ncomms14895.pdf (984.9 kB)
Rapid population decline in migratory shorebirds relying on Yellow Sea tidal mudflats as stopover sites
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 14:51 authored by Studds, CE, Kendall, BE, Murray, NJ, Wilson, HB, Rogers, DI, Clemens, RS, Gosbell, K, Hassell, CJ, Jessop, R, Melville, DS, Milton, DA, Minton, CDT, Possingham, HP, Riegen, AC, Straw, P, Woehler, EJ, Fuller, RAMigratory animals are threatened by human-induced global change. However, little is known about how stopover habitat, essential for refuelling during migration, affects the population dynamics of migratory species. Using 20 years of continent-wide citizen science data, we assess population trends of ten shorebird taxa that refuel on Yellow Sea tidal mudflats, a threatened ecosystem that has shrunk by >65% in recent decades. Seven of the taxa declined at rates of up to 8% per year. Taxa with the greatest reliance on the Yellow Sea as a stopover site showed the greatest declines, whereas those that stop primarily in other regions had slowly declining or stable populations. Decline rate was unaffected by shared evolutionary history among taxa and was not predicted by migration distance, breeding range size, non-breeding location, generation time or body size. These results suggest that changes in stopover habitat can severely limit migratory populations.
History
Publication title
Nature CommunicationsVolume
8Article number
14895Number
14895Pagination
1-7ISSN
2041-1723Department/School
Institute for Marine and Antarctic StudiesPublisher
Nature Publishing GroupPlace of publication
United KingdomRights statement
Copyright 2017 The Authors. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Repository Status
- Open