methodological development to help meet the challenges of fast ecosystem transformations such as those happening in the Arctic. All data including audio files, annotation files, and companion spreadsheets are available in an Open Science Framework repository published under a CC BY 4.0 License. Tracking biodiversity shifts is central to understanding past, present, and future global changes. Recent advances in bioacoustics and the low cost of high-quality automatic recorders are revolutionizing studies in biogeography and community and behavioral ecology with a robust assessment of phenology, species occurrence, and individual activity. This large volume of acoustic recordings has recently generated a plethora of datasets that can now be handled automatically, mostly via big data methods such as deep learning. These approaches need high-quality annotations to classify and detect recorded sounds efficiently. However, very few strongly annotated datasets—that is, with detailed information on start and end time of each vocalization—are openly accessible to the public. Moreover, these datasets mostly cover temperate species and are usually limited to a single year of recordings. Here, we present ArcticBirdSounds, the first open-access, multisite, and multiyear strongly annotated dataset of arctic bird vocalizations. ArcticBirdSounds offers 20 h of annotated recordings over 2 years (2018, 2019), taken from 15 distinct plots within six locations across the Arctic, from Alaska to Greenland. Recordings cover the arctic vertebrates' breeding period and are evenly spaced during the day; they capture most species breeding there with 12,933 temporal annotations in 49 classes of sounds. While these data can be used for many pressing ecological questions, it is also a unique resource for methodological development to help meet the challenges of fast ecosystem transformations such as those happening in the Arctic. All data, including audio files, annotation files, and companion spreadsheets, are available in an Open Science Framework repository published under a CC BY 4.0 License.

In socially monogamous species, extrapair paternity typically results from extrapair copulations, but it can also be due to rapid mate switching. Oring, Fleischer, Reed, and Marsden (1992, Nature, 359 (6396), 631–633) proposed a mechanism to explain the occurrence of extrapair paternity in sequentially polyandrous species: sperm stored by females from within-pair copulations with a previous mate could fertilize eggs in the clutch of a subsequent male. Despite being proposed decades ago, evidence for this hypothesis remains limited. We studied social polyandry, extrapair paternity and copulation behaviour in a population of the red phalarope, Phalaropus fulicarius, a nonterritorial, sex role-reversed shorebird, with male-only care, in Utqiaġvik, Alaska. We tested multiple predictions from the ‘sperm storage’ hypothesis. Extrapair paternity occurred in 11% (37/334) of the nests and 4% (42/1182) of the eggs were sired by a male other than the incubating parent. Although a female's initial mate occasionally sired offspring in her next clutch, our results suggest that sperm stored from a previous mate does not play a major role in explaining the occurrence of extrapair paternity in this sequentially polyandrous species. Instead, extrapair paternity was generally due to extrapair copulations by both sexes during the period between pair establishment and early incubation and to rapid mate switching by females in the context of attempts to acquire multiple care-giving males.

Tissue samples are frequently collected to study various aspects of avian biology, but in many cases these samples are not used in their entirety and are stored by the collector. The already collected samples provide a largely overlooked opportunity because they can be used by different researchers in different biological fields. Broad reuse of samples could result in multispecies or large-scale studies, interdisciplinary collaborations, and the generation of new ideas, thereby increasing the quality and impact of research. Sample reuse could also reduce the number of new samples needed for a study, which is especially pertinent to endangered species where sample collection is necessarily limited. Importantly, reusing samples may be mutually beneficial for both the researchers providing samples and those reusing them. Here, we identify the benefits of sample reuse, describe currently available sources of already collected samples and their limitations, and highlight the wide range of potential applications in a single research field – avian isotopic ecology. To facilitate the reuse of avian samples worldwide and across research fields, we introduce the AviSample Network metadata repository. The main aims of this metadata repository are to collate and provide access to descriptions of available avian tissue samples. We contend that the creation of the AviSample Network metadata repository will provide the opportunity for new collaborations and studies. Moreover, we believe that this will help create research connections between ornithologists across the globe and encourage sample reuse in other fields.

Climate change in the Arctic is leading to earlier summers, creating a phenological mismatch between the hatching of insectivorous birds and the availability of their invertebrate prey. While phenological mismatch would presumably lower the survival of chicks, climate change is also leading to longer, warmer summers that may increase the annual productivity of birds by allowing adults to lay nests over a longer period of time, replace more nests that fail, and provide physiological relief to chicks (i.e., warmer temperatures that reduce thermoregulatory costs). However, there is little information on how these competing ecological processes will ultimately impact the demography of bird populations. In 2008 and 2009, we investigated the survival of chicks from initial and experimentally-induced replacement nests of arcticola Dunlin (Calidris alpina) breeding near Utqiaġvik, Alaska. We monitored survival of 66 broods from 41 initial and 25 replacement nests. Based on the average hatch date of each group, chick survival (up to age 15 days) from replacement nests (Ŝi = 0.10; 95% CI = 0.02–0.22) was substantially lower than initial nests (Ŝi = 0.67; 95% CI = 0.48–0.81). Daily survival rates were greater for older chicks, chicks from earlier-laid clutches, and during periods of greater invertebrate availability. As temperature was less important to daily survival rates of shorebird chicks than invertebrate availability, our results indicate that any physiological relief experienced by chicks will likely be overshadowed by the need for adequate food. Furthermore, the processes creating a phenological mismatch between hatching of shorebird young and invertebrate emergence ensures that warmer, longer breeding seasons will not translate into abundant food throughout the longer summers. Thus, despite having a greater opportunity to nest later (and potentially replace nests), young from these late-hatching broods will likely not have sufficient food to survive. Collectively, these results indicate that warmer, longer summers in the Arctic are unlikely to increase annual recruitment rates, and thus unable to compensate for low adult survival, which is typically limited by factors away from the Arctic-breeding grounds.

Average annual temperatures in the Arctic increased by 2–3 °C during the second half of the twentieth century. Because shorebirds initiate northward migration to Arctic nesting sites based on cues at distant wintering grounds, climate-driven changes in the phenology of Arctic invertebrates may lead to a mismatch between the nutritional demands of shorebirds and the invertebrate prey essential for egg formation and subsequent chick survival. To explore the environmental drivers affecting invertebrate availability, we modeled the biomass of invertebrates captured in modified Malaise-pitfall traps over three summers at eight Arctic Shorebird Demographics Network sites as a function of accumulated degree-days and other weather variables. To assess climate-driven changes in invertebrate phenology, we used data from the nearest long-term weather stations to hindcast invertebrate availability over 63 summers, 1950–2012. Our results confirmed the importance of both accumulated and daily temperatures as predictors of invertebrate availability while also showing that wind speed negatively affected invertebrate availability at the majority of sites. Additionally, our results suggest that seasonal prey availability for Arctic shorebirds is occurring earlier and that the potential for trophic mismatch is greatest at the northernmost sites, where hindcast invertebrate phenology advanced by approximately 1–2.5 days per decade. Phenological mismatch could have long-term population-level effects on shorebird species that are unable to adjust their breeding schedules to the increasingly earlier invertebrate phenologies.

