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Lakes and wetlands provide top-priority hotspots that play a key role in maintaining and protecting threatened and migratory waterfowl. Identifying seasonal and spatial variations in aquatic bird communities and their responses to environmental factors is vital conservation efforts. However, there is a lack of information on waterfowl in Mongolian lakes and their associated wetlands. The purpose of this study was to investigate the spatial–seasonal changes in waterfowl assemblage structures in Mongolian lakes, as well as to determine how they respond to various environmental factors (lake surface area, elevation, and geographical distribution). Statistical analyses were performed using seasonal data (May, July, and September) for 28 waterfowl collected from 54 lakes across the country between 2016 and 2018. Seasonal heterogeneity in species richness and abundance was observed in lakes in each geographical region (Eastern, Central, and Western Mongolia). The composition of waterfowl in the lake was also relatively similar between May and September compared to July. This was due to the overlapping migration seasons in spring and autumn. Regionally, the number of waterfowl was much higher in the Eastern Mongolian lakes, followed by Central Mongolian lakes and then Western Mongolian lakes. This is likely due to differences in habitat availability and water levels between the regions. Eastern Mongolian lakes tend to have more wetlands and shallow water habitats, while Central and Western Mongolian lakes tend to have deeper open-water habitats. These differences in habitat types could contribute to the observed differences in waterfowl abundance among the regions. Additionally, some small lakes and the group of small lakes supported a greater abundance and diversity of waterfowl compared to some medium-sized and large lakes, suggesting that they are important for conservation. Indices of diversity (H’) and species dominance (D’) showed positive and negative correlations with lake surface area, respectively. Perhaps the increased surface area of the lake decreases the habitat overlap for designated waterfowl due to habitat heterogeneity. Accordingly, the indices (H’ and EH) increased as the waterfowl species composition became relatively equivalent in large lakes. Overall, spatial variations among the lakes were primarily attributable to the individual features of the lakes (shallowness, small lake groupings, and surface area), and seasonal variation in the lakes depended majorly on the compositional changes of the waterfowl due to migration.

The European turtle dove Streptopelia turtur (hereafter turtle dove), is a widespread species in the Palearctic. Due to a large and rapid decline in its abundance, it was classified as “vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List in 2015 and is now regarded as a globally threatened species. The objective of this study was to provide new information on the flyways of this turtle dove population by analyzing available ring recoveries and citizen science sightings data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. A new flyway (possibly stretching through the Black and Caspian Seas, Turkey, the Middle East, and Egypt toward the Eastern Sahel) is suggested for turtle doves breeding in Northern and Eastern Europe.

A total of 702 recoveries of Bean Geese ringed on the wintering sites in the Netherlands since the 1960’s have been analysed. For most of the ringed birds in this analysis the subspecies Anser fabalis fabalis or A. f. rossicus was identified at the time of ringing. The majority of recoveries are from the territory of the ex-USSR, primarily the Russian Federation. We have tested the hypothesis that hunting pressure is higher on Taiga Bean Geese, the subspecies A. f. fabalis, compared to Tundra Bean Geese, the subspecies A. f. rossicus. This has been checked by comparing the lifespan of the two subspecies and analysing the seasonal distribution of ring recoveries. On average, the lifespans of A. f. fabalis are shorter compared to A. f. rossicus, and there is a shift in the hunting periods towards spring. The reported drastic decrease in the numbers of A. f. fabalis wintering in the Netherlands could be caused by a possible change in Bean Goose wintering regions (the Eastern-European wintering sites becoming more important), but also by an overall decline in the numbers of this subspecies. According to the current analysis of ring recoveries from harvested birds, Taiga Bean Geese live on average shorter than Tundra Bean Geese do, apparently because the former are exposed to a higher hunting pressure. The Taiga Bean Goose subspecies is most vulnerable in western Siberia during the spring hunting season and, during the autumn hunting season, in the central parts of European Russia, starting from the Urals. This points to the need for additional protection measures in key seasonal staging areas and in all breeding areas, as well as for the need for a regional approach including both subspecies into the Red Data Books. Moreover, it is important to change the time of opening the spring hunting on waterfowl. Additional studies are required to more accurately determine the flyways, as well as the winter distributions of Anseriformes. This is primarily important to test the hypothesis whether there is a change in the wintering grounds of Bean Geese nesting in the Russian Federation.

