10.5061/DRYAD.T7S15HP
Tollington, Simon
University of Kent
Ewen, John G.
Zoological Society of London
Newton, Jason
McGill, Rona A.R.
Smith, Donal
Zoological Society of London
University of Salford
Henshaw, Aurélie
Mauritian Wildlife Foundation
Fogell, Deborah J.
Zoological Society of London
University of Kent
Tatayah, Vikash
Mauritian Wildlife Foundation
Greenwood, Andrew
Jones, Carl G.
University of Salford
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust
Groombridge, Jim J.
University of Kent
Data from: Individual consumption of supplemental food as a predictor of
reproductive performance and viral infection intensity
Dryad
dataset
2019
stable isotope analysis
BFDV
population recovery
qPCR
supplemental feeding
parrot
reproductive fitness
Psittacula echo
2019-11-13T00:00:00Z
2019-11-13T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13303
51985 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
1.Supplemental food is often provided to threatened species in order to
maintain or enhance reproductive fitness and thus population growth.
However, its impact on individual reproductive fitness is rarely
evaluated, despite being associated with both positive and negative
consequences. 2. We used stable isotope analyses to characterise the
relative proportional consumption of supplemental food and quantitative
polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to assess beak and feather disease viral
infection intensity among parakeets. Life-history and nest-site data from
a long-term monitoring effort was incorporated. 3. Older females
benefitted the most from supplemental feeding; demonstrated by a greater
reproductive uplift than younger females. There were no strong predictors
of viral infection levels among nestlings. 4. Reproductive fitness,
measured by the number of fledglings produced per brood, was positively
associated with proportional dietary content of supplemental food among
adult parakeets and breeding pairs that nested closer to feeding stations
consumed more supplemental food than those nesting further away. 5.
Synthesis and applications. Our study demonstrates that supplementary
feeding can lead to an overall increase in population growth. However, by
characterising individual consumption, we also reveal subtle patterns of
use and differential benefits on reproductive fitness within a population.
Manipulating the delivery of supplemental food may help to reduce demand
on finite resources or target the proportion of a population that derives
the most benefit, but is associated with trade-offs in fecundity. For
example the use of, and access to feeding stations could potentially be
targeted towards specific individuals or, positioned in the habitats most
deficient in native food. However, increasing reproductive fitness in one
component of the population may be accompanied by a decrease in another.
This knowledge can be incorporated into adaptive management strategies
that aim to fulfil specific objectives associated with species recovery
and long-term viability as long as the relative importance of each
objective is be considered.
Tollington et al JAPPL2018_00567Individual based data with variables of
proportional supplemental food consumption, viral load and reproductive
output.
Mauritius