Most birds incubate their eggs to allow embryo development. This behaviour limits the ability of adults to perform other activities. Hence, incubating adults trade-off incubation and nest protection with foraging to meet their own needs. Parents can either cooperate to sustain this trade-off or incubate alone. The main cause of reproductive failure at this reproductive stage is predation and adults reduce this risk by keeping the nest location secret. Arctic sandpipers are interesting biological models to investigate parental care evolution as they may use several parental care strategies. The three main incubation strategies include both parents sharing incubation duties (?biparental?), one parent incubating alone (?uniparental?), or a flexible strategy with both uniparental and biparental incubation within a population (?mixed?). By monitoring the incubation behaviour in 714 nests of seven sandpiper species across 12 arctic sites, we studied the relationship between incubation strategy and nest predation. First, we described how the frequency of incubation recesses (NR), their mean duration (MDR), and the daily total duration of recesses (TDR) vary among strategies. Then, we examined how the relationship between the daily predation rate and these components of incubation behaviour varies across strategies using two complementary survival analysis. For uniparental and biparental species, the daily predation rate increased with the daily total duration of recesses and with the mean duration of recesses. In contrast, daily predation rate increased with the daily number of recesses for biparental species only. These patterns may be attributed to two independent mechanisms: cryptic incubating adults are more difficult to locate than unattended nests and adults departing the nest or feeding close to the nest can draw predators' attention. Our results demonstrate that incubation behaviour as mediated by incubation strategy has important consequences for sandpipers? reproductive success. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Determining the dynamics of where and when individuals occur is necessary to understand population declines and identify critical areas for populations of conservation concern. However, there are few examples where a spatially and temporally explicit model has been used to evaluate the migratory dynamics of a bird population across its entire annual cycle. We used geolocator-derived migration tracks of 84 Dunlin (Calidris alpina) on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF) to construct a migratory network describing annual subspecies-specific migration patterns in space and time. We found that Dunlin subspecies exhibited unique patterns of spatial and temporal flyway use. Spatially, C. a. arcticola predominated in regions along the eastern edge of the flyway (e.g., western Alaska and central Japan), whereas C. a. sakhalina predominated in regions along the western edge of the flyway (e.g., N China and inland China). No individual Dunlin that wintered in Japan also wintered in the Yellow Sea, China seas, or inland China, and vice-versa. However, similar proportions of the 4 subspecies used many of the same regions at the center of the flyway (e.g., N Sakhalin Island and the Yellow Sea). Temporally, Dunlin subspecies staggered their south migrations and exhibited little temporal overlap among subspecies within shared migration regions. In contrast, Dunlin subspecies migrated simultaneously during north migration. South migration was also characterized by individuals stopping more often and for more days than during north migration. Taken together, these spatial-temporal migration dynamics indicate Dunlin subspecies may be differentially affected by regional habitat change and population declines according to where and when they occur. We suggest that the migration dynamics presented here are useful for guiding on-the-ground survey efforts to quantify subspecies’ use of specific sites, and to estimate subspecies’ population sizes and long-term trends. Such studies would significantly advance our understanding of Dunlin space-time dynamics and the coordination of Dunlin conservation actions across the EAAF.

Long-distance migrants are under strong selection to arrive on their breeding grounds at a time that maximizes fitness. Many arctic birds start nesting shortly after snow recedes from their breeding sites and timing of snowmelt can vary substantially over the breeding range of widespread species. We tested the hypothesis that migration schedules of individuals co-occurring at the same non-breeding areas are adapted to average local environmental conditions encountered at their specific and distant Arctic breeding locations. We predicted that timing of breeding site availability (measured here as the average snow-free date) should explain individual variation in departure time from shared non-breeding areas. We tested our prediction by tracking American Golden-Plovers (Pluvialis dominica) nesting across the North-American Arctic. These plovers use a non-breeding (wintering) area in South America and share a spring stopover area in the nearctic temperate grasslands, located >1,800 km away from their nesting locations. As plovers co-occur at the same non-breeding areas but use breeding sites segregated by latitude and longitude, we could disentangle the potential confounding effects of migration distance and timing of breeding site availability on individual migration schedule. As predicted, departure date of individuals stopping-over in sympatry was positively related to the average snow-free date at their respective breeding location, which was also related to individual onset of incubation. Departure date from the shared stopover area was not explained by the distance between the stopover and the breeding location, nor by the stopover duration of individuals. This strongly suggests that plover migration schedule is adapted to and driven by the timing of breeding site availability per se. The proximate mechanism underlying the variable migration schedule of individuals is unknown and may result from genetic differences or individual learning. Temperatures are currently changing at different speeds across the Arctic and this likely generates substantial heterogeneity in the strength of selection pressure on migratory schedule of arctic birds migrating sympatrically.

Lemmings are a key component of tundra food webs and changes in their dynamics can affect the whole ecosystem. We present a comprehensive overview of lemming monitoring and research activities, and assess recent trends in lemming abundance across the circumpolar Arctic. Since 2000, lemmings have been monitored at 49 sites of which 38 are still active. The sites were not evenly distributed with notably Russia and high Arctic Canada underrepresented. Abundance was monitored at all sites, but methods and levels of precision varied greatly. Other important attributes such as health, genetic diversity and potential drivers of population change, were often not monitored. There was no evidence that lemming populations were decreasing in general, although a negative trend was detected for low arctic populations sympatric with voles. To keep the pace of arctic change, we recommend maintaining long-term programmes while harmonizing methods, improving spatial coverage and integrating an ecosystem perspective. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-019-01198-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Ambio. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13280-019-01198-7. Lemmings are a key component of tundra food webs and changes in their dynamics can affect the whole ecosystem. We present a comprehensive overview of lemming monitoring and research activities, and assess recent trends in lemming abundance across the circumpolar Arctic. Since 2000, lemmings have been monitored at 49 sites of which 38 are still active. The sites were not evenly distributed with notably Russia and high Arctic Canada underrepresented. Abundance was monitored at all sites, but methods and levels of precision varied greatly. Other important attributes such as health, genetic diversity and potential drivers of population change, were often not monitored. There was no evidence that lemming populations were decreasing in general, although a negative trend was detected for low arctic populations sympatric with voles. To keep the pace of arctic change, we recommend maintaining long-term programmes while harmonizing methods, improving spatial coverage and integrating an ecosystem perspective.

