The impact of social structure on breeding strategies in an island bird

Grant C. McDonald, Noémie Engel, Sara S. Ratão, Tamás Székely, András Kosztolányi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

The social environment is a key factor determining fitness by influencing multiple stages of reproduction, including pair formation, mating behavior and parenting. However, the influence of social structure across different aspects of breeding is rarely examined simultaneously in wild populations. We therefore lack a consolidation of the mechanisms by which sociality impacts reproduction. Here we investigate the implications of the social environment before and during breeding on multiple stages of reproduction in an island population of the ground nesting shorebird, the Kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrinus). We utilise information on mating decisions, nest locations and nesting success across multiple years in combination with social network analysis. Sociality before breeding was connected with patterns of pair formation. In addition, site fidelity and personal breeding experience was associated with the spatial organisation of breeding pairs. Our results provide evidence that, while differential social interactions at localised scales influence patterns of reproductive pairing, site fidelity and personal breeding experience influence the structure of populations at the landscape scale. Our results underline the tight link between the social structure of populations and patterns of mating, while revealing that the relative influence of sociality, breeding experience and local ecology are dynamic across different facets of reproduction.

Original languageEnglish
Article number13872
JournalScientific Reports
Volume10
Issue number1
Early online date17 Aug 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Dec 2020

Funding

AK and GCM were supported by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Hungary (NN 125642). TS was funded by the Royal Society (Wolfson Merit Award WM170050, APEX APX\R1\191045), the National Research, Development and Innovation Office of Hungary (ÉLVONAL KKP-126949, K-116310) and NBAF Sheffield (Grant Nos. 547 and 933). NE was funded by Fonds National de la Recherche Luxemburg (Grant No. 13530957). We thank all field researchers who collected field data over many years, including Andreia Adrião, Sergio Ancona, Araceli Argüelles-Ticó, Cristina Carmona, Alex Gonzalez, Matt Granger, Pippa Harding, Andy Hegedus, Pedro Lopez, Leno Passos, Alex Tavares, Sérgio Português, Eusa Ribeiro, Romy Rice, Elvio Rosa, Philippa Keeley Seymour, José Valdebenito, René van Dijk, Orsolya Vincze, and Joe Way. We thank Matthew Silk and one anonymous reviewer for constructive comments on early drafts of our manuscript.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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