Artic waders are not capital breeders

TY - JOUR

T1 - Artic waders are not capital breeders

AU - Klaassen, M.R.J.

AU - Lindstrom, A.

AU - Meltofte, H.

AU - Piersma, T.

N1 - Reporting year: 2001 Metis note: 2871; CL; PDI ; PGPE ; AnE file:///L:/Endnotedatabases/NIOOPUB/pdfs/Pdfs2001/Klaassen_ea_2871.pdf

PY - 2001

Y1 - 2001

N2 - Birds prepare their eggs from recently ingested nutrients ('income' breeders) or from body stores ('capital' breeders). As summers are short at Arctic latitudes, Arctic migrants have been presumed to bring nutrients for egg production from their previous habitats, so that they can start breeding immediately upon arrival. But we show here that eggs laid by 10 different wader species from 12 localities in northeast Greenland and Arctic Canada are produced from nutrients originating from tundra habitats, as inferred from carbon stable-isotope ratios in eggs, natal down, and juvenile and adult feathers.

AB - Birds prepare their eggs from recently ingested nutrients ('income' breeders) or from body stores ('capital' breeders). As summers are short at Arctic latitudes, Arctic migrants have been presumed to bring nutrients for egg production from their previous habitats, so that they can start breeding immediately upon arrival. But we show here that eggs laid by 10 different wader species from 12 localities in northeast Greenland and Arctic Canada are produced from nutrients originating from tundra habitats, as inferred from carbon stable-isotope ratios in eggs, natal down, and juvenile and adult feathers.

U2 - 10.1038/35101654

DO - 10.1038/35101654

M3 - Article

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 413

SP - 794

EP - 794

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 6858

ER -