The ecological consequences of climate change have been recognized in numerous species, with perhaps phenology being the most well‐documented change. Phenological changes may have negative consequences when organisms within different trophic levels respond to environmental changes at different rates, potentially leading to phenological mismatches between predators and their prey. This may be especially apparent in the Arctic, which has been affected more by climate change than other regions, resulting in earlier, warmer, and longer summers. During a 7‐year study near Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska, we estimated phenological mismatch in relation to food availability and chick growth in a community of Arctic‐breeding shorebirds experiencing advancement of environmental conditions (i.e., snowmelt). Our results indicate that Arctic‐breeding shorebirds have experienced increased phenological mismatch with earlier snowmelt conditions. However, the degree of phenological mismatch was not a good predictor of food availability, as weather conditions after snowmelt made invertebrate availability highly unpredictable. As a result, the food available to shorebird chicks that were 2–10 days old was highly variable among years (ranging from 6.2 to 28.8 mg trap−1 day−1 among years in eight species), and was often inadequate for average growth (only 20%–54% of Dunlin and Pectoral Sandpiper broods on average had adequate food across a 4‐year period). Although weather conditions vary among years, shorebirds that nested earlier in relation to snowmelt generally had more food available during brood rearing, and thus, greater chick growth rates. Despite the strong selective pressure to nest early, advancement of nesting is likely limited by the amount of plasticity in the start and progression of migration. Therefore, long‐term climatic changes resulting in earlier snowmelt have the potential to greatly affect shorebird populations, especially if shorebirds are unable to advance nest initiation sufficiently to keep pace with seasonal advancement of their invertebrate prey.

Most birds incubate their eggs, which requires time and energy at the expense of other activities. Birds generally have two incubation strategies: biparental where both mates cooperate in incubating eggs, and uniparental where a single parent incubates. In harsh and unpredictable environments, incubation is challenging due to high energetic demands and variable resource availability. We studied the relationships between the incubation behaviour of sandpipers (genus Calidris) and two environmental variables: temperature and a proxy of primary productivity (i.e. NDVI). We investigated how these relationships vary between incubation strategies and across species among strategies. We also studied how the relationship between current temperature and incubation behaviour varies with previous day's temperature. We monitored the incubation behaviour of nine sandpiper species using thermologgers at 15 arctic sites between 2016 and 2019. We also used thermologgers to record the ground surface temperature at conspecific nest sites and extracted NDVI values from a remote sensing product. We found no relationship between either environmental variables and biparental incubation behaviour. Conversely, as ground-surface temperature increased, uniparental species decreased total duration of recesses (TDR) and mean duration of recesses (MDR), but increased number of recesses (NR). Moreover, small species showed stronger relationships with ground-surface temperature than large species. When all uniparental species were combined, an increase in NDVI was correlated with higher mean duration, total duration and number of recesses, but relationships varied widely across species. Finally, some uniparental species showed a lag effect with a higher nest attentiveness after a warm day while more recesses occurred after a cold day than was predicted based on current temperatures. We demonstrate the complex interplay between shorebird incubation strategies, incubation behaviour, and environmental conditions. Understanding how species respond to changes in their environment during incubation helps predict their future reproductive success.

While increases in overall temperatures are widely reported in the Arctic, large inter-annual variation in spring weather, with extreme early and late conditions, is also occurring. Using data collected from three sites in Arctic Alaska, we explored how shorebird breeding density, nest initiation, nest synchrony, nest survival, and phenological mismatch varied between two exceptionally early (2015 and 2016) and late (2017 and 2018) springs. We assessed these differences in the context of long-term data from each site and whether species exhibited conservative or opportunistic reproductive strategies. Conservative shorebirds typically display nest-site fidelity and territoriality, consistent population densities, relatively even individual spacing, and monogamous mating systems with bi-parental incubation. In contrast, opportunistic shorebirds display the opposite traits, and a polygamous mating system with uniparental incubation. In this study, we evaluated 2,239 nests from 13 shorebird species, 2015–2018, and found that shorebirds of both strategies bred earlier and in higher numbers in early, warm springs relative to historic levels (based on 3,789 nests, 2005–2014); opposite trends were observed in late springs. In early springs, nests were initiated less synchronously than in late springs. Nest survival was unrelated to spring type, but was greater in earlier laid nests overall. Invertebrate food resources emerged earlier in early springs, resulting in a greater temporal asynchrony between invertebrate emergence and chick hatching in early than late springs. However, invertebrate abundance was quite variable among sites and years regardless of spring type. Overall, our results were generally consistent with predicted relationships between spring conditions and reproductive parameters. However, we detected differences among sites that could not be explained by other ecological factors (e.g., predators or alternative prey). Differences in shorebird community composition and other subtler methodological/ecological differences among sites highlight the difficulty of understanding the complex nature of these ecological systems and the importance of evaluating questions at multiple sites across multiple years. Our study demonstrates that shorebirds exhibit a high degree of behavioral flexibility in response to variable Arctic conditions, but whether this flexibility is enough to allow them to optimally track changing environmental conditions or if evolutionary adjustments will be necessary is unknown.

The degree to which individuals migrate among particular breeding, migration, and wintering sites can have important implications for prioritizing conservation efforts. Four subspecies of Dunlin (Calidris alpina) migrate along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. Each subspecies has a distinct and well-defined breeding range, but their migration and winter ranges are poorly defined or unknown. We assessed the migratory connectivity of 3 of these subspecies by evaluating a dataset that encompasses 57 yr (1960-2017), and comprises more than 28,000 Dunlin banding records and 818 observations (71 recaptures and 747 band resightings). We present some of the first evidence that subspecific segregation likely occurs, with arcticola Dunlin wintering in areas of Japan, and other arcticola, actites, and sakhalina Dunlin wintering in areas of the Yellow and China seas. Observations indicate that whether an arcticola Dunlin winters in Japan or the Yellow and China seas is independent of their breeding location, sex, or age. Furthermore, observations indicate that ≥83% of arcticola Dunlin exhibit interannual site fidelity to specific wintering sites. This suggests that the degradation of specific wetland areas may negatively affect particular individuals of a particular subspecies (or combination of subspecies), and, if widespread, could result in population declines. Given the possible biases inherent in analyzing band recovery data, we recommend additional flyway-wide collaboration and the use of lightweight tracking devices and morphological and genetic assignment techniques to better quantify subspecies' migratory movements and nonbreeding distributions. This information, when combined, will enable effective conservation efforts for this species across the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. LAY SUMMARY The East Asian-Australasian Flyway has more threatened and near-Threatened migratory waterbird species than any other flyway in the world; however, developing flyway conservation plans has been challenging, in part due to limited information regarding population-specific migration patterns. Four subspecies of Dunlin migrate and winter along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. Each has a well-defined breeding range; their migration and winter ranges are poorly defined or unknown. We assessed the migratory connectivity of 3 subspecies using data from 57 yr (1960-2017), which comprises more than 28,000 Dunlin banding records, 71 recaptures, and 747 band resightings. Subspecific segregation likely occurs, with arcticola Dunlin wintering in Japan, and other arcticola, actites, and sakhalina Dunlin wintering in the Yellow and China seas. It is likely that ≥83% of arcticola Dunlin exhibit interannual site fidelity to specific wintering sites. Our findings suggest that degradation of specific wetland areas may negatively affect particular individuals of a particular subspecies (or combination of subspecies) and could result in population declines.

