TY - JOUR
T1 - Functional connectivity network between terrestrial and aquatic habitats by a generalist waterbird, and implications for biovectoring
AU - Martín-Vélez, Víctor
AU - Mohring, Bertille
AU - van Leeuwen, C. H.A.
AU - Shamoun-Baranes, J.
AU - Thaxter, C. B.
AU - Baert, J. M.
AU - Camphuysen, C. J.
AU - Green, A. J.
N1 - Funding Information:
VMV was supported by a PhD contract from Programa Internacional de Becas “ La Caixa -Severo Ochoa 2016”. LBBG count data were provided by the “Programa de Emergencias, Control Epidemiológico y Seguimiento de Fauna Silvestre de Andalucía, Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación del Territorio” of Junta de Andalucía, Spain and “Programa de Seguimiento de Estación Biológica de Doñana-CSIC”. We thank M.I. Sánchez and W. Bouten for their comments and suggestions on previous drafts. Part of this work was supported by data and infrastructure provided by INBO and VLIZ as part of the Flemish contribution to the LifeWatch observatory funded by FWO . The UvA-BiTS tracking studies are facilitated by infrastructures for e-Science, developed with support of the NLeSC ( http://www.esciencecenter.com/ ) and LifeWatch, carried out on the Dutch national e-infrastructure with support from the SURF Foundation . The data are held jointly by the BTO, University of Amsterdam, NIOZ, INBO and the funders of the project, and can be made available through their agreement. This work complied with Dutch law regarding ethical matters (#DEC-KNAW CL07.03). Birds in the UK were tagged under licence, with approval by the independent Special Methods Technical Panel of the UK Ringing Scheme. This research was also supported by Spanish National Plan project CGL2016-76067-P (AEI/FEDER, EU). For UK sites, this work was funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), through the Offshore Energy Strategic Environmental Assessment research programme, with further funding from Ørsted, and supported by the Marine Renewable Energy and the Environment (MaREE) project (funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the European Regional Development Fund, and the Scottish Funding Council). Special thanks also to John Hartley (Hartley Anderson), Viola Ross-Smith (BTO), Elizabeth Masden (Environmental Research Institute) and Gareth Johnson (Ørsted) and further thanks to the National Trust, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, Natural Resources Wales, RSPB and Natural England for permissions and fieldwork at UK colonies. Appendix A
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Authors
Copyright:
Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/2/25
Y1 - 2020/2/25
N2 - Birds are vectors of dispersal of propagules of plants and other organisms including pathogens, as well as nutrients and contaminants. Thus, through their movements they create functional connectivity between habitat patches. Most studies on connectivity provided by animals to date have focused on movements within similar habitat types. However, some waterbirds regularly switch between terrestrial, coastal and freshwater habitats throughout their daily routines. Lesser black-backed gulls that overwinter in Andalusia use different habitat types for roosting and foraging. In order to reveal their potential role in biovectoring among habitats, we created an inter-habitat connectivity network based on GPS tracking data. We applied connectivity measures by considering frequently visited sites as nodes, and flights as links, to determine the strength of connections in the network between habitats, and identify functional units where connections are more likely to happen. We acquired data for 42 tagged individuals (from five breeding colonies), and identified 5676 direct flights that connected 37 nodes. These 37 sites were classified into seven habitat types: reservoirs, natural lakes, ports, coastal marshes, fish ponds, rubbish dumps and ricefields. The Doñana ricefields acted as the central node in the network based on centrality measures. Furthermore, during the first half of winter when rice was harvested, ricefields were the most important habitat type in terms of total time spent. Overall, 90% of all direct flights between nodes were between rubbish dumps (for foraging) and roosts in other habitats, thereby connecting terrestrial and various wetland habitats. The strength of connections decreased between nodes as the distance between them increased, and was concentrated within ten independent spatial and functional units, especially between December and February. The pivotal role for ricefields and rubbish dumps in the network, and their high connectivity with aquatic habitats in general, have important implications for biovectoring into their surroundings.
AB - Birds are vectors of dispersal of propagules of plants and other organisms including pathogens, as well as nutrients and contaminants. Thus, through their movements they create functional connectivity between habitat patches. Most studies on connectivity provided by animals to date have focused on movements within similar habitat types. However, some waterbirds regularly switch between terrestrial, coastal and freshwater habitats throughout their daily routines. Lesser black-backed gulls that overwinter in Andalusia use different habitat types for roosting and foraging. In order to reveal their potential role in biovectoring among habitats, we created an inter-habitat connectivity network based on GPS tracking data. We applied connectivity measures by considering frequently visited sites as nodes, and flights as links, to determine the strength of connections in the network between habitats, and identify functional units where connections are more likely to happen. We acquired data for 42 tagged individuals (from five breeding colonies), and identified 5676 direct flights that connected 37 nodes. These 37 sites were classified into seven habitat types: reservoirs, natural lakes, ports, coastal marshes, fish ponds, rubbish dumps and ricefields. The Doñana ricefields acted as the central node in the network based on centrality measures. Furthermore, during the first half of winter when rice was harvested, ricefields were the most important habitat type in terms of total time spent. Overall, 90% of all direct flights between nodes were between rubbish dumps (for foraging) and roosts in other habitats, thereby connecting terrestrial and various wetland habitats. The strength of connections decreased between nodes as the distance between them increased, and was concentrated within ten independent spatial and functional units, especially between December and February. The pivotal role for ricefields and rubbish dumps in the network, and their high connectivity with aquatic habitats in general, have important implications for biovectoring into their surroundings.
KW - GPS tracking
KW - Landfills
KW - Larus fuscus
KW - Movement ecology
KW - Network analysis
KW - Wetlands
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85076178855&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135886
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135886
M3 - Article
C2 - 31838416
AN - SCOPUS:85076178855
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 705
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
M1 - 135886
ER -