Aim: Waterbirds that travel seasonally between Europe and Africa use wetlands along four major Palearctic-Afrotropical flyways. However, it is unknown to what extent the overall connectivity of these flyways may be threatened by ongoing habitat loss and degradation. Here, we contrasted the wetland connectivity along these four flyways, applying graph-theoretic connectivity metrics on an intercontinental scale. We also explored for which flyway connectivity is most at risk. We then identified the most important wetlands by their contribution to connectivity in each flyway. Location: Western Palearctic, Afrotropics. Methods: Based on high-resolution wetland maps, we calculated directional probabilistic connectivity metrics. Estimates of overall connectivity of each flyway were obtained, as well as the relative importance of wetlands, for birds with different migration strategies: short-distance hoppers and long-distance jumpers. Results: The East-Atlantic flyway and Eastern Mediterranean flyway had higher overall functional connectivity than the two central routes, reflecting the larger barrier represented by the Mediterranean Sea and Sahara Desert. Fewer than 5% of all wetlands supported more than 70% of the total connectivity of the network in each flyway, regardless of the considered migration strategy. These wetlands were either large, strategically positioned or both. Removing non-protected wetlands from the analysis showed that the connectivity of some flyways could be jeopardized and that the East-Atlantic and Eastern Mediterranean flyway may be most vulnerable to additional habitat loss. Main conclusions: Our results illustrate (i) the major contribution of unprotected wetlands to flyway connectivity, (ii) the importance of integrating migration ecology into site-based connectivity analyses and (iii) the utility of graph-based connectivity metrics to inform conservation prioritization under present and future scenarios.

The past two decades have seen the emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) infections that are characterized as extremely contagious, with a high fatality rate in chickens, and humans; this has sparked considerable concerns for global health. Generally, the new variant of the HPAI virus crossed into various countries through wild bird migration, and persisted in the local environment through the interactions between wild and farmed birds. Nevertheless, no studies have found informative cases associated with connecting local persistence and long-range dispersal. During the 2016–2017 HPAI H5N6 epidemic in South Korea, we observed several waterfowls with avian influenza infection under telemetric monitoring. Based on the telemetry records and surveillance data, we conducted a case study to test hypotheses related to the transmission pathway between wild birds and poultry. One sedentary wildfowl naturally infected with HPAI H5N6, which overlapped with the home range of one migratory bird with H5-specific antibody-positive, showed itself to be phylogenetically close to the isolates from a chicken farm located within its habitat. Our study is the first observational study that provides scientific evidence supporting the hypothesis that the HPAI spillover into poultry farms is caused by local persistence in sedentary birds, in addition to its long-range dispersal by sympatric migratory birds.

A total of 702 recoveries of Bean Geese ringed on the wintering sites in the Netherlands since the 1960’s have been analysed. For most of the ringed birds in this analysis the subspecies Anser fabalis fabalis or A. f. rossicus was identified at the time of ringing. The majority of recoveries are from the territory of the ex-USSR, primarily the Russian Federation. We have tested the hypothesis that hunting pressure is higher on Taiga Bean Geese, the subspecies A. f. fabalis, compared to Tundra Bean Geese, the subspecies A. f. rossicus. This has been checked by comparing the lifespan of the two subspecies and analysing the seasonal distribution of ring recoveries. On average, the lifespans of A. f. fabalis are shorter compared to A. f. rossicus, and there is a shift in the hunting periods towards spring. The reported drastic decrease in the numbers of A. f. fabalis wintering in the Netherlands could be caused by a possible change in Bean Goose wintering regions (the Eastern-European wintering sites becoming more important), but also by an overall decline in the numbers of this subspecies. According to the current analysis of ring recoveries from harvested birds, Taiga Bean Geese live on average shorter than Tundra Bean Geese do, apparently because the former are exposed to a higher hunting pressure. The Taiga Bean Goose subspecies is most vulnerable in western Siberia during the spring hunting season and, during the autumn hunting season, in the central parts of European Russia, starting from the Urals. This points to the need for additional protection measures in key seasonal staging areas and in all breeding areas, as well as for the need for a regional approach including both subspecies into the Red Data Books. Moreover, it is important to change the time of opening the spring hunting on waterfowl. Additional studies are required to more accurately determine the flyways, as well as the winter distributions of Anseriformes. This is primarily important to test the hypothesis whether there is a change in the wintering grounds of Bean Geese nesting in the Russian Federation.