Ecological “big data” Human activities are rapidly altering the natural world. Nowhere is this more evident, perhaps, than in the Arctic, yet this region remains one of the most remote and difficult to study. Researchers have increasingly relied on animal tracking data in these regions to understand individual species' responses, but if we want to understand larger-scale change, we need to integrate our understanding across species. Davidson et al. introduce an open-source data archive that currently hosts more than 15 million location data points across 96 species and use it to show distinct climate change responses across species. Such ecological “big data” can lead to a wider understanding of change. Science , this issue p. 712

Conservation status and management priorities are often informed by population trends. Trend estimates can be derived from population surveys or models, but both methods are associated with sources of uncertainty. Many Arctic-breeding shorebirds are thought to be declining based on migration and/or overwintering population surveys, but data are lacking to estimate the trends of some shorebird species. In addition, for most species, little is known about the stage(s) at which population bottlenecks occur, such as breeding vs. nonbreeding periods. We used previously published and unpublished estimates of vital rates to develop the first large-scale population models for 6 species of Arctic-breeding shorebirds in North America, including separate estimates for 3 subspecies of Dunlin. We used the models to estimate population trends and identify life stages at which population growth may be limited. Our model for the arcticola subspecies of Dunlin agreed with previously published information that the subspecies is severely declining. Our results also linked the decline to the subspecies' low annual adult survival rate, thus potentially implicating factors during the nonbreeding period in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. However, our trend estimates for all species showed high uncertainty, highlighting the need for more accurate and precise estimates of vital rates. Of the vital rates, annual adult survival had the strongest influence on population trend in all taxa. Improving the accuracy, precision, and spatial and temporal coverage of estimates of vital rates, especially annual adult survival, would improve demographic model-based estimates of population trends and help direct management to regions or seasons where birds are subject to higher mortality.LAY SUMMARYDocumenting population trends is essential for evaluating the conservation status of wild species such as Arctic-breeding shorebirds.Trends can be estimated with population surveys or by predicting population growth based on survival rates and fecundity, but both methods are challenging, especially for species with large or remote geographic distributions.We used recent broad-scale estimates of survival and fecundity to develop population models for 6 species of Arctic-breeding shorebirds.The arcticola subspecies of Dunlin is likely in severe decline, but our trend estimates for all species showed high uncertainty.Uncertainty around the values of annual adult survival rates was a key driver of the uncertainty around the trend estimates.Our work highlights the need for better estimates of annual adult survival, seasonal survival, juvenile survival, and breeding propensity for these Arctic-breeding shorebirds.

Many Arctic shorebird populations are declining, and quantifying adult survival and the effects of anthropogenic factors is a crucial step toward a better understanding of population dynamics. We used a recently developed, spatially explicit Cormack–Jolly–Seber model in a Bayesian framework to obtain broad-scale estimates of true annual survival rates for 6 species of shorebirds at 9 breeding sites across the North American Arctic in 2010–2014. We tested for effects of environmental and ecological variables, study site, nest fate, and sex on annual survival rates of each species in the spatially explicit framework, which allowed us to distinguish between effects of variables on site fidelity versus true survival. Our spatially explicit analysis produced estimates of true survival rates that were substantially higher than previously published estimates of apparent survival for most species, ranging from S = 0.72 to 0.98 across 5 species. However, survival was lower for the arcticola subspecies of ...

The Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta of Alaska, USA is a globally important region for numerous avian species including millions of migrating and nesting waterbirds. However, data on the current spatial distribution of critical nesting areas and the importance of environmental variables in the selection of nest locations are generally lacking for waterbirds in this region. We modeled nest densities for 6 species of geese and eiders that commonly breed on the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, including cackling goose (Branta hutchinsii minima), emperor goose (Chen canagica), black brant (B. bernicla nigricans), greater white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons frontalis), spectacled eider (Somateria fischeri), and common eider (S. mollissima). The data used were from single-visit nest searches on 2,318 plots sampled during 29 years from 1985 to 2013. We modeled nest density for each species by combining data across years and using random forests methods and time-static landscape environmental variables. These models provide the first habitat-specific predictive distributions of nest density for these species breeding on the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta of Alaska. Predictive performance of the random forests models varied among species, explaining 13–69% of the variance in nest density. For most species, nest density was greatest near the coast and within lowland habitats. Predicted nest densities mapped across the coastal zone of the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta revealed areas of high and low nest densities that can be used to inform management and conservation decisions. © 2017 The Wildlife Society.

Aim: Parental care improves the survival of offspring and therefore has a major impact on reproductive success. It is increasingly recognized that coordinated biparental care is necessary to ensure the survival of offspring in hostile environments, but little is known about the influence of environmental fluctuations on parental cooperation. Assessing the impacts of environmental stochasticity, however, is essential for understanding how populations will respond to climate change and the associated increasing frequencies of extreme weather events. Here we investigate the influence of environmental stochasticity on biparental incubation in a cosmopolitan ground-nesting avian genus. Location: Global. Methods: We assembled data on biparental care in 36 plover populations (Charadrius spp.) from six continents, collected between 1981 and 2012. Using a space-for-time approach we investigate how average temperature, temperature stochasticity (i.e. year-to-year variation) and seasonal temperature variation during the breeding season influence parental cooperation during incubation. Results: We show that both average ambient temperature and its fluctuations influence parental cooperation during incubation. Male care relative to female care increases with both mean ambient temperature and temperature stochasticity. Local climatic conditions explain within-species population differences in parental cooperation, probably reflecting phenotypic plasticity of behaviour. Main conclusions: The degree of flexibility in parental cooperation is likely to mediate the impacts of climate change on the demography and reproductive behaviour of wild animal populations.

Pollination is an ecosystem function of global importance. Yet, who visits the flower of specific plants, how the composition of these visitors varies in space and time and how such variation translates into pollination services are hard to establish. The use of DNA barcodes allows us to address ecological patterns involving thousands of taxa that are difficult to identify. To clarify the regional variation in the visitor community of a widespread flower resource, we compared the composition of the arthropod community visiting species in the genus Dryas (mountain avens, family Rosaceae), throughout Arctic and high-alpine areas. At each of 15 sites, we sampled Dryas visitors with 100 sticky flower mimics and identified specimens to Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) using a partial sequence of the mitochondrial COI gene. As a measure of ecosystem functioning, we quantified variation in the seed set of Dryas. To test for an association between phylogenetic and functional diversity, we characterized the structure of local visitor communities with both taxonomic and phylogenetic descriptors. In total, we detected 1,360 different BINs, dominated by Diptera and Hymenoptera. The richness of visitors at each site appeared to be driven by local temperature and precipitation. Phylogeographic structure seemed reflective of geological history and mirrored trans-Arctic patterns detected in plants. Seed set success varied widely among sites, with little variation attributable to pollinator species richness. This pattern suggests idiosyncratic associations, with function dominated by few and potentially different taxa at each site. Taken together, our findings illustrate the role of post-glacial history in the assembly of flower-visitor communities in the Arctic and offer insights for understanding how diversity translates into ecosystem functioning.

