Predation is an important ecological process that shapes life-history traits, community dynamics, and species coexistence and therefore has been suggested to explain many patterns in avian ecology. Although many studies have reported spatial, temporal, or interspecific patterns in nest predation, relatively few studies have been designed to identify the specific mechanism(s) that underlie these patterns. I examined mechanisms underlying the risk of nest predation in birds by (1) reviewing nine of the most commonly cited hypotheses to explain spatial, temporal, and interspecific variation in the risk of nest predation, (2) conducting a comparative analysis of the nest-concealment hypothesis to examine which methodological issues, extrinsic factors, and species traits influence whether or not foliage density affects the risk of nest predation, and (3) testing six mechanistic hypotheses to determine the underlying cause(s) of intra-seasonal decreases in the risk of nest predation.Many of the hypotheses invoked to explain spatial, temporal, and interspecific variation in the risk of nest predation lack clearly defined mechanisms. I suggest that future studies explicitly define the mechanism and assumption(s) of each hypothesis prior to implementing empirical tests.I found that the discrepancy in results among past studies that have examined the nest-concealment hypothesis was due to interspecific differences in a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic factors that affect nest predation but have previously been ignored. The effects of nest concealment on nest placement and probability of nest predation vary among species and this variation is predictable based on the bird's morphological traits and characteristics of the ecosystem.Increased risk of nest predation early in the breeding season appears to be due, in part, to foliage phenology and spatial and temporal changes in predator behavior. The risk of nest predation was negatively associated with foliage density early, but not late, in the breeding season. Supplemental food provided to nest predators resulted in a numerical response by nest predators, increasing the risk of nest predation at nests located near feeders. I show that intra-seasonal changes in environmental features and predator behavior affect patterns of nest predation, which can influence timing of breeding.

Cost and benefits of high individual growth rates are likely to vary across different environments leading to geographic differentiation in growth strategies. In ectotherms, habitats constrained by short growing seasons favour rapid growth and development leading to adaptive latitudinal clines in these traits. Geographic variation in growth strategies should be influenced by physiological variation as well as environmental factors, however many of these mechanisms remain largely unexplored. In my thesis, I studied hormonal correlates of growth strategies, and compensatory responses to phenological variation and environmental stress in anuran tadpoles. I tested the hypotheses that fast growing high latitude common frog Rana temporaria tadpoles have higher growth hormone (GH) expression, and low stress hormone (CORT) elevation in response to predator stress. I found no relationship between GH expression and latitude, but CORT response decreased with latitude after 24 hours of predator exposure. Lower CORT response at high latitude can be adaptive as it may enable the tadpoles to maintain high growth in time constrained habitats. I also found that breeding phenology affected latitudinal variation in growth, development and anti-predator strategies. Northern R. temporaria tadpoles were phenotypically more similar to southern tadpoles when breeding occurred early, suggesting that part of the latitudinal variation is plastic and affected by yearly variation in phenology. When time stress was manipulated by delaying hatching, tadpoles were able to compensate by increasing their development and growth during the larval stage, decreasing the cost of the delayed development. In the final study, I found that northern tadpoles showed stronger compensatory growth during the larval stage than southern tadpoles after being delayed by low food, however, temperature manipulation did not induce differences in the compensatory responses. In general, my results highlight the roles of both environmental and genetic variation in determining individual growth strategies. / Felaktigt tryckt som Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology 735

Doctor of Philosophy / Division of Biology / Brett K. Sandercock / Impacts of climate change on biological systems include shifts in seasonal phenology. How do migratory animals adjust reproductive decisions as they shift timing of breeding? I investigated patterns of climate change at a network of Arctic sites in Alaska and Canada, and examined the impacts of climate change on the breeding phenology, reproductive performance, and trophic interactions of Arctic-breeding shorebirds. First, I compared the breeding performance of three species, Western Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and Red-necked Phalaropes, at Nome, Alaska, across a 14-year interval. I found that shorebirds responded to a decreasing temperature during laying by delaying timing of breeding. Delayed breeding shortened the incubation duration for two biparental species but extended incubation for a uniparental species. Despite a short Arctic summer, the breeding windows of three sympatric species were temporally distinct. The three species often nested within several meters from each other, but bred under different temperature regimes and adjusted their reproductive output to different sets of environmental factors. Shifts in breeding phenology can disrupt trophic interactions, especially the phenological match between peak prey availability and hatching of shorebirds. Comparing the extent of phenological mismatch between six shorebirds and their invertebrate prey at ten Arctic sites, peak demand of shorebird broods occurred on average 3.8 days (± 13.8) later than local food peaks, and population demand curves overlapped with food curves by 47% (± 14%). Latitudinal and longitudinal gradients in the extent of trophic mismatch were mediated through geographic variation in the seasonal phenology of invertebrates and shorebirds. For individual nests, both more northerly and easterly sites showed greater phenological mismatch with annual food peaks. Delayed emergence of food peaks at more northerly and easterly sites alleviated the extent of phenological mismatch. My multi-site study provides the first evidence that large-scale geographic processes can determine the extent of phenological mismatch in a bitrophic system. Trends of climate change are sensitive to breeding stages and also vary along a longitudinal gradient. Variability in climatic trends in the Arctic, combined with species-dependent responses to local climate change, indicate that it will be challenging to predict the impacts of future climate change.

