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Temperature and rainfall anomalies in Africa predict timing of spring migration in trans-Saharan migratory birds

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Author

  • Nicola Saino
  • Diego Rubolini
  • Niclas Jonzén
  • Torbjorn Ergon
  • Alessandro Montemaggiori
  • Nils Chr. Stenseth
  • Fernando Spina

Summary, in English

The long-term advance in the timing of bird spring migration in the Northern Hemisphere is associated with global climate change. The extent to which changes in bird phenology reflect responses to weather conditions in the wintering or breeding areas, or during migration, however, remains to be elucidated. We analyse the relationships between the timing of spring migration of 9 species of trans-Saharan migratory birds across the, Mediterranean, and thermal and precipitation anomalies in the main wintering areas south of the Sahara Desert and in North African stopover areas. Median migration dates were collected on the island of Capri (southern Italy) by standardized mist-netting during 1981 to 2004. High temperatures in sub-Saharan Africa (Sahel and Gulf of Guinea) prior to northward migration (February and March) were associated with advanced migration. Moreover, birds migrated earlier when winter rainfall in North Africa was more abundant. The relationships between relevant meteorological variables and timing of migration were remarkably consistent among species, suggesting a coherent response to the same extrinsic stimuli. All these results were obtained while statistically controlling for the long-term trend towards the earlier timing of spring migration across the Mediterranean that has been documented in previous analyses of the same dataset, a trend that was confirmed by the present analyses. In conclusion, our results suggest that thermal conditions in the wintering quarters, as well as rainfall in North African stopover areas, can influence interannual variation in migration phenology of trans-Saharan migratory birds, although the ecological mechanisms that causally link meteorological conditions to the timing of migration remain a matter of speculation.

Publishing year

2007

Language

English

Pages

123-134

Publication/Series

Climate Research

Volume

35

Issue

1-2

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Inter-Research

Topic

  • Biological Sciences

Keywords

  • Mediterranean
  • arrival date
  • long-distance migration
  • Sahel
  • weather

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1616-1572