Timing of avian breeding in an urbanized world

TY - JOUR

T1 - Timing of avian breeding in an urbanized world

AU - de Jong, M.

AU - Van den Eertwegh, L.

AU - Beskers, R.

AU - De Vries, P.P.

AU - Spoelstra, K.

AU - Visser, M.E.

N1 - 6442, AnE; Data achiving: data archived in Dataverse

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - A large part of the world is urbanized, and the process of urbanization is ongoing.Species differ in the extent to which they are impacted by urbanization, dependingon adaption capacity, and on the fitness consequences when adaptation lagsbehind. One prominent effect of urbanization is the dramatic change of the nighttimeenvironment: in urban areas nights are no longer dark. Here, we studied theimpact of urbanization on the timing of breeding, which is a key life-history trait.We used six years of data from ten common bird species, breeding in nest boxesthroughout the Netherlands. We took the intensity of artificial light in the form ofzenithal sky brightness and light emission, as a proxy for urbanization. We founda correlation between light levels and seasonal timing in three of the ten species(great tit, blue tit and pied flycatcher), but these relationships differed betweenyears. The effect of urbanization on seasonal timing is at best weak in our studywhich was however mainly based on areas with relatively low light levels. There isa clear lack of data for breeding birds in more urbanized environments, an everexpanding habitat for an increasing number of species worldwide.

AB - A large part of the world is urbanized, and the process of urbanization is ongoing.Species differ in the extent to which they are impacted by urbanization, dependingon adaption capacity, and on the fitness consequences when adaptation lagsbehind. One prominent effect of urbanization is the dramatic change of the nighttimeenvironment: in urban areas nights are no longer dark. Here, we studied theimpact of urbanization on the timing of breeding, which is a key life-history trait.We used six years of data from ten common bird species, breeding in nest boxesthroughout the Netherlands. We took the intensity of artificial light in the form ofzenithal sky brightness and light emission, as a proxy for urbanization. We founda correlation between light levels and seasonal timing in three of the ten species(great tit, blue tit and pied flycatcher), but these relationships differed betweenyears. The effect of urbanization on seasonal timing is at best weak in our studywhich was however mainly based on areas with relatively low light levels. There isa clear lack of data for breeding birds in more urbanized environments, an everexpanding habitat for an increasing number of species worldwide.

KW - national

UR - https://hdl.handle.net/10411/NIO9U4

U2 - 10.5253/arde.v106i1.a4

DO - 10.5253/arde.v106i1.a4

M3 - Article

SN - 0373-2266

VL - 106

SP - 31

EP - 38

JO - Ardea

JF - Ardea

IS - 1

ER -