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Disentangling the drivers of change in Common Teal migration phenology over 50 years: land use vs. climate change effects

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Abstract

A large body of research has accumulated on the impact of climate change on wildlife movements and distributions, especially for migratory birds. We used large ringing datasets for the Common Teal (Anas crecca) from the Camargue, southern France, to compare historic (from 1956–1975) spatiotemporal patterns of teal recovery with those seen in modern (2002–2012) years and assess whether the migration phenology of these ringed birds and their use of the Camargue as winter quarters has changed. Because teal are short-distance migrants (i.e., they breed in northern Europe and winter north of the Sahara), they would be predicted to delay their autumn migration in response to climate change. Conversely, ring recoveries showed that teal are now arriving much earlier: a stable 80 % of the recoveries were made locally in the Camargue each week between mid-November and late January in the modern dataset, whereas this percentage was only 53 % on average in the older data, and the proportion of recoveries made locally in the Camargue gradually increased through the autumn and winter until late January. This suggests that Camargue habitats have changed markedly and become more attractive to teal compared to other potential wintering areas, consistent with known changes in local habitat management practices and improvements in the body condition of the birds. Despite the fact that global climate change will likely be one of the main drivers of wildlife distribution over the long term and at large spatial scales, local habitat management should not be overlooked, as it can increase habitat attractivity to migratory birds.

Zusammenfassung

Entflechtung der Einflussfaktoren auf die Phänologie des Zugverhaltens der Krickente über 50 Jahre: Landnutzung oder Klimawandel?

Es gibt inzwischen eine Vielzahl von Studien zu Einflüssen des Klimawandels auf Bewegungsmuster und Vorkommen von Wildtieren, insbesondere von Zugvögeln. Wir nutzten hier einen großen Datensatz zur Beringung der Krickente Anas crecca aus der Camargue in Südfrankreich, um die räumlich-zeitlichen Verteilungsmuster der Wiederfunde zwischen alten (1956–1975) und jungen (2002–2012) Jahren zu vergleichen und zu überprüfen, ob sich die Phänologie des Zuges dieser beringten Vögel und ihre Nutzung der Camargue als Winterquartier zwischenzeitlich geändert hat. Da Krickenten Kurzstreckenzieher sind (sie brüten in Nordeuropa und überwintern nördlich der Sahara), wurde angenommen, dass sich ihr Herbstzug aufgrund des Klimawandels verzögern würde. Gegensätzlich stellte sich aber heraus, dass Krickenten heutzutage viel früher ankommen: es wurden stets um die 80 % der Wiederfunde jede Woche zwischen Mitte November und Ende Januar in der Camargue verzeichnet, während im alten Datensatz dieser Prozentsatz bei nur etwa 53 % lag, sich aber über den Herbst bis hin zum Ende des Januars erhöhte. Dies deutet darauf hin, dass die Lebensräume in der Camargue sich stark verändert haben und für Krickenten attraktiver geworden sind im Vergleich zu anderen möglichen Wintergebieten. Dies ist im Einklang mit bekannten Veränderungen in der Landnutzung vor Ort und einer verbesserten Körperkondition der Vögel. Obwohl der globale Klimawandel wahrscheinlich langfristig und über große geographische Flächen einer der Haupt-Einflussfaktoren der Verteilung von Arten sein wird, so ist doch die Nutzung der Flächen vor Ort ein wichtiger Faktor, der die Attraktivität eines Lebensraumes für Zugvögel erhöhen kann.

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Acknowledgments

We are most grateful to Luc Hoffmann, Hubert Kowalski, Heinz Hafner, Alan Johnson, and the other people who ringed teal at Tour du Valat for over 25 years. We would also like to thank Marc Lutz, Paul Isenmann, and the Centre de Recherche sur la Biologie des Populations d’Oiseaux (Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris) for their help computerizing the teal database, as well as the MAVA Foundation for financial support. The modern ringing operations greatly benefited from the field assistance of many people from ONCFS and Marais du Vigueirat, in particular Michel Lepley and Jonathan Fuster. Aleksi Lehikoinen, Tony Fox, and three anonymous referees provided valuable advice during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage, CNERA Avifaune Migratrice, La Tour du Valat, Le Sambuc, 13200, Arles, France

    Matthieu Guillemain, Claire A. Pernollet & François Cavallo

  2. Centre de Recherche de la Tour du Valat, 13200, Arles, France

    Claire A. Pernollet, Géraldine Simon & Jocelyn Champagnon

  3. Les Marais du Vigueirat, Mas Thibert, 13200, Arles, France

    Grégoire Massez

  4. Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 70-275, 04510, México D.F., Mexico

    Jocelyn Champagnon

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  1. Matthieu Guillemain
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  2. Claire A. Pernollet
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  3. Grégoire Massez
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Correspondence to Matthieu Guillemain.

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Communicated by N. Chernetsov.

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Guillemain, M., Pernollet, C.A., Massez, G. et al. Disentangling the drivers of change in Common Teal migration phenology over 50 years: land use vs. climate change effects. J Ornithol 156, 647–655 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-015-1171-z

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