Many migratory grassland passerines complete their annual life cycle within the United States and investigations into wintering ecology of these species are scarce, particularly in ecoregions where habitat quality is considered to be compromised, such as the coastal prairie of Texas. During 2008–2010, we investigated wintering grassland bird ecology as related to coastal prairie composition and management practices on the mid-upper Texas coast. To quantify grassland bird composition and density among management regimes, we performed 260 transect surveys on 40 different study site pastures deployed among 7 different management regimes, varying in plant community composition as well as frequency (or occurrence) of burning, grazing, and mowing from 29 October 2008–7 April 2009 and 17 November 2009–17 March 2010. A total of 79 bird species (48 species in 2008–2009 and 66 species in 2009–2010) were recorded during this study. Sites that were recently (

The Arctic is experiencing rapidly warming conditions, increasing predator abundance, and diminishing population cycles of keystone species such as lemmings. However, it is still not known how many Arctic animals will respond to a changing climate with altered trophic interactions. We studied clutch size, incubation duration and nest survival of 17 taxa of Arctic-breeding shorebirds at 16 field sites over 7years. We predicted that physiological benefits of higher temperatures and earlier snowmelt would increase reproductive effort and nest survival, and we expected increasing predator abundance and decreasing abundance of alternative prey (arvicoline rodents) to have a negative effect on reproduction. Although we observed wide ranges of conditions during our study, we found no effects of covariates on reproductive traits in 12 of 17 taxa. In the remaining taxa, most relationships agreed with our predictions. Earlier snowmelt increased the probability of laying a full clutch from 0.61 to 0.91 for Western Sandpipers, and shortened incubation by 1.42days for arcticola Dunlin and 0.77days for Red Phalaropes. Higher temperatures increased the probability of a full clutch from 0.60 to 0.93 for Western Sandpipers and from 0.76 to 0.97 for Red-necked Phalaropes, and increased daily nest survival rates from 0.9634 to 0.9890 for Semipalmated Sandpipers and 0.9546 to 0.9880 for Western Sandpipers. Higher abundance of predators (foxes) reduced daily nest survival rates only in Western Sandpipers (0.9821-0.9031). In contrast to our predictions, the probability of a full clutch was lowest (0.83) for Semipalmated Sandpipers at moderate abundance of alternative prey, rather than low abundance (0.90). Our findings suggest that in the short-term, climate warming may have neutral or positive effects on the nesting cycle of most Arctic-breeding shorebirds. National Fish and Wildlife Foundation [2010-0061-015, 2011-0032-014, 0801.12.032731, 0801.13.041129]; Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act [F11AP01040, F12AP00734, F13APO535, 4073]; Arctic Goose Joint Venture; Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.; Bureau of Land Management; Canada Fund for InnovationCanada Foundation for Innovation; Canada Research ChairsCanada Research Chairs; Cape Krusenstern National Monument grant; Centre for Wildlife Ecology at Simon Fraser University; Churchill Northern Studies Centre; Cornell University Graduate School Mellon Grant; Ducks Unlimited Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; FQRNT (Quebec)FQRNT; Government of Nunavut; Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada; Kansas State University; Kresge Foundation; Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation; Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences; Mississippi Flyway Council; Murie Science and Learning Center grants; National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; National Park Service; National Science Foundation (Office of Polar Programs Grant) [ARC-1023396]; National Science Foundation (Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant)National Science Foundation (NSF) [1110444]; Natural Resources Canada (Polar Continental Shelf Program); Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of CanadaNatural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; Northern Studies Training Program; Selawik National Wildlife Refuge; Trust for Mutual Understanding; Universite du Quebec a Rimouski; University of Alaska Fairbanks; University of Colorado Denver; University of Missouri Columbia; University of Moncton; US Fish and Wildlife Service (Migratory Bird Management Division, Survey, Monitoring and Assessment Program); US Fish and Wildlife Service (Alaska National Wildlife Refuge System's Challenge Cost Share Program); US Fish and Wildlife Service (Avian Influenza Health and Influenza programmes); US Geological Survey (USGS) (Changing Arctic Ecosystem Initiative, Wildlife Program of the USGS Ecosystem Mission Area); W. Garfield Weston Foundation; Alaska Department of Fish and Game E.L.W compiled the field data, designed and performed the statistical analyses and wrote the manuscript. B.K.S. assisted with design of analyses and preparation of the manuscript. R.B.L., S.C.B. and H.R.G. led development of standardized field protocols and coordinated field work. B.K.S., R.B.L., S.C.B., H.R.G. and all other authors, who are listed in alphabetical order, designed and conducted the field studies, contributed to interpreting the results and assisted with editing the manuscript. Major support for the ASDN was provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (grants 2010-0061-015, 2011-0032-014, 0801.12.032731 and 0801.13.041129), the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (grants F11AP01040, F12AP00734 and F13APO535) and the Arctic Landscape Conservation Cooperative. Additional funding for participating field sites was provided by: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Arctic Goose Joint Venture, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Bureau of Land Management, Canada Fund for Innovation, Canada Research Chairs, Cape Krusenstern National Monument grant, Centre for Wildlife Ecology at Simon Fraser University, Churchill Northern Studies Centre, Cornell University Graduate School Mellon Grant, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, FQRNT (Quebec), Government of Nunavut, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, Kansas State University, Kresge Foundation, Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, Mississippi Flyway Council, Murie Science and Learning Center grants, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, National Park Service, National Science Foundation (Office of Polar Programs Grant ARC-1023396 and Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant 1110444), Natural Resources Canada (Polar Continental Shelf Program), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Discovery Grant and Northern Supplement), Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (grant 4073), Northern Studies Training Program, Selawik National Wildlife Refuge, Trust for Mutual Understanding, Universite du Quebec a Rimouski, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Colorado Denver, University of Missouri Columbia, University of Moncton, US Fish and Wildlife Service (Migratory Bird Management Division, Survey, Monitoring and Assessment Program, Alaska National Wildlife Refuge System's Challenge Cost Share Program and Avian Influenza Health and Influenza programmes), US Geological Survey (USGS) (Changing Arctic Ecosystem Initiative, Wildlife Program of the USGS Ecosystem Mission Area), and the W. Garfield Weston Foundation. Logistical support was provided by Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Barrow Arctic Science Consortium, BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Kinross Gold Corporation, Umiaq LLC, Selawik National Wildlife Refuge (USFWS), ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc., Cape Krusenstern National Monument (National Park Service) and Sirmilik National Park (Parks Canada). We thank local communities and landowners, including the Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation, the people of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Sitnasuak Native Corporation, the Kuukpik Corporation and the North Slope Borough for permitting us to conduct research on their lands.; Animal handling, marking and monitoring procedures were approved by Environment and Climate Change Canada, Government of Nunavut, Kansas State University, National Park Service, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Moncton, US Fish & Wildlife Service and US Geological Survey. All applicable international, national and institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. We thank A. Tygart for assistance in compiling JAGS for use on the Beocat supercomputer at Kansas State University, D. Payer and S. Freeman for their work at Canning River, and H. Meltofte, P. Battley, B. Ross, J. Sutton, L. Martin and the Sandercock lab for comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript. We thank the many field assistants who were involved in data collection, especially field crew leaders K. Bennet, M. Burrell, J. Cunningham, E. D'Astous, S. Carvey, A. Doll, L. Pirie Dominix, K. Gold, A. Gottesman, K. Grond, P. Herzog, B. Hill, D. Hodgkinson, A. J. Johnson, D. Pavlik, M. Peck, L. Pollock, S. Sapora, B. Schwarz, F. Smith, H. M. Specht, M. VanderHeyden, B. M. Walker and B. Wilkinson. The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Any use of trade names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government. Public domain – authored by a U.S. government employee

