Mind the wind: microclimate effects on incubation effort of an arctic seabird

The energetic costs of reproduction in birds strongly depend on the climate experienced during incubation. Climate change and increasing frequency of extreme weather events may severely affect these costs, especially for species incubating in extreme environments. In this 3-year study, we used an experimental approach to investigate the effects of microclimate and nest shelter on the incubation effort of female common eiders (Somateria mollissima) in a wild Arctic population. We added artificial shelters to a random selection of nesting females, and compared incubation effort, measured as body mass loss during incubation, between females with and without shelter. Nonsheltered females had a higher incubation effort than females with artificial shelters. In nonsheltered females, higher wind speeds increased the incubation effort, while artificially sheltered females experienced no effect of wind. Although increasing ambient temperatures tended to decrease incubation effort, this effect wa...

鸟类繁殖的能量消耗，在很大程度上取决于孵化阶段所处的气候环境。气候变化与极端天气事件发生频次的增加，可能会显著影响此类能量消耗，对于在极端环境中进行孵化的物种而言，这一影响尤为突出。本研究为期三年，采用实验手段，探究了微气候（microclimate）与巢庇护条件对野生北极种群中的雌性普通绒鸭（Somateria mollissima）孵化投入的影响。研究人员随机选取部分筑巢雌性个体，为其加装人工庇护结构，并以孵化期间的体重流失量作为孵化投入的量化指标，对比了加装庇护结构与未加装庇护结构的雌性个体的孵化投入差异。未加装庇护结构的雌性个体，其孵化投入显著高于加装人工庇护结构的个体。对于未受庇护的雌性个体而言，风速升高会提升其孵化投入，而人工庇护的雌性个体则不受风速因素的影响。尽管环境温度升高往往会降低孵化投入，但这一效应仍……