Search results for "Parus major"
showing 10 items of 23 documents
Brominated flame retardants and organochlorines in the European environment using great tit eggs as a biomonitoring tool
2009
Large-scale studies are essential to assess the emission patterns and spatial distribution of organohalogenated pollutants (OHPs) in the environment. Bird eggs have several advantages compared to other environmental media which have previously been used to map the distribution of OHPs. In this study, large-scale geographical variation in the occurrence of OHPs, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), was investigated throughout Europe using eggs of a terrestrial residential passerine species, the great tit (Parus major). Great tit eggs from 22 sampling sites, involving urban, rural and remote areas, in 14 Europea…
A higher incidence of moult–breeding overlap in great tits across time is linked to an increased frequency of second clutches: a possible effect of g…
2021
The rise of temperatures due to global warming is related to a lengthening of the breeding season in many bird species. This allows more pairs to attempt two clutches within the breeding season, thus finishing their breeding activity later in the season and therefore potentially overlapping these with post–breeding moult. We tested whether this occurred in two Spanish great tit Parus major populations. The proportion of pairs laying second clutches increased from 1 % to 32 % over the study period in one of the populations (Sagunto, 1995–2019), while it did not change in the other (Quintos, 2006–2019; mean 5 %). We did not find any temporal trend for moult start date of late–breeding birds i…
Mākslīgo ligzdvietu iekšējā apgaismojuma loma melnā mušķērāja Ficedula hypoleuca un lielās zīlītes Parus major ligzdošanas vietas izvēlē
2018
Balstoties uz iepriekš publicētiem pētījumiem, kuros konstatēta ligzdvietas iekšējā apgaismojuma līmeņa nozīme dobumperētāju ligzdvietu izvēlē, tika izvirzīts pieņēmums, ka mērķsugu īpatņi biežāk ligzdošanai izvēlēsies gaišākās nekā tumšākas mākslīgās ligzdvietas. Par darba mērķi tika uzstādīts noskaidrot mākslīgo ligzdvietu iekšējā apgaismojuma ietekmi uz melnā mušķērāja Ficedula hypoleuca un lielās zīlītes Parus major ligzdošanas vietas izvēli. Visi četri pētījuma veikšanai izvēlētie parauglaukumi atradās Garkalnes un Inčukalna novados, dabas liegumā “Garkalnes meži,” skrajos, viendabīgos priežu monoaudzes sausieņu tipa mežos. Eksperimenta veikšanai tika sagatavotas parauglaukumos jau eso…
Adaptive plasticity of blue tits(Parus caeruleus)and great tits(Parus major)breeding in natural and semi‐natural insular habitats
2004
The breeding performance and foraging of blue and great tits, and the abundance of arthropods living on the trees of an oak-wood and of a coniferous reafforestation were studied in Sicily, in order to: 1) compare breeding parameters in natural and semi-natural habitats within the same area; 2) estimate the degree of overlap in peak resource and peak demand of young tits, and the overlap of nestling diet of the two species in the two habitats. Both species had earlier laying dates, laid more eggs and raised more fledglings in the oakwood than in the reafforestation; they achieved the same fledging success within the same habitat type. These differences are probably due to the earlier and hig…
Deconstructing incubation behaviour in response to ambient temperature over different timescales
2021
Avian embryos need a stable thermal environment to develop optimally, while incubat-ing females need to allocate time to self-maintenance off the nest. In species with female-only incubation, eggs are exposed to ambient temperatures that usually cool them down during female absences. The lower the ambient temperature the sooner females should return to re-warm the eggs. When incubation constraints ease at increasing ambient temperatures, females respond by increasing either incubation effort or self-maintenance time. These responses are population-dependent even within the same species; but it is uncertain whether they are caused by local environmental conditions or they are an artefact fro…
“The tale of the three little tits”: Different nest building solutions under the same environmental pressures
2020
Evolutionary selection pressures, and species-specific ecology and behavior, promote a great variability in the size and composition of nests. However, it would be expected that phylogenetically close species, with similar ecological needs, breeding at the same time in the same place, would also build similar nests. In contrast with this, previous studies have found differences in nest mass and composition among closely related sympatric species. These differences have been attributed to small differences in body size (smaller species building larger and/or more insulated nests), or to the different ways in which species perceive the environment (e.g. perceived predation risk). In this stud…
Data from: Inter-annual variation and long-term trends in proportions of resident individuals in partially migratory birds
2016
Partial migration – a part of a population migrates and another part stays resident year-round on the breeding site – is probably the most common type of migration in the animal kingdom, yet it has only lately garnered more attention. Theoretical studies indicate that in partially migratory populations, the proportion of resident individuals (PoR) should increase in high latitudes in response to the warming climate, but empirical evidence exists for few species. We provide the first comprehensive overview of the environmental factors affecting PoR and the long-term trends in PoR by studying 27 common partially migratory bird species in Finland. The annual PoR values were calculated by divid…
Does Arsenic Contamination Affect DNA Methylation Patterns in a Wild Bird Population? : An Experimental Approach
2021
Pollutants, such as toxic metals, negatively influence organismal health and performance, even leading to population collapses. Studies in model organisms have shown that epigenetic marks, such as DNA methylation, can be modulated by various environmental factors, including pollutants, influencing gene expression, and various organismal traits. Yet experimental data on the effects of pollution on DNA methylation from wild animal populations are largely lacking. We here experimentally investigated for the first time the effects of early-life exposure to environmentally relevant levels of a key pollutant, arsenic (As), on genome-wide DNA methylation in a wild bird population. We experimentall…
Patrones de incubación y eclosión del Carbonero Común Parus major en un ambiente mediterráneo: causas y consecuencias
2013
Objetivos generales: Los principales objetivos de esta tesis son describir los patrones de incubación y eclosión de una población de carbonero común Parus major en un ambiente mediterráneo, profundizar en algunas de las causas que afectan a dichos patrones, centrándonos sobre todo en las características del nido, y describir sus posibles consecuencias en el desempeño reproductor. Hipótesis general: Las características parentales, las del nido, y las condiciones ambientales pueden afectar a la duración de los periodos de incubación y eclosión, teniendo consecuencias en el desempeño reproductor. Para poder alcanzar los objetivos generales, hemos identificado varios objetivos particulares, agr…
Data from: Low but contrasting neutral genetic differentiation shaped by winter temperature in European great tits
2015
Gene flow is usually thought to reduce genetic divergence and impede local adaptation by homogenising gene pools between populations. However, evidence for local adaptation and phenotypic differentiation in highly mobile species, experiencing high levels of gene flow, is emerging. Assessing population genetic structure at different spatial scales is thus a crucial step towards understanding mechanisms underlying intraspecific differentiation and diversification. Here, we studied the population genetic structure of a highly mobile species – the great tit Parus major – at different spatial scales. We analysed 884 individuals from 30 sites across Europe including 10 close-by sites (< 50 km)…