Marking wild birds is an integral part of many field studies. However, if marks affect the vital rates or behavior of marked individuals, any conclusions reached by a study might be biased relative to the general population. Leg bands have rarely been found to have negative effects on birds and are frequently used to mark individuals. Leg flags, which are larger, heavier, and might produce more drag than bands, are commonly used on shorebirds and can help improve resighting rates. However, no one to date has assessed the possible effects of leg flags on the demographic performance of shorebirds. At seven sites in Arctic Alaska and western Canada, we marked individuals and monitored nest survival of four species of Arctic-breeding shorebirds, including Semipalmated Sandpipers (Calidris pusilla), Western Sandpipers (C. mauri), Red-necked Phalaropes (Phalarope lobatus), and Red Phalaropes (P. fielicarius). We used a daily nest survival model in a Bayesian framework to test for effects of leg flags, relative to birds with only bands, on daily survival rates of 1952 nests. We found no evidence of a difference in nest survival between birds with flags and those with only bands. Our results suggest, therefore, that leg flags have little effect on the nest success of Arctic-breeding sandpipers and phalaropes. Additional studies are needed, however, to evaluate the possible effects of flags on shorebirds that use other habitats and on survival rates of adults and chicks. National Fish and Wildlife Foundation [2010-0061-015, 2011-0032-014, 0801.12.032731, 0801.13.041129]; Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [F11AP01040, F12AP00734, F13APO535, 4073, 4102]; Alaska Department of Fish and Game; State Wildlife Grant [T-16]; Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; Bureau of Land Management; Centre for Wildlife Ecology at Simon Fraser University; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada; Kansas State University; Kresge Foundation; Liz Claiborne/Art Ortenberg Foundation; Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences; National Park Service; Murie Science and Learning Center Research Fellowship Program; National Science Foundation (Office of Polar Programs)National Science Foundation (NSF) [ARC-1023396]; National Science Foundation (Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant)National Science Foundation (NSF) [1501479]; Natural Resources Canada (Polar Continental Shelf Program); Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Strategic Grant - Discovery Grants) [357054]; Northern Scientific Training Program (Canadian Polar Commission); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Migratory Bird Management Division, Survey, Monitoring and Assessment Program); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Alaska National Wildlife Refuge System's Challenge Cost Share Program); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Avian Influenza Health and Influenza programs); U.S. Geological Survey (Changing Arctic Ecosystem Initiative, Wildlife Program of the USGS Ecosystem Mission Area); University of Colorado Denver; University of Alaska Fairbanks; University of Missouri Columbia Major support for the infrastructure of the Arctic Shorebird Demographics Network was provided by the Arctic Landscape Conservation Cooperative, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (grants 2010-0061-015, 2011-0032-014, 0801.12.032731, and 0801.13.041129), and Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (grants F11AP01040, F12AP00734, F13APO535, 4073, and 4102). Additional funding for individual sites was provided by Alaska Department of Fish and Game (including State Wildlife Grant T-16), Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Bureau of Land Management, Centre for Wildlife Ecology at Simon Fraser University, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, Kansas State University, Kresge Foundation, Liz Claiborne/Art Ortenberg Foundation, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, National Park Service (including Murie Science and Learning Center Research Fellowship Program), National Science Foundation (Office of Polar Programs grant ARC-1023396 and Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant 1501479), Natural Resources Canada (Polar Continental Shelf Program), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Strategic Grant - 357054, Discovery Grants), Northern Scientific Training Program (Canadian Polar Commission), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Migratory Bird Management Division, Survey, Monitoring and Assessment Program, Alaska National Wildlife Refuge System's Challenge Cost Share Program, and Avian Influenza Health and Influenza programs), U.S. Geological Survey (Changing Arctic Ecosystem Initiative, Wildlife Program of the USGS Ecosystem Mission Area), University of Colorado Denver, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and University of Missouri Columbia. We thank local communities and landowners, including the people of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, North Slope Borough, Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation, and Sitnasuak Native Corporation for permitting us to conduct research on their lands. Logistical support was provided by Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), Barrow Arctic Science Consortium, Cape Krusenstern National Monument (National Park Service), ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc., Sisualik National Wildlife Refuge (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), and Umiaq, LLC. We thank the many field assistants who helped on this project throughout the years, including S. Carvey, T. Donnelly, A. Gottesman, D. Pavlik, and B. Wilkinson for their key roles in field work at the Colville River Delta, and D. Payer for his key role in implementing and overseeing field work at Canning River Delta. J. Lamb, L. Rosen, and B. Ross provided comments on an early draft of the manuscript. Animal handling, marking, and monitoring procedures were approved by animal care and use committees and permitting agencies at Environment and Climate Change Canada, Kansas State University, National Park Service, University of Alaska Fairbanks, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Geological Survey - Alaska Science Center. The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Any use of trade names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Public domain – authored by a U.S. government employee

Shorebirds seem to have evolved a number of strategies for adapting to and exploiting the unpredictable and inhospitable Arctic environment. Two such strategies put forth by Holmes and Pitelka suggest that species either conservatively or opportunistically select breeding locations based on local environmental conditions. “Conservative” species were characterized by strong site fidelity and territoriality, consistent population densities, relatively even spacing of individuals, and monogamous mating systems, while “opportunistic” species exhibited opposite traits and were polygamous. Here, we assessed whether 10 shorebird species consistently exhibited these settlement strategies over a 10-year period (2003–2012) near Barrow, Alaska, by comparing annual estimates of site fidelity, territoriality, and population density. Additionally, we determined the relative importance of past and current environmental and social conditions in predicting annual breeding densities of these same species. Data fro...

Phenological advancement allows individuals to adapt to climate change by timing life‐history events to the availability of key resources so that individual fitness is maximized. However, different trophic levels may respond to changes in their environment at different rates, potentially leading to a phenological mismatch. This may be especially apparent in the highly seasonal arctic environment that is experiencing the effects of climate change more so than any other region. During a 14‐year study near Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska, we estimated phenological advancement in egg laying in relation to snowmelt for eight arctic‐breeding shorebirds and investigated potential linkages to species‐specific life‐history characteristics. We found that snowmelt advanced 0.8 days/year—six times faster than the prior 60‐year period. During this same time, six of the eight species exhibited phenological advancement in laying dates (varying among species from 0.1 to 0.9 days earlier per year), although no species appeared capable of keeping pace with advancing snowmelt. Phenological changes were likely the result of high phenotypic plasticity, as all species investigated in this study showed high interannual variability in lay dates. Commonality among species with similar response rates to timing of snowmelt suggests that nesting later and having an opportunistic settlement strategy may increase the adaptability of some species to changing climate conditions. Other life‐history characteristics, such as migration strategy, previous site experience, and mate fidelity did not influence the ability of individuals to advance laying dates. As a failure to advance egg laying is likely to result in greater phenological mismatch, our study provides an initial assessment of the relative risk of species to long‐term climatic changes.

