Browsing by Author "Klaassen, Raymond H.G."
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- Data packageData from: Migratory connectivity and population specific migration routes in a long-distance migratory bird(2013-12-17) Trierweiler, Christiane; Klaassen, Raymond H.G.; Drent, Rudi H.; Exo, Klaus-Michael; Komdeur, Jan; Bairlein, Franz; Koks, Ben J.Knowledge about migratory connectivity, the degree to which individuals from the same breeding site migrate to the same wintering site, is essential to understand processes affecting populations of migrants throughout the annual cycle. Here, we study the migration system of a long-distance migratory bird, the Montagu's harrier Circus pygargus, by tracking individuals from different breeding populations throughout northern Europe. We identified three main migration routes towards wintering areas in sub-Saharan Africa. Wintering areas and migration routes of different breeding populations overlapped, a pattern best described by ‘weak (diffuse) connectivity’. Migratory performance, i.e. timing, duration, distance and speed of migration, was surprisingly similar for the three routes despite differences in habitat characteristics. This study provides, to our knowledge, a first comprehensive overview of the migration system of a Palaearctic-African long-distance migrant. We emphasize the importance of spatial scale (e.g. distances between breeding populations) in defining patterns of connectivity and suggest that knowledge about fundamental aspects determining distribution patterns, such as the among-individual variation in mean migration directions, is required to ultimately understand migratory connectivity. Furthermore, we stress that for conservation purposes it is pivotal to consider wintering areas as well as migration routes and in particular stopover sites.
- Data packageData from: Remarkably similar migration patterns between different red-backed shrike populations suggest that migration rather than breeding area phenology determines the annual cycle(2020-10-03) Pedersen, Lykke; Onrubia, Alejandro; Vardanis, Yannis; Barboutis, Christos; Waasdorp, Stef; van Helvert, Monique; Geertsma, Marten; Ekberg, Per; Willemoes, Mikkel; Strandberg, Roine; Matsyna, Ekaterina; Matsyna, Alexander; Klaassen, Raymond H.G.; Alerstam, Thomas; Thorup, Kasper; Tøttrup, Anders P.The regular fluctuation of resources across the Globe guides movements of migratory animals. To ensure sufficient reproductive output and maintain viable population sizes, migratory animals should match arrival at breeding areas with local peaks in resource availability. It is generally assumed that breeding phenology dictates the timing of the annual cycle, but this is poorly studied. Here, we use light‐level geolocator tracking data to compare the annual spatiotemporal migration patterns of a long‐distance migratory songbird, the red‐backed shrike, Lanius collurio, breeding at widely different latitudes within Europe. We find that populations use remarkably similar migration routes and are highly synchronized in time. Additional tracks from populations breeding at the edges of the European range support these similar migration patterns. When comparing timing of breeding and vegetation phenology, as a measure of resource availability across populations, we find that arrival and timing of breeding corresponds to the peak in vegetation greenness at northern latitudes. At lower latitudes birds arrive simultaneously with the more northerly breeding populations, but after the local greenness peak, suggesting that breeding area phenology does not determine the migratory schedule. Rather, timing of migration in red‐backed shrikes may be constrained by events in other parts of the annual cycle.