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Individual inter‐annual nest‐site relocation behaviour drives dynamics of a recently established Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis colony in sub‐arctic Russia |
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| Authors: | JULIA KARAGICHEVA ELDAR RAKHIMBERDIEV DMITRY DOBRYNIN ANATOLY SAVELIEV SOFIA ROZENFELD OLGA POKROVSKAYA JULIA STAHL JOUKE PROP KONSTANTIN LITVIN |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Biological Faculty, Moscow State University, 119991, 1 Vorobiovy gory, Moscow, Russia;2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, 14850, Corson Hall, Ithaca, NY, USA;3. A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Science, Bird Ringing Centre, 117312 Moscow, Russia;4. Faculty of Geography and Ecology, Kazan State University, Russia, 18 Kremlevskaja st., 420008 Kazan, Russia;5. Landscape Ecology Group, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany;6. Arctic Centre, University of Groningen, PO Box 716, 9700 AS Groningen, the Netherlands |
| Abstract: | Avian breeding colonies are generally in a continuous state of flux, some parts growing whilst others shrink as individuals move within the colony on the search for better nest‐sites. We examined the role of experience in breeding patch choice by individually marked Barnacle Geese Branta leucopsis in a recently established colony in sub‐arctic Russia. Individuals failing to reproduce successfully tended to shift nest location further the following season than did successful pairs, and they did so towards the most dense nest aggregations within the colony, where reproductive success was higher. We suggest that individual decisions on nest‐site choice shape the spatial dynamics of this colony. |
| Keywords: | breeding dispersal coloniality conspecific attraction philopatry |