Apparent survival and cost of reproduction for White-lined Tanager

Understanding latitudinal variation in avian life-history traits has been a focus of many demographic studies around the world. However, we still know little about annual or intra-annual demographic variation within tropical regions or about how factors such as breeding season and precipitation infl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2017-10, Vol.12 (10), p.e0185890
Main Authors: Macario, Phoeve, Pichorim, Mauro, Doherty, Paul F, Toledo-Lima, Guilherme S, Oliveira-Júnior, Tonny M, Câmara, Thanyria P. F, Melo, Shirley Macjane, Silveira, João Lucas S, Araújo, Juliana C, França, Leonardo F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior
Bird breeding
Environmental aspects
Protection and preservation
Tanagers
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Summary:Understanding latitudinal variation in avian life-history traits has been a focus of many demographic studies around the world. However, we still know little about annual or intra-annual demographic variation within tropical regions or about how factors such as breeding season and precipitation influence demographic rates. In this study, we estimated intra-annual apparent survival of the White-lined Tanager (Tachyphonus rufus) using capture-mark-recapture data from northeastern Brazil. We tested whether survival varied seasonally (breeding vs. non-breeding), with rainfall, by age and residence status in our study area. Intra-annual apparent survival was correlated with the reproductive cycle, being lower during the breeding (0.65 ± 0.16 SE) vs. the non-breeding season (0.97 ± 0.05 SE). The annual apparent survival (~0.6) was relatively low for a tropical species. In both years, we observed highest abundance in spring (November, 3.1-3.7 birds/ha) and lowest abundance in autumn-winter periods (May-August, 1.1-1.4 bird/ha). The low survival during the breeding season probably reflects the trade-off between survival and reproduction and the cost of reproduction. Our findings represent an advance in the understanding of the demography of tropical birds because we did not find a predicted high annual apparent survival, and we elucidated some aspects of intra-annual variation in survival. Further exploration of latitudinal variation in demographic traits, especially in diverse, but poorly known habitats is needed to fully vet and develop life history theories.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0185890