Rogers Danny I, Piersma Theunis, Minton Clive D T, Boyle Adrian N, Hassell Chris J, Rogers Ken G, Silcocks Andrew, Gutiérrez Jorge S
Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Energy Environment and Climate Action Heidelberg Victoria Australia.
Victorian Wader Study Group Melbourne Victoria Australia.
Ecol Evol. 2025 Jun 27;15(7):e71679. doi: 10.1002/ece3.71679. eCollection 2025 Jul.
Delaying the age of first breeding will lower lifetime reproductive output unless compensated for by increased fecundity or survival. Yet, in many migratory shorebird species (Charadriiformes) individuals delay their first return migration to the breeding grounds until they are several years old. Using data from non-breeding and breeding season counts of shorebirds in the non-breeding areas, recaptures, and long-term banding studies, we assess the age of first return migration (as a measure of maturity) for 37 shorebird species that have migrated to Australian non-breeding grounds. We provide a comparative analysis of the association between the measure of maturity and habitat use during the non-breeding period, contrasting coastal and inland wetland habitats. After controlling for latitudinal and phylogenetic covariates, we found a positive relationship between body size and the age of first return migration. However, there was still a stronger relationship with the type of non-breeding habitat used. Coastal shorebird species delayed maturity more than species that spend the non-breeding season in non-tidal inland wetlands. This finding expands on previously identified ecological and physiological differences between coastal and inland shorebirds and leads to questions on the environmental characteristics embodied in the habitat contrast. We propose that the complicated tidal dynamics and differences in prey make it more difficult to become an individually competent coastal (rather than inland freshwater) forager.
推迟首次繁殖的年龄会降低终生繁殖产出，除非通过提高繁殖力或存活率来弥补。然而，在许多迁徙滨鸟物种（鸻形目）中，个体将首次返回繁殖地的迁徙推迟到几岁之后。利用在非繁殖地对滨鸟进行非繁殖季和繁殖季计数、重新捕获以及长期环志研究的数据，我们评估了37种已迁徙至澳大利亚非繁殖地的滨鸟物种首次返回繁殖地的年龄（作为成熟度的一种衡量指标）。我们对成熟度衡量指标与非繁殖期栖息地利用之间的关联进行了比较分析，对比了沿海和内陆湿地栖息地。在控制了纬度和系统发育协变量之后，我们发现体型大小与首次返回繁殖地的年龄之间存在正相关关系。然而，与所使用的非繁殖栖息地类型之间的关系仍然更强。沿海滨鸟物种比在非潮汐内陆湿地度过非繁殖季的物种成熟得更晚。这一发现扩展了此前所确定的沿海和内陆滨鸟之间的生态和生理差异，并引发了关于栖息地差异所体现的环境特征的问题。我们认为，复杂的潮汐动态和猎物差异使得成为一名有能力的沿海（而非内陆淡水）个体觅食者更加困难。