La variabilité phénotypique a tendance à augmenter lorsque l'environnement est variable dans le temps ou l'espace. Cette thèse traite plus précisément de la variabilité des traits d'histoire de vie dans le cadre de populations fragmentées. En région Méditerranéenne, le Pélodyte ponctué, Pelodytes punctatus, se reproduit à la fois au printemps et en automne, en réponse aux variations temporelles de l'environnement. J'ai cherché à comprendre l'origine et les conséquences évolutives de ces stratégies de reproduction. Les deux périodes de reproduction produisent efficacement des descendants (plus en automne) et les têtards de printemps semblent souffrir de la compétition avec les têtards d'automne. Ces derniers se métamorphosent plus tôt et à une plus grande taille. Ces différences de développement ne s'expliquent pas par des différences génétiques entre des populations saisonnières. Au contraire, elles sont liées à la plasticité phénotypique et répondent à des conditions environnementales drastiquement différentes. Il semble plus favorable de se reproduire en automne. Le maintien des deux stratégies correspond à du bet-hedging ou un simple opportunisme. Par ailleurs, la fragmentation, phénomène croissant lié à l'anthropisation des milieux, diminue la taille des populations et augmente l'hétérogénéité génétique au sein d'une population. Il n'y a cependant pas de consanguinité au sein des populations étudiées mais une forte structuration en familles qui induit des associations allèles/phénotypes.Ce travail éclaire les variations de traits d'histoire de vie du Pélodyte et indique une grande plasticité phénotypique face aux variations de l'environnement. / Phenotypic variability tends to increase in temporally and spatially variable environments. This thesis deals with the variability of life-history traits in fragmented populations. In Mediterranean regions, Parsley frog, Pelodytes punctatus, breeds both in spring and in autumn, in response to temporal variations of its environment. I studied the origin and evolutionary consequences of its breeding strategies.Both breeding periods produce offspring (much more in autumn, though) and spring tadpoles suffer from intraspecific competition with older autumn tadpoles. Autumn laid juveniles are bigger and emerged sooner from the ponds. These developmental differences are not due to genetic differences between seasonal populations. They are explained by phenotypic plasticity in response to drastically different conditions. Even if it seems more favourable to breed in autumn, both strategies are maintained either by bet-hedging or pure opportunism.Besides, fragmentation, which increases with global changes, tends to reduce population effective size and increase genetic heterogeneity within populations. However, no inbreeding was found in the studied populations but a high family structure induced alleles/fitness correlations.Together, these results enlighten the variability of breeding strategies and larval traits in Parsley frog and indicate a high phenotypic plasticity in response to environmental variations.

Resumo: A região ocidental do estado de São Paulo abriga a maior área contínua remanescente da Floresta Estacional Semidecidual Atlântica que recobria esta região. Grande parte desta região está protegida no Parque Estadual do Morro do Diabo (PEMD), considerada insuficientemente conhecida, mas de provável importância biológica em relação a herpetofauna. O presente estudo objetivou-se por estudar os padrões de distribuição espacial e temporal da anurofauna do PEMD, e também verificar como a heterogeneidade dos corpos d'água influencia na composição e riqueza de espécies de anfíbios. De maneira geral, as espécies de anfíbios registradas no PEMD (tanto adultos em atividade de vocalização quanto girinos) ocorreram diferentemente entre os variados tipos de corpos d'água amostrados, sendo principalmente relacionado com tipo de correnteza e hidroperíodo dos corpos d'água. Assim, a composição da anurofauna foi diferente entre corpos d'água lóticos, lênticos permanentes/semi-permanentes e lênticos temporários. A ocorrência temporal das espécies foi restrita aos meses quente e úmido do ano (com exceção de uma espécie que ocorreu durante os meses frio e seco), o que resultou em alta sobreposição temporal no período de vocalização dos machos e ocorrência de girinos. Grupos de espécies ocorreram diferentemente ao longo dos meses quente e úmido, com espécies características de início, meio e fim da estação chuvosa. A análise macro-espacial da distribuição da anurofauna no PEMD evidenciou uma baixa similaridade entre as diferentes fitofisionomias amostradas. Na verdade, esta baixa similaridade faunística foi consequência da baixa eficiência de captura das armadilhas de interceptação e queda, o que resultou em uma baixa riqueza de espécies nas fitofisionomias estudadas. No entanto, alta similaridade na composição de espécies foi encontrada... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Occidental region of São Paulo state shelters the largest continuous remnant of Mesophytic Semideciduous Forest (Atlantic domain). Most of this region is legally protected by the Morro do Diabo State Park (MDSP), considered insufficient known but with probable biological importance concerning amphibians and reptiles. The present study aimed to study the spatio-temporal patterns of anuran distribution at MDSP, as well as to verify how environmental heterogeneity of breeding ponds influences on richness and anuran species composition. In general, recorded species (either calling males or tadpoles) occurred differentially among the studied breeding habitats, which was mainly related to the water flow and hidroperiod of breeding habitats. Thus, lotic, lentic permanent/semipermanent, and lentic temporary breeding habitats presented different anuran species composition. Temporal distribution of individuals was restricted to the moist and hot months (with exception to one species that occurred during the dry and cold months), resulting in a high temporal overlap of calling males and tadpoles distribution. Groups of species distributed differentially through the hot and moist months, where typical species of beginning, middle, and end of the rainy season could be identified. A macro-spatial analysis of anuran distribution evidenced low similarity among different sampled phytophysiognomies. Actually, the low faunistic similarity is rather a consequence of the low efficiency of capture by pitfall traps with drift fences, resulting in low species richness in the phytophysiognomies studied. However, a high similarity on species composition was found only among the most preserved areas of MDSP, due to the presence of Rhinella ornata. This species was indicative of the most preserved area of the MDSP, while two other species from the Leiuperidae family (Eupemphix nattereri and Physalaemus cuvieri)... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Orientador: Célio Fernando Baptista Haddad / Coorientador: Denise de Cerqueira Rossa-Feres / Banca: João Miguel de Barros Alexandrino / Banca: Itamar Alves Martins / Banca: José Perez Pombal Junior / Banca: Cinthia Aguirre Brasileiro / Doutor

