Skip to main content
SLU publication database (SLUpub)

Research article2012Peer reviewed

Impact of temperature on the breeding performance and selection patterns in lesser kestrels Falco naumanni

Mihoub, J. B.; Mouawad, N. G.; Pilard, P.; Jiguet, F.; Low, Matthew; Teplitsky, Celine

Abstract

Adjusting breeding phenology to climate fl uctuations can be problematic for migratory birds as they have to accountfor local environmental conditions on the breeding grounds while migrating from remote wintering areas. Predictinggeneral responses to climate change is not straightforward, because these responses vary between migrant species due to thespecies-specifi c ecological drivers of breeding behaviour. Th erefore more information is needed on species with diff erentecological requirements, including data on heritability of migration, factors driving phenological changes and how climateaff ects selection pressures.Here, we measure heritability in settlement dates and the eff ect of local climate at the breeding grounds on settlementdates, reproductive success and selection patterns in a French population of a trans-Saharan migratory insectivorous raptor,the lesser kestrel Falco naumanni , monitored and ringed since 1996.Heritability of settlement dates was low (0.07 0.03), indicating a weak evolutionary potential. Nevertheless,plasticity in settlement dates in response to temperatures allowed earlier settlement when early spring was warmer thanaverage. Reproductive success and selection patterns were strongly aff ected by temperature during settlement and chickrearing respectively. Warmer spring decreased selection for earlier settling and warmer early summer increased reproductivesuccess. Interestingly, selection for earlier settling was more intense in cooler springs, contrasting with patterns frompasserines lagging behind food peaks.Altogether, these results suggest a positive eff ect of warmer temperatures on breeding performances of lesser kestrelsmost likely because the French population is at the coolest boundary of the species European breeding range.

Published in

Journal of Avian Biology
2012, Volume: 43, number: 5, pages: 472-480

    Sustainable Development Goals

    SDG13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Genetics
    Zoology
    Evolutionary Biology

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-048X.2012.05529.x

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/40949