Identifying carry-over effects of wintering area on reproductive parameters in White-winged Scoters: An isotopic approach

[摘要] ABSTRACT Events during one stage of the annual life cycle of migratory birds can have lasting (i.e. carry-over) effects that influence demographic parameters in subsequent seasons. We studied migratory connectivity and potential carry-over effects in a declining population of sea ducks. We measured stable isotope values of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) in head feathers to assign breeding White-winged Scoters (Melanitta fusca; hereafter scoters) to either Atlantic or Pacific winter populations. The discriminant function for δ13C and δ15N correctly classified 93% of scoters sampled from these 2 winter areas. We then applied this classification scheme to head feathers of females breeding at Redberry Lake, Saskatchewan, and Cardinal Lake, Northwest Territories, to stratify each breeding population by winter provenance. We evaluated carry-over effects associated with winter location of females breeding in Saskatchewan by testing for differences in (1) nesting phenology, (2) clutch size, (3) mid-incubation ...

[学科分类] 动物科学

[关键词] carbon-13;contaminants;Melanitta fusca;migratory connectivity;nitrogen-15;sea duck;stable isotopes;wintering grounds