Journal
ECOLOGY
Volume 98, Issue 8, Pages 2039-2048Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ecy.1911
Keywords
density-dependence; fecundity; fitness; path analysis; population regulation; recruitment; Savannah sparrow; structural equation model
Categories
Funding
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- University of Guelph
- Canada Foundation for Innovation
- American Ornithologist's Union Student Research Award
- Society of Canadian Ornithologists Taverner Award
- Cooper Ornithological Society Mewaldt-King Student Research Award
- National Science Foundation [0816132]
- Bowdoin College
- Division Of Environmental Biology
- Direct For Biological Sciences [0816132] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Knowledge of the density-dependent processes that regulate animal populations is key to understanding, predicting, and conserving populations. In migratory birds, density-dependence is most often studied during the breeding season, yet we still lack a robust understanding of the reproductive traits through which density influences individual reproductive success. We used 27-yr of detailed, individual-level productivity data from an island-breeding population of Savannah sparrows Passerculus sandwichensis to evaluate effects of local and total annual population density on female reproductive success. Local density (number of neighbors within 50 m of a female's nest) had stronger effects on the number of young fledged than did total annual population density. Females nesting in areas of high local density were more likely to suffer nest predation and less likely to initiate and fledge a second clutch, which led to fewer young fledged in a season. Fledging fewer young subsequently decreased the likelihood of a female recruiting offspring into the breeding population in a subsequent year. Collectively, these results provide insight into the scale and reproductive mechanisms mediating density-dependent reproductive success and fitness in songbirds.
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