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:35:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-10-20Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:26:43Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 vasconcelos_ts_dr_rcla.pdf: 935003 bytes, checksum: 9e031857a43c3323cfda884a7640bbdf (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A região ocidental do estado de São Paulo abriga a maior área contínua remanescente da Floresta Estacional Semidecidual Atlântica que recobria esta região. Grande parte desta região está protegida no Parque Estadual do Morro do Diabo (PEMD), considerada insuficientemente conhecida, mas de provável importância biológica em relação a herpetofauna. O presente estudo objetivou-se por estudar os padrões de distribuição espacial e temporal da anurofauna do PEMD, e também verificar como a heterogeneidade dos corpos d’água influencia na composição e riqueza de espécies de anfíbios. De maneira geral, as espécies de anfíbios registradas no PEMD (tanto adultos em atividade de vocalização quanto girinos) ocorreram diferentemente entre os variados tipos de corpos d’água amostrados, sendo principalmente relacionado com tipo de correnteza e hidroperíodo dos corpos d’água. Assim, a composição da anurofauna foi diferente entre corpos d’água lóticos, lênticos permanentes/semi-permanentes e lênticos temporários. A ocorrência temporal das espécies foi restrita aos meses quente e úmido do ano (com exceção de uma espécie que ocorreu durante os meses frio e seco), o que resultou em alta sobreposição temporal no período de vocalização dos machos e ocorrência de girinos. Grupos de espécies ocorreram diferentemente ao longo dos meses quente e úmido, com espécies características de início, meio e fim da estação chuvosa. A análise macro-espacial da distribuição da anurofauna no PEMD evidenciou uma baixa similaridade entre as diferentes fitofisionomias amostradas. Na verdade, esta baixa similaridade faunística foi consequência da baixa eficiência de captura das armadilhas de interceptação e queda, o que resultou em uma baixa riqueza de espécies nas fitofisionomias estudadas. No entanto, alta similaridade na composição de espécies foi encontrada... / Occidental region of São Paulo state shelters the largest continuous remnant of Mesophytic Semideciduous Forest (Atlantic domain). Most of this region is legally protected by the Morro do Diabo State Park (MDSP), considered insufficient known but with probable biological importance concerning amphibians and reptiles. The present study aimed to study the spatio-temporal patterns of anuran distribution at MDSP, as well as to verify how environmental heterogeneity of breeding ponds influences on richness and anuran species composition. In general, recorded species (either calling males or tadpoles) occurred differentially among the studied breeding habitats, which was mainly related to the water flow and hidroperiod of breeding habitats. Thus, lotic, lentic permanent/semipermanent, and lentic temporary breeding habitats presented different anuran species composition. Temporal distribution of individuals was restricted to the moist and hot months (with exception to one species that occurred during the dry and cold months), resulting in a high temporal overlap of calling males and tadpoles distribution. Groups of species distributed differentially through the hot and moist months, where typical species of beginning, middle, and end of the rainy season could be identified. A macro-spatial analysis of anuran distribution evidenced low similarity among different sampled phytophysiognomies. Actually, the low faunistic similarity is rather a consequence of the low efficiency of capture by pitfall traps with drift fences, resulting in low species richness in the phytophysiognomies studied. However, a high similarity on species composition was found only among the most preserved areas of MDSP, due to the presence of Rhinella ornata. This species was indicative of the most preserved area of the MDSP, while two other species from the Leiuperidae family (Eupemphix nattereri and Physalaemus cuvieri)... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)