Long-term individual foraging site fidelity—why some gannets don't change their spots

Conserving habitat for wide-ranging fauna species provides a challenge because impacts on these species tend to be dismissed based on the assumption that there is sufficient habitat in other areas of its range. This incremental loss of habitat is a serious conservation issue for a diversity of bird species. As knowledge of wide-ranging and migratory bird species increases, it often becomes evident that they select specific sites on a regular basis (i.e., the species exhibit site fidelity). Gaining a better understanding of site fidelity and selective habitat use for wide-ranging species is clearly important, but also extremely challenging. In this paper, challenges associated with conservation of the migratory and wide-ranging Swift Parrot Lathamus discolor are discussed as an example of how a recovery programme has aimed to address such conservation and management challenges. Despite the small population size (less than 2 500 birds), broad distribution (1 250 000 km2) and often cryptic nature, the implementation of the national recovery programme has been successful in the identification and protection of important habitats. This has been made possible by involving large numbers of volunteers who collect long-term sighting and habitat data over large areas, together with more detailed ecological research. This information is then used to inform the conservation assessment process and to improve habitat conservation throughout the range of the species.

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Conservation, Ecology, and Management of Catfish: The Second International Symposium

Conservation, Ecology, and Management of Catfish: The Second International Symposium ◽

10.47886/9781934874257.ch39 ◽

2011 ◽

Keyword(s):

Site Fidelity ◽

Late Summer ◽

High Survival ◽

Population Abundance ◽

Conservation Ecology ◽

Temporary Emigration ◽

Minnesota River ◽

Flathead Catfish ◽

High Site

<em>Abstract</em>.—The flathead catfish <em>Pylodictis olivaris</em> is one of the most important game fishes in the lower Minnesota River, providing a high-quality angling fishery. Information on flathead catfish movements and site fidelity in the Minnesota River at the reach scale is needed before fisheries managers consider options such as reach-specific fishing regulations. In addition, this information is necessary to determine if estimates of population abundance are feasible and what study design is most appropriate. Therefore, 18 radio- and acoustic-tagged adult flathead catfish were manually located in the lower Minnesota River during late summer and fall in 2008 and 2009. Most fish remained within about 2 km of their capture locations during daylight hours in August–September 2008. However, 17% of the fish emigrated from the 9.3-km study reach before the end of September, and all emigrated by the end of October. Fourteen (78%) of the original 18 fish survived and were present in the study reach again during August–September 2009. High site fidelity could result in heterogeneous vulnerability to late-summer angling among river reaches if some individual fish consistently return to areas frequented by anglers and others return to more remote and relatively inaccessible areas. Due to high survival and late-summer site fidelity, the potential exists for high recapture probabilities with repeated late-summer mark–recapture sampling in the same study reach; however, there is evidence that temporary emigration could be an important issue in long-term studies.

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Site fidelity, residence time and movements of red snapper Lutjanus campechanus estimated with long-term acoustic monitoring

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps09293 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 437 ◽

pp. 183-200 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

DT Topping ◽

ST Szedlmayer

Keyword(s):

Residence Time ◽

Site Fidelity ◽

Acoustic Monitoring ◽

Red Snapper ◽

Lutjanus Campechanus

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Short-term prey field lability constrains individual specialisation in resource selection and foraging site fidelity in a marine predator

Ecology Letters ◽

10.1111/ele.12970 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 21 (7) ◽

pp. 1043-1054 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Nicolas Courbin ◽

Aurélien Besnard ◽

Clara Péron ◽

Claire Saraux ◽

Jérôme Fort ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Resource Selection ◽

Site Fidelity ◽

Short Term ◽

Marine Predator ◽

Foraging Site ◽

Individual Specialisation

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Spatial structure of harbour seal populations and the implications thereof

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z01-172 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 79 (12) ◽

pp. 2115-2127 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

T Härkönen ◽

K C Harding

Keyword(s):

Population Dynamics ◽

Site Fidelity ◽

Phoca Vitulina ◽

Population Increase ◽

Dynamic Processes ◽

Term Study ◽

Long Term Study ◽

Harbour Seals ◽

Age And Sex

A long-term study of freeze-branded harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) revealed explicit site fidelity. Individuals were followed up to 14 years of age and none of the 163 branded animals were observed to haul out beyond a 32-km distance from the site where they were branded as pups. Within this range, striking spatial segregation by age and sex prevailed. While females' site fidelity increased with age, males spent less time at their natal site with increasing age. These findings have consequences for understanding the population dynamics of harbour seals, since single "colonies" will act as partly isolated "subpopulations" in some contexts but not in others. The differing migration tendencies of the population segments lead to spatially segregated sex and age ratios of subpopulations and create a complex pattern of connectivity among these subpopulations. Ignoring the spatial scale will lead to severe misinterpretations of analyses of basic population-dynamic processes, especially rates of population increase, rates of gene flow, and the dynamics of the spread of diseases. We suggest that when studies have different aims, these should be addressed by encompassing different numbers of subpopulations.

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Monitoring the effect of habitat loss on life-cycle aspects of the Masked Owl Tyto novaehollandiae in a semi-urban landscape

Australian Zoologist ◽

10.7882/az.2019.005 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 40 (4) ◽

pp. 565-574

Author(s):

Chris N. Thomson

Keyword(s):

Site Fidelity ◽

Large Scale ◽

Urban Landscape ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Urban Expansion ◽

Short Term ◽

Breeding Activity ◽

Breeding Territory ◽

Term Monitoring

Long-term monitoring of the Masked Owl Tyto novaehollandiae in a semi-urban landscape before, during and after large-scale habitat removal identified a positive response in breeding activity in the short-term and a change in prey selectivity. Over the longer term, the loss in habitat had a negative impact on site fidelity. A pair of Masked Owls exhibited high fidelity to a particular breeding territory before and during the removal of large areas of habitat within this territory. Breeding success occurred over two consecutive seasons during the removal of known habitat and other disturbance events at which time the pair and their offspring were observed to exploit disturbed habitat and newly created forest edges in search of prey. Breeding activity was supported by an increased dietary focus on introduced rodents and other mammals displaced during habitat clearing. Fidelity to the breeding territory became more irregular post-disturbance and after two years the territory appeared to be abandoned. This response may suggest that the cumulative loss of habitat for established pairs as a result of urban expansion is likely to adversely affect reproductive success and site fidelity in the longer term.

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