Nest initiation and flooding in response to season and semi-lunar spring tides in a ground-nesting shorebird
Abstract Background Marine and intertidal organisms face the rhythmic environmental changes induced by tides. The large amplitude of spring tides that occur around full and new moon may threaten nests of ground-nesting birds. These birds face a trade-off between ensuring nest safety from tidal flood...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2019-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Zoology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12983-019-0313-1 |
| _version_ | 1819020297074900992 |
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| author | Silvia Plaschke Martin Bulla Medardo Cruz-López Salvador Gómez del Ángel Clemens Küpper |
| author_facet | Silvia Plaschke Martin Bulla Medardo Cruz-López Salvador Gómez del Ángel Clemens Küpper |
| author_sort | Silvia Plaschke |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Marine and intertidal organisms face the rhythmic environmental changes induced by tides. The large amplitude of spring tides that occur around full and new moon may threaten nests of ground-nesting birds. These birds face a trade-off between ensuring nest safety from tidal flooding and nesting near the waterline to provide their newly hatched offspring with suitable foraging opportunities. The semi-lunar periodicity of spring tides may enable birds to schedule nest initiation adaptively, for example, by initiating nests around tidal peaks when the water line reaches the farthest into the intertidal habitat. We examined the impact of semi-lunar tidal changes on the phenology of nest flooding and nest initiation in Snowy Plovers (Charadrius nivosus) breeding at Bahía de Ceuta, a coastal wetland in Northwest Mexico. Results Using nest initiations and fates of 752 nests monitored over ten years we found that the laying season coincides with the lowest spring tides of the year and only 6% of all nests were flooded by tides. Tidal nest flooding varied substantially over time. First, flooding was the primary cause of nest failures in two of the ten seasons indicating high between-season stochasticity. Second, nests were flooded almost exclusively during the second half of the laying season. Third, nest flooding was associated with the semi-lunar spring tide cycle as nests initiated around spring tide had a lower risk of being flooded than nests initiated at other times. Following the spring tide rhythm, plovers appeared to adapt to this risk of flooding with nest initiation rates highest around spring tides and lowest around neap tides. Conclusions Snowy Plovers appear generally well adapted to the risk of nest flooding by spring tides. Our results are in line with other studies showing that intertidal organisms have evolved adaptive responses to predictable rhythmic tidal changes but these adaptations do not prevent occasional catastrophic losses caused by stochastic events. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T03:48:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-07c8920848844595a33d088e5bc24da4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1742-9994 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T03:48:58Z |
| publishDate | 2019-05-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Zoology |
| spelling | doaj.art-07c8920848844595a33d088e5bc24da42022-12-21T19:17:01ZengBMCFrontiers in Zoology1742-99942019-05-0116111110.1186/s12983-019-0313-1Nest initiation and flooding in response to season and semi-lunar spring tides in a ground-nesting shorebirdSilvia Plaschke0Martin Bulla1Medardo Cruz-López2Salvador Gómez del Ángel3Clemens Küpper4Institute for Biology, University of GrazMax Planck Institute for OrnithologyPosgrado en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad UniversitariaPosgrado en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad UniversitariaInstitute for Biology, University of GrazAbstract Background Marine and intertidal organisms face the rhythmic environmental changes induced by tides. The large amplitude of spring tides that occur around full and new moon may threaten nests of ground-nesting birds. These birds face a trade-off between ensuring nest safety from tidal flooding and nesting near the waterline to provide their newly hatched offspring with suitable foraging opportunities. The semi-lunar periodicity of spring tides may enable birds to schedule nest initiation adaptively, for example, by initiating nests around tidal peaks when the water line reaches the farthest into the intertidal habitat. We examined the impact of semi-lunar tidal changes on the phenology of nest flooding and nest initiation in Snowy Plovers (Charadrius nivosus) breeding at Bahía de Ceuta, a coastal wetland in Northwest Mexico. Results Using nest initiations and fates of 752 nests monitored over ten years we found that the laying season coincides with the lowest spring tides of the year and only 6% of all nests were flooded by tides. Tidal nest flooding varied substantially over time. First, flooding was the primary cause of nest failures in two of the ten seasons indicating high between-season stochasticity. Second, nests were flooded almost exclusively during the second half of the laying season. Third, nest flooding was associated with the semi-lunar spring tide cycle as nests initiated around spring tide had a lower risk of being flooded than nests initiated at other times. Following the spring tide rhythm, plovers appeared to adapt to this risk of flooding with nest initiation rates highest around spring tides and lowest around neap tides. Conclusions Snowy Plovers appear generally well adapted to the risk of nest flooding by spring tides. Our results are in line with other studies showing that intertidal organisms have evolved adaptive responses to predictable rhythmic tidal changes but these adaptations do not prevent occasional catastrophic losses caused by stochastic events.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12983-019-0313-1Charadrius nivosusNest floodingGround-nesting shorebirdsNest initiation scheduleSemi-lunar cycleSnowy plover |
| spellingShingle | Silvia Plaschke Martin Bulla Medardo Cruz-López Salvador Gómez del Ángel Clemens Küpper Nest initiation and flooding in response to season and semi-lunar spring tides in a ground-nesting shorebird Frontiers in Zoology Charadrius nivosus Nest flooding Ground-nesting shorebirds Nest initiation schedule Semi-lunar cycle Snowy plover |
| title | Nest initiation and flooding in response to season and semi-lunar spring tides in a ground-nesting shorebird |
| title_full | Nest initiation and flooding in response to season and semi-lunar spring tides in a ground-nesting shorebird |
| title_fullStr | Nest initiation and flooding in response to season and semi-lunar spring tides in a ground-nesting shorebird |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nest initiation and flooding in response to season and semi-lunar spring tides in a ground-nesting shorebird |
| title_short | Nest initiation and flooding in response to season and semi-lunar spring tides in a ground-nesting shorebird |
| title_sort | nest initiation and flooding in response to season and semi lunar spring tides in a ground nesting shorebird |
| topic | Charadrius nivosus Nest flooding Ground-nesting shorebirds Nest initiation schedule Semi-lunar cycle Snowy plover |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12983-019-0313-1 |
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