Changes in surface water drive the movements of Shoebills

Abstract Animal movement is mainly determined by spatial and temporal changes in resource availability. For wetland specialists, the seasonal availability of surface water may be a major determinant of their movement patterns. This study is the first to examine the movements of Shoebills (Balaenicep...

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Autores principales:	Marta Acácio, Ralf H. E. Mullers, Aldina M. A. Franco, Frank J. Willems, Arjun Amar
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/6c5ad5c6086d4e6f8e182a0be9f1d8d3
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:6c5ad5c6086d4e6f8e182a0be9f1d8d32021-12-02T16:35:19ZChanges in surface water drive the movements of Shoebills10.1038/s41598-021-95093-52045-2322https://doaj.org/article/6c5ad5c6086d4e6f8e182a0be9f1d8d32021-08-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-95093-5https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Animal movement is mainly determined by spatial and temporal changes in resource availability. For wetland specialists, the seasonal availability of surface water may be a major determinant of their movement patterns. This study is the first to examine the movements of Shoebills (Balaeniceps rex), an iconic and vulnerable bird species. Using GPS transmitters deployed on six immature and one adult Shoebills over a 5-year period, during which four immatures matured into adults, we analyse their home ranges and distances moved in the Bangweulu Wetlands, Zambia. We relate their movements at the start of the rainy season (October to December) to changes in Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), a proxy for surface water. We show that Shoebills stay in the Bangweulu Wetlands all year round, moving less than 3 km per day on 81% of days. However, average annual home ranges were large, with high individual variability, but were similar between age classes. Immature and adult Shoebills responded differently to changes in surface water; sites that adults abandoned became drier, while sites abandoned by immatures became wetter. However, there were no differences in NDWI of areas used by Shoebills before abandonment and newly selected sites, suggesting that Shoebills select areas with similar surface water. We hypothesise that the different responses to changes in surface water by immature and adult Shoebills are related to age-specific optimal foraging conditions and fishing techniques. Our study highlights the need to understand the movements of Shoebills throughout their life cycle to design successful conservation actions for this emblematic, yet poorly known, species.Marta AcácioRalf H. E. MullersAldina M. A. FrancoFrank J. WillemsArjun AmarNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Marta Acácio Ralf H. E. Mullers Aldina M. A. Franco Frank J. Willems Arjun Amar Changes in surface water drive the movements of Shoebills
description	Abstract Animal movement is mainly determined by spatial and temporal changes in resource availability. For wetland specialists, the seasonal availability of surface water may be a major determinant of their movement patterns. This study is the first to examine the movements of Shoebills (Balaeniceps rex), an iconic and vulnerable bird species. Using GPS transmitters deployed on six immature and one adult Shoebills over a 5-year period, during which four immatures matured into adults, we analyse their home ranges and distances moved in the Bangweulu Wetlands, Zambia. We relate their movements at the start of the rainy season (October to December) to changes in Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), a proxy for surface water. We show that Shoebills stay in the Bangweulu Wetlands all year round, moving less than 3 km per day on 81% of days. However, average annual home ranges were large, with high individual variability, but were similar between age classes. Immature and adult Shoebills responded differently to changes in surface water; sites that adults abandoned became drier, while sites abandoned by immatures became wetter. However, there were no differences in NDWI of areas used by Shoebills before abandonment and newly selected sites, suggesting that Shoebills select areas with similar surface water. We hypothesise that the different responses to changes in surface water by immature and adult Shoebills are related to age-specific optimal foraging conditions and fishing techniques. Our study highlights the need to understand the movements of Shoebills throughout their life cycle to design successful conservation actions for this emblematic, yet poorly known, species.
format	article
author	Marta Acácio Ralf H. E. Mullers Aldina M. A. Franco Frank J. Willems Arjun Amar
author_facet	Marta Acácio Ralf H. E. Mullers Aldina M. A. Franco Frank J. Willems Arjun Amar
author_sort	Marta Acácio
title	Changes in surface water drive the movements of Shoebills
title_short	Changes in surface water drive the movements of Shoebills
title_full	Changes in surface water drive the movements of Shoebills
title_fullStr	Changes in surface water drive the movements of Shoebills
title_full_unstemmed	Changes in surface water drive the movements of Shoebills
title_sort	changes in surface water drive the movements of shoebills
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/6c5ad5c6086d4e6f8e182a0be9f1d8d3
work_keys_str_mv	AT martaacacio changesinsurfacewaterdrivethemovementsofshoebills AT ralfhemullers changesinsurfacewaterdrivethemovementsofshoebills AT aldinamafranco changesinsurfacewaterdrivethemovementsofshoebills AT frankjwillems changesinsurfacewaterdrivethemovementsofshoebills AT arjunamar changesinsurfacewaterdrivethemovementsofshoebills
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Changes in surface water drive the movements of Shoebills

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