Spatial patterns of white stork (Ciconia ciconia) migratory phenology in the Iberian Peninsula |
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Authors: | Oscar Gordo Juan José Sanz and Jorge M Lobo |
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Institution: | (1) Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), C/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain;(2) Departament de Biologia Animal (Vertebrats), Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain;(3) Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), C/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain |
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Abstract: | In contrast to the attention attracted by temporal trends of phenology, the spatial patterns of arrivals, departures or stays
of trans-Saharan birds are still nowadays largely unknown in most of their European breeding areas. In the case of the white
stork (Ciconia ciconia), some studies have attempted to describe its migratory patterns throughout some European countries but, to our knowledge,
no one has related these patterns to some kind of explanatory variable which offers an ecologically-based explanation for
the heterogeneous phenology observable among populations. Here, arrivals, departures and stays of this species, recorded in
hundreds of Spanish localities, were related to a set of environmental, geographical, biological and spatial predictors, and
modeled by multiple regression. The best model for arrival dates accounted for up to 34% of variability of data and pointed
towards an earlier arrival in those populations located in south-western Iberia and with higher population densities. This
last relationship is probably due to the competition for nest-site fidelity maintenance. However, no variable was able to
explain properly the blurred spatial pattern recorded for departure dates. Departure decisions are strongly influenced by
social behavior in this species and depend on collective decisions influenced by peculiar local environmental conditions of
each year rather than macrogeographical gradients. Environmental, geographical or spatial variables also did not capture much
of the observed variability in the length of the stays among populations. However, this variable was strongly related to the
arrival and departure dates of populations. White storks stay longer in localities with earlier arrivals and, especially,
later departures. |
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Keywords: | Autumn departure Length of stay Modeling Spain Spring arrival |
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