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Population and demographic synchrony in European land birds.
  • +14
  • Catriona Morrison,
  • Jennifer Gill,
  • Robert Robinson,
  • Claire Buchan,
  • Juan Arizaga,
  • Oriol Baltà,
  • Emanuel Baltag,
  • Jaroslav Cepák,
  • Pierre-Yves Henry,
  • Ian Henshaw,
  • Zsolt Karcza,
  • Petteri Lehikoinen,
  • Ricardo Lopes,
  • Bert Meister,
  • Simone Pirrello,
  • Kasper Thorup,
  • Simon Butler
Catriona Morrison
University of East Anglia

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Jennifer Gill
University of East Anglia
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Robert Robinson
British Trust for Ornithology
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Claire Buchan
University of East Anglia
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Juan Arizaga
Catalan Ornithological Institute
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Oriol Baltà
Catalan Ornithological Institute
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Emanuel Baltag
University Alexandru Ioan Cuza of Iași
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Jaroslav Cepák
National Museum
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Pierre-Yves Henry
Centre de Recherches sur la Biologie des Populations d’Oiseaux
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Ian Henshaw
Swedish Bird Ringing Centre
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Zsolt Karcza
Birdlife Hungary
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Petteri Lehikoinen
Finnish Museum of Natural History Botany Unit
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Ricardo Lopes
University of Lisbon
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Bert Meister
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Simone Pirrello
Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale Sede di Ozzano dell'Emilia
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Kasper Thorup
University of Copenhagen
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Simon Butler
University of East Anglia
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Abstract

Understanding the drivers of spatially and temporally correlated (synchronous) fluctuations in abundance is a fundamental challenge in ecology and conservation. Synchronous fluctuations in different demographic rates can potentially drive or dampen abundance synchrony, but demographic synchrony is generally poorly understood. Using long-term count and demographic data for breeding land-birds at sites across Europe, we show that the strength and scale of synchrony are greatest in productivity, followed by adult survival rates and then counts. However, count fluctuations are more synchronous with survival than with productivity. Despite migratory and resident species having similar periodicities of count synchrony, synchrony in both demographic rates was more common over long-timescales in resident species and short-timescales in migrant species. These findings suggest local impacts of synchronous fluctuations in adult survival rates on count synchrony, potentially dampening effects of large-scale synchrony in productivity, and that the environmental drivers of synchrony may differ between residents and migrants.
30 Jul 2024Submitted to Ecology Letters
01 Aug 2024Submission Checks Completed
01 Aug 2024Assigned to Editor
01 Aug 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
09 Sep 2024Reviewer(s) Assigned
15 Oct 2024Editorial Decision: Revise Major