Aim: The configuration of the earth’s landmasses influences global weather systems and spatiotemporal resource availability, thereby shaping biogeographical patterns and migratory routes of animals. Here, we aim to identify potential migratory barriers and corridors, as well as general migration strategies within the understudied Indo-European flyway. Location: Europe, Central Asia. Major taxon studied: Common rosefinches. Methods: We used a combination of theoretical optimization modelling and empirical tracking of Common Rosefinches (Carpodacus erythrinus) breeding across a large latitudinal gradient in Europe. First, we identified optimal migration routes driven by wind and resource availability along the Indo-European flyway. Second, we tracked rosefinches from five breeding populations using light-level geolocators. Finally, we compared to what extent empirical tracks overlapped with the modelled optimal routes. Results: In autumn, theoretical wind driven migration routes formed a broad-front corridor connecting Europe and the Indian Subcontinent while the theoretical resource driven routes formed a distinct north-south divide. The latter pattern also reflected the rosefinch tracks with all but the most southerly breeding birds making a northern detour towards non-breeding sites in Pakistan and India. In spring, the resource availability model predicted a similar migratory divide, however, the southern route seemed relatively more favourable and closely matched with the optimal wind driven migration routes. Spring tracking data showed larger overlap with the modelled wind driven migration routes compared to the resource driven routes. Main conclusions: Optimal wind and resource driven migration routes along the Indo-European flyway are seasonally specific and to a large extend do not overlap with one another. Under these conditions, migratory birds adopt seasonally distinct migration strategies following energy minimization strategy in autumn, driven by resource availability, and time minimizing strategy in spring, driven by wind conditions. Our optimal migration models can be applied worldwide and used to validate against empirical data to explain large-scale biogeographic pattern of migratory animals.

Populations of common quail (Coturnix coturnix) have recently been declining in Europe. This is the first study of common quail in eastern Europe using molecular markers. The mtDNA D-loop genetic diversity of common quails migrating through Ukraine was analyzed and compared with that of birds migrating via northern Spain in 2017–2018. In samples from 77 birds, 32 polymorphic sites and 30 haplotypes (H1–H30) were identified, only 4 of which were common for birds sampled in both Ukraine and Spain. Phylogenetic analysis indicated 2 well-supported clades. Found were 3 haplotypes clustered in 1 phylogenetic clade only in common quails sampled in Ukraine. The results can be used for the identification of different flyways, particularly for common quails of eastern European origin.

The grand-scale laboratory investigation on finding influenza type A virus in wild and synanthropic birds on vast territories of Eastern Siberia was conducted for the first time. Alongside with the ornithological investigations, we also conducted collection of over 17,000 samples of laboratory investigations of 165 bird species. In the south of Central Siberia in 2006-2011, the antibodies to antihemagglutination were found in 484 samples, 179 out of which were from synanthropic birds. During the investigation of PCR of RNA avian influenza 167 samples were isolated, 17 (10,2 %) out of which were from synanthropic species. In 2014, antibodies were isolated from 30 species, RNA avian influenza were isolated from 26 species of the following bird orders: Podicipediformes - 3/1 (in hemagglutination-inhibition reaction/polymerase chain reaction) of species, Ciconiiformes - 0/1, Anseriformes - 12/10, Gruiformes - 1/1, Charadriiformes - 7/4, Passeriformes - 6/8. In the following years the participation in epizootic process of new species/ subspecies were increased. The maximum virus carriage (40.2 %) and birds infection takes place during the period from July 15 till August 28, which is characterized mainly by the presence of a large number of multipleaged young-of-the-year water fowls on the ponds and riparian vegetation. In the process of work, there was compiled not only the list of species/subspecies of avian influenza virus carriers and vectors, but also revealed their connection with wintering areas and the main location of the recombinant subtypes of highly pathogenic virus H5N1. The cases of virus spreading and its influence on the birds of various ecologic groups were described.

It was studied the long-term dynamics of influenza A viruses circulation in the Southern Central Siberia. Also, we studied of birds population dynamic as the main carriers of viral infection, as well as spatial and temporal distribution of positive samples containing specific antibody to influenza viruses subtypes H5 and. H7 and. genomic RNA of these subtypes. It was considered the cases of mortality wild. and. synanthropic birds in the region. It was shown a correlation between the identified centers of the virus influenza, the deaths of birds and. human disease with significant excess seasonal epidemic threshold, including a subtype Н1NЫЦ.

For the first time in the south of the Central Siberia carried out large-scale study of wild and synanthropic birds for the presence of influenza A viruses. Along with the traditional methods of laboratory study of pathogens in Merskey's reaction and. PCR carried out ornithological research in areas of high concentrations of birds and. flyways. Also studied the long-term dynamics of isolation of positive samples containing specific antibody to influenza virus A subtypes H5 and. H7 and. genomic RNA of these subtypes. It was found that infection and. reinfection. of birds by avian influenza doesn't take place only during the wintering grounds, but also the breeding season in the water keepings of the south of the Central Siberia. Chicks are actively involved in the epizootic process in July, when transovarialy transmitted maternal antibodies disappear. Because of the peak interval of positive samples selection in Merskey's reaction and. PCR is 3 years, it is possible to organize an immunological monitoring followed by preventive programs development of birds deaths.

