Age-specificity in territory quality and spatial structure in a wild bird population

Age influences behaviour, survival, and reproduction; hence variation in population age structure can affect population-level processes. The extent of spatial age structure may be important in driving spatially-variable demography, particularly when space-use is linked to reproduction, yet it is not well understood. We use long-term data from a wild bird population to quantify covariance between territory quality and age and examine spatial age structure. We find associations between age and aspects of territory quality, but little evidence for spatial age structure compared to the spatial structure of territory quality and reproductive output. We also report little between-year repeatability of spatial age structure compared to structure in reproductive output. We suggest that high breeding site fidelity among individuals that survive between years, yet frequent territory turnover driven by high mortality and immigration rates, limits the association between age and territory quality a..., (i) Study system and data collection
The great tit Parus major is a passerine bird found in woodlands across Europe, with breeding ages ranging 1–9, averaging 1.8 years [1–3]. Although there are some continuous changes with age [1], the main age effects on individual-level traits are captured by two age-classes: first-years (hereafter yearlings) and older (hereafter adults [2–6]). The species is socially monogamous, with pairs defending territories during annual breeding seasons [7]. Data used here are from a long-term study in Wytham Woods, Oxford (51°46’N, 1°20’W), a 385ha mixed deciduous woodland surrounded by farmland [8]. The tit population has been monitored since 1947, where breeding adults and their chicks have been marked with unique BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) rings since the 1960s; and standard reproductive metrics are collected [9]. Individuals breed almost exclusively in the 1026 nest-boxes which are in fixed positions with known GPS coordinates [10,11]. All ch..., , # Age-specificity in territory quality and spatial structure in a wild bird population

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A. Paper associated with this archive: Age-specificity in territory quality and spatial structure in a wild bird population

Citation: Woodman et al., under review.

Brief abstract: Age influences behaviour, survival, and reproduction; hence variation in population age structure can affect population-level processes. The extent of spatial age structure may be important in driving spatially-variable demography, particularly when space-use is linked to reproduction, yet it is not well understood. We use long-term data from a wild bird population to quantify covariance between territory quality and age and examine spatial age structure. We find associations between age and aspects of territory quality, but little evidence for spatial age structure compared to the spatial structure of territory quality and reproductive output. We also report little betwee...,