Catlin Daniel, Gibson Daniel, Friedrich Meryl J, Hunt Kelsi L, Karpanty Sarah M, Fraser James D
Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation Virginia Tech Blacksburg Virginia.
Ecol Evol. 2019 Nov 19;9(24):13966-13978. doi: 10.1002/ece3.5834. eCollection 2019 Dec.
Habitat selection and its relationship to fitness is a fundamental concept in ecology, but the mechanisms driving this connection are complex and difficult to detect. Despite the difficulties in understanding such intricate relationships, it is imperative that we study habitat selection and its relationship with fitness. We compared habitat selection of least terns () and piping plovers () on the Missouri River (2012-2014) to examine the consequences of those choices on nest and chick survival. We hypothesized that plovers and terns would select habitat that minimized the chance of flooding and predation of eggs, chicks, and adults, but that plovers would also select habitat that would provide foraging habitat for their chicks. We developed an integrated habitat selection model that assessed selection across multiple scales (sandbar and nest scales) and directly modeled the effect of selection on nest and chick survival. In general, the species selected habitat in keeping with our hypotheses, such that predation and flooding, in particular, may have been reduced. Sandbar selection had either a negative or no appreciable effect on nest survival for both species across years. Nest-site selection in 2012 had a generally positive effect on nest survival and chick survival for both terns and plovers, and this trended toward a negative effect by 2014. This result suggested that early selection decisions appeared to be adaptive, but we speculate that relatively high site fidelity and habitat degradation led to reduced benefit over time. Our results highlight the complex nature of habitat selection and its relationship to fitness.
栖息地选择及其与适合度的关系是生态学中的一个基本概念，但驱动这种联系的机制复杂且难以察觉。尽管理解这种复杂关系存在困难，但研究栖息地选择及其与适合度的关系是至关重要的。我们比较了2012年至2014年密苏里河上小黑燕鸥（）和笛鸻（）的栖息地选择，以研究这些选择对巢穴和雏鸟存活的影响。我们假设，笛鸻和燕鸥会选择能将卵、雏鸟和成年个体遭受洪水和捕食的几率降至最低的栖息地，但笛鸻还会选择能为其雏鸟提供觅食栖息地的地方。我们开发了一个综合栖息地选择模型，该模型在多个尺度（沙洲和巢穴尺度）上评估选择情况，并直接模拟选择对巢穴和雏鸟存活的影响。总体而言，这些物种选择的栖息地符合我们的假设，特别是捕食和洪水情况可能有所减少。多年来，沙洲选择对这两个物种的巢穴存活要么有负面影响，要么没有明显影响。2012年的筑巢地点选择对燕鸥和笛鸻的巢穴存活及雏鸟存活总体上有积极影响，到2014年这种影响则趋于负面。这一结果表明，早期的选择决策似乎具有适应性，但我们推测，相对较高的地点忠诚度和栖息地退化导致随着时间推移益处减少。我们的研究结果凸显了栖息地选择的复杂本质及其与适合度的关系。
