Unusual late July observation of a fledgling Lapland longspur in low Arctic Greenland following the cool spring of 2018

Arctic Science

article

Eric Post¹  Eva Beyen²  Pernille Sporon Bøving¹  R. Conor Higgins¹  Christian John¹  Jeff Kerby³  Christian Pedersen⁴  David A. Watts⁵ 

[1] Department of Wildlife, University of California;Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California;Neukom Institute for Computational Science, Environmental Studies Program, Dartmouth College;Department of Landscape Monitoring, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research;Department of Biology, University of Sherbrooke

关键词: Arctic;    phenology;    nesting;    climate;    warming;    green-up timing.;   

DOI  :  10.1139/as-2018-0031

学科分类：地球科学(综合)

来源: NRC Research Press

【 摘 要 】

We report an observation of a flightless fledgling Lapland longspur ( Calcarius lapponicus (Linnaeus, 1758)) at a long-term study site near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, in late July 2018. Based on our observations of longspur nests at the site dating back to 1993, we estimate that the fledgling observed in 2018 may have originated from a nest initiated 12–37 d later than nesting in previous years. Onset of spring in 2018 was late, but comparable with other years in which longspur nests were observed a full calendar month earlier than in 2018. An analysis including multiple candidate predictor variables revealed a strong negative association between estimated longspur nest initiation dates and mean May temperature, as well as a weaker association with the length of the annual period of vegetation green up at the site. Given the limitations of our data, however, we are unable to assign causality to the 2018 observation, and cannot rule out other possibilities, such as that it may have resulted from a second clutch.

【 授权许可】

CC BY