Although much of the Arctic Coastal Plain has remained undeveloped, oil and gas industries, new and expanding villages, as well as tourism are likely to increase in the near future. One potential effect of increased human development is increased anthropogenic waste and the need to dispose of this waste in landfills. We investigated potential indirect effects of the North Slope Borough landfill on breeding shorebirds by examining changes in environmental conditions (predator densities and timing of snow melt) and measures of shorebird reproduction (nest-initiation dates, nest density, nest survival, and return rates) in relation to construction and deposition of waste in the landfill. This study included one year of pre-construction data (2004), three years when landfill roads and fences were being constructed (2005–2007), and five years when waste was being deposited (2008–2012). We monitored 364 shorebird nests within a 36-ha plot (approximately half of which was inside the landfill and half o...

The Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus) is unique in being a determinate layer of an odd modal clutch size and in having a variable mating system in which female brood desertion occurs regularly. These traits make determining Snowy Plover offspring sex ratios important not only for long-term population stability, as the species is of conservation concern, but also for application to sex allocation theory. In this study, we determined Snowy Plover offspring sex ratios, examined differential costs of producing male and female offspring, and evaluated sex ratio variation in relation to maternal condition, habitat condition, and time during the nesting season on saline lakes of the Southern High Plains of Texas. Examination of 245 chicks from 118 clutches during 1999–2000 and 2008–2009 showed that male offspring were more costly to produce than female offspring; however, offspring sex ratio did not differ from parity, but was slightly male-biased in most years. The probability of producing a male offspring was greater both earlier and later in the breeding season than in the middle. As the availability of saline lake surface water and the subsequent availability of food vary unpredictably throughout the breeding season, depending on precipitation events, we suggest that sex ratio adjustment in unpredictable environments may not be straightforward and may follow nonlinear models and/or vary annually The effects such changes in sex ratios may have on population growth and stability remain unknown.

We quantified changes in long-term Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus) survey counts and return rates, estimated current sex and age-specific apparent survival and encounter rates, and calculated recruitment thresholds needed to maintain a stable population in the Southern High Plains of Texas. Mean survey counts of adult Snowy Plovers decreased by 78% at one saline lake (from 80 adults/survey to 18 adults/survey) from 1999–2000 to 2008–2010 but remained consistent at an alternate lake (from 45 adults/survey to 41 adults/survey). Adult and juvenile return rates have similarly declined within this time frame by 25 and 62%, respectively. Long-term declines in return rates may be the result of increased mortality from declining habitat conditions either within or outside the breeding season. Current estimates of adult (65%) and juvenile (12%) apparent survival are lower than most other estimates for Snowy Plovers throughout their range. Current estimates of adult and juvenile apparent survival and ret...

Background Geolocators are useful for tracking movements of long-distance migrants, but potential negative effects on birds have not been well studied. We tested for effects of geolocators (0.8–2.0 g total, representing 0.1–3.9 % of mean body mass) on 16 species of migratory shorebirds, including five species with 2–4 subspecies each for a total of 23 study taxa. Study species spanned a range of body sizes (26–1091 g) and eight genera, and were tagged at 23 breeding and eight nonbreeding sites. We compared breeding performance and return rates of birds with geolocators to control groups while controlling for potential confounding variables. Results We detected negative effects of tags for three small-bodied species. Geolocators reduced annual return rates for two of 23 taxa: by 63 % for semipalmated sandpipers and by 43 % for the arcticola subspecies of dunlin. High resighting effort for geolocator birds could have masked additional negative effects. Geolocators were more likely to negatively affect return rates if the total mass of geolocators and color markers was 2.5–5.8 % of body mass than if tags were 0.3–2.3 % of body mass. Carrying a geolocator reduced nest success by 42 % for semipalmated sandpipers and tripled the probability of partial clutch failure in semipalmated and western sandpipers. Geolocators mounted perpendicular to the leg on a flag had stronger negative effects on nest success than geolocators mounted parallel to the leg on a band. However, parallel-band geolocators were more likely to reduce return rates and cause injuries to the leg. No effects of geolocators were found on breeding movements or changes in body mass. Among-site variation in geolocator effect size was high, suggesting that local factors were important. Conclusions Negative effects of geolocators occurred only for three of the smallest species in our dataset, but were substantial when present. Future studies could mitigate impacts of tags by reducing protruding parts and minimizing use of additional markers. Investigators could maximize recovery of tags by strategically deploying geolocators on males, previously marked individuals, and successful breeders, though targeting subsets of a population could bias the resulting migratory movement data in some species. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40462-016-0077-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Snowy plover (Charadrius nivosus) populations have declined throughout their range, in part because of habitat degradation and poor nest success, making information regarding regionally specific nest site selection and spatial patterns important when considering habitat conservation and management guidelines. We determined nest site selection characteristics (n = 180) and examined spatial patterns (n = 215) of snowy plover nests in saline lakes in the Southern High Plains (SHP) of Texas. At 104 nests, we examined the influence of substrate type on nest temperatures and heat mitigation. Snowy plover nests were more likely to be found near an object, on pebble substrate, and with fewer plants than random sites. High use areas were generally located in areas with pebble substrate and on human-made or natural islands, berms, and peninsulas. Overall, nests placed on pebble substrate had lower temperatures during the day than nests placed on sand substrates. Nest placement on pebble substrate may be valuable to nesting snowy plovers, providing thermal advantages to incubating adults and depressing potentially high nest predation rates. Management guidelines for this region should emphasize the importance of addressing key elements of snowy plover nesting habitat including the presence of pebble substrate and reducing vegetation encroachment. © 2012 The Wildlife Society.

Throughout their range, Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Bald Eagle) have experienced dramatic population increases, and breeding productivity has returned to levels observed prior to the impacts of DDT. To effectively manage growing Bald Eagle populations, habitat and anthropogenic characteristics influencing nest-site selection need to be quantified at multiple spatial scales. In this study, we examined local and landscape characteristics and anthropogenic features influencing nest-site selection by Bald Eagles in 3 National Forests in east Texas. On a local scale, Bald Eagles placed nests in large super-canopy coniferous trees, with nest sites surrounded by shorter and smaller trees than random sites. Bald Eagle nest sites were best predicted by basal area on a local level and distance to nearest human habitation on a landscape level, as determined by logistic regression. We suggest that conservation efforts for Bald Eagles in east Texas should include allowing forests to mature and reducing disturba...

Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) populations have declined during the past 150 years in part due to destruction and fragmentation of grasslands used during the breeding season. Here, multiscale habitat characteristics best predicting number of Long-billed Curlews, detected during range-wide surveys conducted throughout the United States in 2004 and 2005, were determined. Long-billed Curlews were most often observed in habitats classified primarily as grassland habitat and secondarily as shortgrass or pasture/rangeland, all with low vegetation heights (i.e. 4–15 cm). Numbers of Long-billed Curlews were positively associated with wetland habitats on a local scale and hay/pasture areas on a landscape scale, but negatively associated with shrub/scrub on local and landscape scales and evergreen forests on a landscape scale. The study confirmed the importance of grassland, cropland, pasture and wetland habitats for breeding Long-billed Curlews across its geographic range in the United States. ...

