Open AccessReproductive tactics of the ringed plover Charadrius hiaticula
Author(s) -
Wallander Johan,
Andersson Malte
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of avian biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.022
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1600-048X
pISSN - 0908-8857
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-048x.2003.03109.x
Subject(s) - charadrius , biology , fledge , plover , nest (protein structural motif) , seasonal breeder , brood , predation , avian clutch size , ecology , zoology , reproductive success , reproduction , breeding pair , demography , population , biochemistry , sociology , habitat
Reproductive tactics of ringed plovers Charadrius hiaticula were studied at three localities in SW Sweden during five seasons. The usual clutch size is four, but removal experiments showed that females can produce five eggs in succession, with similar intervals between all eggs. High predation made mean breeding success per clutch low, 6.3% of eggs resulting in fledged young. Replacement clutches were common, and many pairs laid again after rearing their first brood to fledging. Egg laying spanned three months, much longer than for other waders in this region. Between years, reproductive success varied unpredictably with time of the season, but averaged over several years, the expected success was low and similar for the different parts of the breeding season. Chicks from late clutches had similar survival and recruitment as others. Because of the long breeding season and high rate of nest failure a female may produce up to five clutches of four eggs per season, containing in total about 3.7 times her own mass. Yearly local survival of adult females and males was estimated to 84.6 and 88.6%, respectively. Ability to produce many clutches with similar expected success throughout the season favours a long reproductive period, sometimes leading to double‐brooding. Possible life‐history trade‐offs are discussed.