Using stable isotopes to investigate migratory connectivity of the globally threatened aquatic warbler Acrocephalus paludicola |
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Authors: | Deborah J. Pain Rhys E. Green Benedikt Gieβing Alexander Kozulin Anatoly Poluda Ulf Ottosson Martin Flade Geoff M. Hilton |
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Affiliation: | (1) RSPB, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG192DL, UK;(2) RSPB and Conservation Biology Group, Department of Zoology, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK;(3) Max-Planck-Forschungsstelle für Ornithologie, Vogelwarte Radolfzell, Schloss Moeggingen, Schlossallee 2, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany;(4) Belarusian Ornithological Society, Institute of Zoology, Belarus Academy of Sciences, F. Skoriny St. 27, 220072 Minsk, Belarus;(5) Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, Bogdan Khmenitsky Str. 15, 01601 Kyiv-30, Ukraine;(6) 18A Rue de Mamer, 8280 Kehlen, Luxembourg;(7) Brandenburg State Agency for Large Protected Areas, Tramper Chausee 2, 16225 Eberswalde, Germany |
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Abstract: | Understanding the links between breeding and wintering areas of migratory species has important ecological and conservation implications. Recently, stable isotope technology has been used to further our understanding. Stable isotope ratios vary geographically with a range of biogeochemical factors and isotope profiles in organisms reflect those in their food and environment. For inert tissues like feathers, isotope profiles reflect the environment in which they were formed. Following large-scale habitat destruction, the globally threatened aquatic warbler Acrocephalus paludicola has a fragmented breeding population across central Europe, largely in Belarus, Poland and Ukraine. The species sub-Saharan African wintering grounds have not yet been discovered, and this significantly hampers conservation efforts. Aquatic warblers grow their flight feathers on their wintering grounds, and we analysed stable isotope ratios ( 15N, 13C, D) in rectrices of adults from six main breeding sites (subpopulations) across Europe to determine whether different breeding subpopulations formed a single mixed population on the wintering grounds. 15N varies considerably with dietary trophic level and environmental factors, and D with the D in rainfall; neither varied between aquatic warbler subpopulations. Uniform feather 15N signatures suggest no major variation in dietary trophic level during feather formation. High variance and inter-annual differences in mean D values hinder interpretation of these data. Significant differences in mean 13C ratios existed between subpopulations. We discuss possible interpretations of this result, and consider differences in moulting latitude of different subpopulations to be the most parsimonious. 13C in plants and animals decreases with latitude, along a steep gradient in sub-Saharan Africa. Birds from the most north-westerly breeding subpopulation (Karsibor, Poland) had significantly lower variance in 13C and 15N than birds from all other sites, suggesting either that birds from Karsibor are less geographically dispersed during moult, or moult in an area with less isotopic heterogeneity. Mean 13C signatures from winter-grown feathers of different subpopulations were positively correlated with the latitude and longitude of breeding sites, suggesting a strong relationship between European breeding and African winter moulting latitudes. The use of stable isotopes provides novel insights into migratory connectivity and migration patterns in this little-known threatened species. |
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Keywords: | /content/kgeanl0rrknv0u8m/xxlarge948.gif" alt=" delta" align=" BASELINE" BORDER=" 0" >13C Feathers Latitude Africa Europe |
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