Shorebirds, or waders, form an ecologically (but not phylogenetically) homogenous group of birds that, despite this homogeneity, exhibits clear correlated contrasts in habitat use and migration distance between closely related species pairs. In addition, within species there is distinct variation in breeding and wintering latitudes, i.e. migration distance. I examine here such contrasts at different taxonomic levels and evaluate what we can learn about selective forces on habitat selection and the evolution of migration strategies in birds. My primary example is the worldwide migration system of the Red Knot Calidris canutus. These sandpipers breed only on high arctic tundra (65-83 degrees N), but they move south from their disjunct, circumpolar breeding areas to nonbreeding sites on the coasts of all continents (except Antarctica), between latitudes 58 degrees N and 53 degrees S. Due to their specialized sensory capabilities, Red Knots generally eat hard-shelled prey found on intertidal, mostly soft, substrates. As a consequence, ecologically suitable coastal sites are few and far between, so they must routinely undertake flights of many thousands of kilometres. In contrast to prediction, Red Knots at tropical intertidal sites have lower fuelling rates than birds at more southern or northern latitudes. This leads to greater time-stress in the southernmost wintering populations that not only have to cover over 14,000 km in single migrations, but also cannot rely on tropical regions to make refuelling stops. Rapid human-caused losses of the food-base in staging areas during both north- and southward migrations have been demonstrated to have caused rapid declines in several Red Knot populations. Detailed worldwide ecodemographic research on these extreme long-distance migrants, as embodied in, for example, the recently established Global Flyway Network, yields a two-pronged benefit: (1) on the basis of the unintended large-scale experiments carried out by humans, we rapidly come to grips with the selection pressures moulding the migration strategies of migrant birds, and (2) in applied contexts, the work gives instantaneous feedbacks on the conservation consequences of man-made alterations to wetland environments at the relevant global spatial scales.

Influenza A virus (AIV) has an extremely high rate of mutation. Frequent exchanges of gene segments between different AIV (reassortment) have been responsible for major pandemics in recent human history. The presence of a wild bird reservoir maintains the threat of incursion of AIV into domestic birds, humans and other animals. In this thesis, I addressed unanswered questions of how diverse AIV subtypes (classified according to antigenicity of the two surface proteins, haemagglutinin and neuraminidase) evolve and interact among different bird populations in different parts of the world, using Bayesian phylogenetic methods with large datasets of full genome sequences. Firstly, I explored the reassortment patterns of AIV internal segments among different subtypes by quantifying evolutionary parameters including reassortment rate, evolutionary rate and selective constraint in time-resolved Bayesian tree phylogenies. A major conclusion was that reassortment rate is negatively associated with selective constraint and that infection of wild rather than domestic birds was associated with a higher reassortment rate. Secondly, I described the spatial transmission pattern of AIV in China. Clustering of related viruses in particular geographic areas and economic zones was identified from the viral phylogeographic diffusion networks. The results indicated that Central China and the Pearl River Delta are two main sources of viral out flow; while the East Coast, especially the Yangtze River delta, is the major recipient area. Simultaneously, by applying a general linear model, the predictors that have the strongest impact on viral spatial diffusion were identified, including economic (agricultural) activity, climate, and ecology. Thirdly, I determined the genetic and phylogeographic origin of a recent H7N3 highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak in Mexico. Location, subtype, avian host species and pathogenicity were modelled as discrete traits and jointly analysed using all eight viral gene segments. The results indicated that the outbreak AIV is a novel reassortant carried by wild waterfowl from different migration flyways in North America during the time period studied. Importantly, I concluded that Mexico, and Central America in general, might be a potential hotspot for AIV reassortment events, a possibility which to date has not attracted widespread attention. Overall, the work carried out in this thesis described the evolutionary dynamics of AIV from which important conclusions regarding its epidemiological impact in both Eurasia and North America can be drawn.