Seasonal declines in breeding performance are widespread in wild animals, resulting from temporal changes in environmental conditions or from individual variation. Seasonal declines might drive selection for early breeding, with implications for other stages of the annual cycle. Alternatively, selection on the phenology of nonbreeding stages could constrain timing of the breeding season and lead to seasonal changes in reproductive performance. We studied 25 taxa of migratory shorebirds (including five subspecies) at 16 arctic sites in Russia, Alaska, and Canada. We investigated seasonal changes in four reproductive traits, and developed a novel Bayesian risk-partitioning model of daily nest survival to examine seasonal trends in two causes of nest failure. We found strong seasonal declines in reproductive traits for a subset of species. The probability of laying a full four-egg clutch declined by 8–78% in 12 of 25 taxa tested, daily nest survival rates declined by 1–12% in eight of 22 taxa, incubation duration declined by 2.0–2.5% in two of seven taxa, and mean egg volume declined by 5% in one of 15 taxa. Temporal changes were not fully explained by individual variation. Across all species, the proportion of failed nests that were depredated declined over the season from 0.98 to 0.60, while the proportion abandoned increased from 0.01 to 0.35 and drove the seasonal declines in nest survival. An increase in abandonment of late nests is consistent with a life-history tradeoff whereby either adult mortality increased or adults deserted the breeding attempt to maximize adult survival. In turn, seasonal declines in clutch size and incubation duration might be adaptive to hasten hatching of later nests. In other species of shorebirds, we found no seasonal patterns in breeding performance, suggesting that some species are not subject to selective pressure for early breeding. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

One of the most successful conservation stories in United States' history resulted in Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Bald Eagle) being removed recently from the federal endangered species list. Few studies, however, have documented regional long-term recovery trends for Bald Eagles. We quantified Bald Eagle nesting density, distribution, and productivity trends by using aerial surveys of nests located in 69 counties in eastern Texas from 1971–2005. The total number of occupied nests, productive nests, and offspring produced increased exponentially during that time, with the most dramatic increases occurring from 1995–2005. Since 1971, the total number of occupied nests increased 13% per year, from 5 in 1971 to 157 in 2005, and the total number of young produced also increased 13% per year, from 6 in 1971 to 195 in 2005. Apparent nest success estimates (50–100%) and mean brood size (1–2 young/nest), however, remained relatively consistent from 1971 to 2005. By 1989, Bald Eagles in Texas exceeded recove...

Wildlife-human interactions are increasing in prevalence as urban sprawl continues to encroach into rural areas. Once considered to be unsuitable habitat for most wildlife species, urban/suburban areas now host an array of wildlife populations, many of which were previously restricted to rural or pristine habitats. The presence of some wildlife species in close proximity to dense human populations can create conflict, forcing resource managers to address issues relating to urban wildlife. However, evidence suggests that wildlife residing in urban areas may not exhibit the same life history traits as their rural counterparts because of adaptation to human-induced stresses. This creates difficulty for biologists or managers that must address problems associated with urban wildlife. Population control or mitigation efforts aimed at urban wildlife require detailed knowledge of the habits of wildlife populations in urban areas. This paper describes the history of wildlife in urban areas, provides examples of wildlife populations that have modified their behavior as an adaptation to urban stresses, and discusses the challenges that resource managers face when dealing with urban wildlife.

The Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) of Alaska is an important region for millions of migrating and nesting shorebirds. However, this region is threatened by climate change and increased human development (e.g., oil and gas production) that have the potential to greatly impact shorebird populations and breeding habitat in the near future. Because historic data on shorebird distributions in the ACP are very coarse and incomplete, we sought to develop detailed, contemporary distribution maps so that the potential impacts of climate-mediated changes and development could be ascertained. To do this, we developed and mapped habitat suitability indices for eight species of shorebirds (Black-bellied Plover [Pluvialis squatarola], American Golden-Plover [Pluvialis dominica], Semipalmated Sandpiper [Calidris pusilla], Pectoral Sandpiper [Calidris melanotos], Dunlin [Calidris alpina], Long-billed Dowitcher [Limnodromus scolopaceus], Red-necked Phalarope [Phalaropus lobatus], and Red Phalarope [Phalaropus fulicarius]) that commonly breed within the ACP of Alaska. These habitat suitability models were based on 767 plots surveyed during nine years between 1998 and 2008 (surveys were not conducted in 2003 and 2005), using single-visit rapid area searches during territory establishment and incubation (8 June–1 July). Species-specific habitat suitability indices were developed and mapped using presence-only modeling techniques (partitioned Mahalanobis distance) and landscape environmental variables. For most species, habitat suitability increased at lower elevations (i.e., near the coast and river deltas) and decreased within upland habitats. Accuracy of models was high for all species, ranging from 65–98%. Our models predicted that the largest fraction of suitable habitat for the majority of species occurred within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, with highly suitable habitat also occurring within coastal areas of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge west to Prudhoe Bay.

Since Trivers and Willard first proposed their hypothesis concerning the adaptive advantages of producing a particular offspring sex in relation to maternal condition in 1973, it has been at the forefront of scientific research concerning sex ratios with most subsequent studies focusing on maternal condition as a key contributor to variations in sex ratios. Another factor that could greatly influence sex ratios, although has been only infrequently examined in mammalian species, is birth date. We investigated how birth date influenced offspring sex ratios in White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Since date of birth can greatly influence an individual’s fitness and reproductive success, we suggest that birth date may be an alternative strategy in determining offspring sex ratios. Since it has been shown that the lifetime reproductive fitness of a mother can be increased by producing a particular sex during a particular time, we hypothesized that more male offspring should be born earlier in the season due to their increased reproductive potential from being born at this time. Offspring born earlier will have a head start in development and therefore have greater potential for increased body size and dominance later in life, traits that greatly influence male reproductive success. In this study, we found that maternal condition did not affect offspring sex ratio in a captive population of White-tailed Deer in Michigan; however, birth date did. We found that more males tended to be born during the second and fourth birthing periods, while more females were born during the first, third and fifth periods. In addition, we found that males born earlier in the season had greater mass the following spring than those born later, a trend that was not as dramatic in females. These results lend moderate support to our hypothesis that in White-tailed Deer offspring sex will tend to vary according to timing of birth and relative reproductive advantages gained by a particular sex being born at that time.

As a great river, the Ohio is an important natural resource. It is crucial that we understand the implications that human disturbances are having on the biological integrity of this ecosystem. By monitoring current conditions and the health of this ecosystem, we may be able to identify causes of degradation and potentially determine the stability of the ecosystem to human and natural alterations. In this study, we analyzed fish data collected in 1982–1986 and 2001–2005 to characterize the current fish assemblage around William H. Zimmer Power Plant, Moscow Ohio and investigate any long-term (past 20 years) and short-term (past 5 years) effects of disturbance in this area. During these two 5-year study periods, over 30,000 individuals were collected comprising 12 families and 60 species. We found that many metrics of the Ohio River Fish Index have improved over the past 20 years and the fish assemblages have remained stable over the past 5 years. Despite apparent stability, we found a decrease in ...