Wing-size related habitat choice of Great Reed Warbler females: the role of habitat quality and management

Intersexual differences in habitat choice can arise if males and females differ in morphology, physiology, niche partitioning, or resource use, and can be influenced by variation in habitat structure, quality, and management. To better understand such intersexual differences, we studied habitat choi...

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Autores principales:	Thomas O. MérÅ', Antun Žuljević, Katalin Varga, Szabolcs Lengyel
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Resilience Alliance 2020
Materias:	brood parasitism ecological trap niche segregation reed habitat reed management sex-related habitat selection Plant culture SB1-1110 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Plant ecology QK900-989
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/82508b15d2324005882b29e7bca9ec55
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:82508b15d2324005882b29e7bca9ec552021-12-02T12:29:08ZWing-size related habitat choice of Great Reed Warbler females: the role of habitat quality and management1712-6568https://doaj.org/article/82508b15d2324005882b29e7bca9ec552020-06-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.ace-eco.org/vol15/iss1/art22/https://doaj.org/toc/1712-6568Intersexual differences in habitat choice can arise if males and females differ in morphology, physiology, niche partitioning, or resource use, and can be influenced by variation in habitat structure, quality, and management. To better understand such intersexual differences, we studied habitat choice in female Great Reed Warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus), a long-distance migrant flagship species of lowland Palearctic reed (Phragmites australis) habitats. We compared wing length, a widely used proxy for individual quality in passerines, of females nesting in six types of differently managed reed habitats. Our dataset on 391 females nesting in 32 sites over 10 years showed that wing length was significantly greater in mining ponds and medium-sized canals than on large canals. Wing length was negatively related to water level fluctuation and females showed strong philopatry to the habitat type in which they were first captured. In comparison to our previous study on male habitat choice, this study found differences in habitat choice between the sexes. Although long-winged individuals in both sexes preferred habitats with stable water and avoided small canals, longer-winged males preferred large canals with little or no management, whereas long-winged females preferred medium-sized canals with some management. Although these results provide some support for intersexual niche segregation, it is also possible that long-winged females avoid large canals, in which nest parasitism by Cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) is frequent, and/or prefer managed, sparse reed beds with better maneuverability for foraging. Our studies suggest that males may primarily choose habitats with abundant old reed and singing perches, whereas females are less sensitive to environmental variation and may choose nest sites based on male quality or territory quality. For conservation, our studies imply that the maintenance of stable water levels, a low intensity of management and the elimination of Cuckoo perches are likely to benefit both long-winged males and females.Thomas O. MérÅ'Antun ŽuljevićKatalin VargaSzabolcs LengyelResilience Alliancearticlebrood parasitismecological trapniche segregationreed habitatreed managementsex-related habitat selectionPlant cultureSB1-1110Environmental sciencesGE1-350Plant ecologyQK900-989ENAvian Conservation and Ecology, Vol 15, Iss 1, p 22 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	brood parasitism ecological trap niche segregation reed habitat reed management sex-related habitat selection Plant culture SB1-1110 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Plant ecology QK900-989
spellingShingle	brood parasitism ecological trap niche segregation reed habitat reed management sex-related habitat selection Plant culture SB1-1110 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Plant ecology QK900-989 Thomas O. MérÅ' Antun Žuljević Katalin Varga Szabolcs Lengyel Wing-size related habitat choice of Great Reed Warbler females: the role of habitat quality and management
description	Intersexual differences in habitat choice can arise if males and females differ in morphology, physiology, niche partitioning, or resource use, and can be influenced by variation in habitat structure, quality, and management. To better understand such intersexual differences, we studied habitat choice in female Great Reed Warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus), a long-distance migrant flagship species of lowland Palearctic reed (Phragmites australis) habitats. We compared wing length, a widely used proxy for individual quality in passerines, of females nesting in six types of differently managed reed habitats. Our dataset on 391 females nesting in 32 sites over 10 years showed that wing length was significantly greater in mining ponds and medium-sized canals than on large canals. Wing length was negatively related to water level fluctuation and females showed strong philopatry to the habitat type in which they were first captured. In comparison to our previous study on male habitat choice, this study found differences in habitat choice between the sexes. Although long-winged individuals in both sexes preferred habitats with stable water and avoided small canals, longer-winged males preferred large canals with little or no management, whereas long-winged females preferred medium-sized canals with some management. Although these results provide some support for intersexual niche segregation, it is also possible that long-winged females avoid large canals, in which nest parasitism by Cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) is frequent, and/or prefer managed, sparse reed beds with better maneuverability for foraging. Our studies suggest that males may primarily choose habitats with abundant old reed and singing perches, whereas females are less sensitive to environmental variation and may choose nest sites based on male quality or territory quality. For conservation, our studies imply that the maintenance of stable water levels, a low intensity of management and the elimination of Cuckoo perches are likely to benefit both long-winged males and females.
format	article
author	Thomas O. MérÅ' Antun Žuljević Katalin Varga Szabolcs Lengyel
author_facet	Thomas O. MérÅ' Antun Žuljević Katalin Varga Szabolcs Lengyel
author_sort	Thomas O. MérÅ'
title	Wing-size related habitat choice of Great Reed Warbler females: the role of habitat quality and management
title_short	Wing-size related habitat choice of Great Reed Warbler females: the role of habitat quality and management
title_full	Wing-size related habitat choice of Great Reed Warbler females: the role of habitat quality and management
title_fullStr	Wing-size related habitat choice of Great Reed Warbler females: the role of habitat quality and management
title_full_unstemmed	Wing-size related habitat choice of Great Reed Warbler females: the role of habitat quality and management
title_sort	wing-size related habitat choice of great reed warbler females: the role of habitat quality and management
publisher	Resilience Alliance
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/82508b15d2324005882b29e7bca9ec55
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Wing-size related habitat choice of Great Reed Warbler females: the role of habitat quality and management

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