Background Identifying movement routes and stopover sites is necessary for developing effective management and conservation strategies for migratory animals. In the case of migratory birds, a collection of migration routes, known as a flyway, is often hundreds to thousands of kilometers long and can extend across political boundaries. Flyways encompass the entire geographic range between the breeding and non-breeding areas of a population, species, or a group of species, and they provide spatial frameworks for management and conservation across international borders. Existing flyway maps are largely qualitative accounts based on band returns and survey data rather than observed movement routes. In this study, we use satellite and GPS telemetry data and dynamic Brownian bridge movement models to build upon existing maps and describe waterfowl space use probabilistically in the Central Asian and East Asian-Australasian Flyways. Results Our approach provided new information on migratory routes that was not easily attainable with existing methods to describe flyways. Utilization distributions from dynamic Brownian bridge movement models identified key staging and stopover sites, migration corridors and general flyway outlines in the Central Asian and East Asian-Australasian Flyways. A map of space use from ruddy shelducks depicted two separate movement corridors within the Central Asian Flyway, likely representing two distinct populations that show relatively strong connectivity between breeding and wintering areas. Bar-headed geese marked at seven locations in the Central Asian Flyway showed heaviest use at several stopover sites in the same general region of high-elevation lakes along the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Our analysis of data from multiple Anatidae species marked at sites throughout Asia highlighted major movement corridors across species and confirmed that the Central Asian and East Asian-Australasian Flyways were spatially distinct. Conclusions The dynamic Brownian bridge movement model improves our understanding of flyways by estimating relative use of regions in the flyway while providing detailed, quantitative information on migration timing and population connectivity including uncertainty between locations. This model effectively quantifies the relative importance of different migration corridors and stopover sites and may help prioritize specific areas in flyways for conservation of waterbird populations. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40462-015-0029-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

On the wings, bodies, and heads of most birds there are lice. These lice spend their whole lives on their host, with the exception of the few lice that get the opportunity to transfer from one host to another, typically when the hosts come into physical contact with each other. In shorebirds (Charadriiformes), such opportunities are unevenly distributed over the year. The hosts are spread out over vast areas in their Arctic breeding grounds during the Arctic summer, but form dense, multispecies flocks in the tropics and subtropics during the Arctic winter. During autumn and spring, when the hosts migrate between the Arctic to the tropics, they follow more or less well-defined routes, called flyways. In this thesis, the impact of this host migration pattern on the phylogeny of shorebird lice is evaluated. More specifically, two complementary hypotheses of pattern formation in the evolutionary history of shorebird lice, flyway homogenisation and flyway differentiation, are tested by phylogenetic reconstruction of the evolutionary history of two genera of lice (Lunaceps and Carduiceps) that parasitize the same group of sandpiper (Scolopacidae: Calidrinae) hosts. Flyway homogenisation is founded on the assumption that opportunities for lateral spread of lice between hosts of different species are prevalent in flyways, which will facilitate gene flow between louse populations on different host species, and prevent speciation of lice on host species that use the same stop-over points and wintering grounds. Over evolutionary time, this would cause a pattern of host species migrating along the same flyways having genetically similar or identical louse populations. Flyway differentiation is, conversely, the hypothesis that the division of a widely spread host species into discrete populations that each follow different flyways during migration will work as an isolating mechanism on the lice. If the generation time of the lice is significantly shorter than that of their hosts, this would result in a pattern where the same Holarctic-breeding host species is parasitized by genetically different louse populations in different parts of the world. Extrapolating from data published on other groups of lice, flyway homogenisation is expected to be more pronounced in wing lice (Lunaceps) than in body lice (Carduiceps) as these are topologically better placed on the host to take advantage of opportunities of lateral transfer to novel host species. Flyway differentiation is expected to be more pronounced in Carduiceps than in Lunaceps, as wing lice of vagrant hosts migrating along the “wrong” flyway would transfer to novel hosts more easily, and could prevent complete isolation between flyways. While no evidence is found in either genus for flyway differentiation, there is evidence for flyway homogenisation in Lunaceps, with three Lunaceps species occurring on multiple host species using the same flyways. Surprisingly, most Carduiceps collected across the world are genetically almost identical, and thus less isolated on their hosts than are Lunaceps. Both Lunaceps and Carduiceps show some partial evidence of a division between lice on New World hosts and those on Old World hosts. This division in echoed in a larger molecular study on the proposed louse family Rallicolidae, where several species group together according to host biogeography rather than host relationships, thus contradicting the so-called Fahrenholz’ rule that states that parasite phylogeny should come to mirror host phylogeny. In the same phylogeny, evidence is presented that the genus Quadraceps, widely distributed on most groups of shorebirds, is paraphyletic with regards to most other louse genera on shorebirds, and is in need of further study. Finally, the genus Lunaceps is revised morphologically. Six new species and one new subspecies are described, and all old species are re-described and illustrated, several for the first time. Five previously recognised species are placed as synonyms to other species, one species is transferred to the genus Quadraceps, one species is resurrected from synonymy, one species is considered a nomen dubium and three populations are placed as incerta sedis.