Site-level connectivity identified from multiple sources of movement data to inform conservation of a migratory bird

Beal, Martin, Nightingale, Joshua, Belo, João R., Batey, Chris, Belting, Heinrich, Bocher, Pierrick, Burgess, Malcolm, Craft, Taylor B., Crockford, Nicola, Delaporte, Philippe, Donaldson, Lynda, Gélinaud, Guillaume, Gill, Jennifer A., Gunnarsson, Tómas G., Þórisson, Böðvar, Gutiérrez, Jorge S., Hooijmeijer, Jos C. E. W., Howison, Ruth A., Hunke, Philip, Jomat, Loïc, Lemke, Hilger, Ludwig, Jürgen, Majoor, Frank A., Marlow, Christopher, Masero, José A., Melter, Johannes, Nicholson, Ian, Parejo, Manuel, O'Mahony, Barry, Pasanen, Esko, Pessa, Jorma, Piersma, Theunis, Rocha, Afonso D., Robin, Frederic, Roodbergen, Maja, Rousseau, Pierre, Salewski, Volker, Schmidt, Luis, Smart, Jennifer, Staneva, Anna, Tibbitts, T. Lee, Alves, José A. and Dias, Maria P. (2024) Site-level connectivity identified from multiple sources of movement data to inform conservation of a migratory bird. Journal of Applied Ecology. ISSN 0021-8901 (In Press)

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Abstract

1. Migratory birds depend on a suite of sites across their annual cycles, making them vulnerable to a wide variety of anthropogenic pressures. Current area-based conservation measures have been found inadequate to safeguard migratory birds, in part due to a lack of consideration for the connectivity between sites mediated by the movements of individuals. 2. To address this issue, we develop a network analysis integrating different types of individual movement data for a migratory shorebird, the Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa), across the East Atlantic Flyway. Leveraging metal-ring recoveries, colour-ring re-sightings, and satellite tracking from over 10,000 individual godwits, we quantify variation in connectivity between sites across the migratory range, using two weighted metrics to address sampling biases. 3. Colour-ring re-sightings provided the largest number of sites (70%) and links (60% for November–May, and 43% for June–October) overall, followed by tracking data (50% of sites, 49% and 63% of links per season) and ring recoveries (25% of sites. 4. We identified 49 sites playing a disproportionate role in the site network, each with direct connections to 48 (interquartile range 32-84) other sites, on average. Just 23 (47%) top sites are formally recognized for their international importance for Black-tailed Godwits and 33 (67%) were robust to sampling incompleteness. Across all 1058 sites, 20% lacked protected area coverage, and per site, 44% (44% +/- SD) of bird relocations fell within protected areas. 5.Integrating multiple sources of data improved geographical coverage and completeness of the site network, allowing us to quantify the importance of sites in terms of connectivity across the flyway. Our results highlight shortcomings of existing area-based conservation measures and add value to ongoing efforts to identify important sites for migratory birds. 6.Policy implications: The increasing availability of individual movement data provides valuable opportunities to reveal the inter-dependence of sites used by migratory species, which can help identify priority areas and facilitate flyway-scale management.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Organisms and the Environment
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	13 Nov 2024 09:30
Last Modified:	13 Nov 2024 10:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/97670
DOI:

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