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Context. Bird species have been studied and documented abundantly in the past decades and are good indicators of ecosystem conditions, providing useful information of the changes in the ecological state of wetlands over time. However, monitoring data for birds in wetland sites are often disparate and not homogeneous overtime and among species, which complicates the interpretation of trends. Aims. We examined historical literature from 1835 to 2019, complemented by an expert knowledge survey and citizen-science databases to estimate the abundance of species, and evaluated changes in the structure and composition by average bird abundances. Key results. Our results suggested that land-cover and land-use changes have shaped the local bird community, with a decline in agricultural and grassland bird species as a result of changes in agricultural practices. Coastal wetland and marine birds have increased in abundance, most probably linked to the extension of saltpans and successful conservation measures. Conclusions. These trends in bird communities demonstrate the impacts of different land management strategies on biodiversity., Foundation Tour du Valat; Campus France Scholarship, This study was funded by the Foundation Tour du Valat and the Campus France Scholarship.

Greater flamingos use cosmetic coloration by spreading uropygial secretions pigmented with carotenoids over their feathers, which makes the plumage redder. Because flamingos inhabit open environments that receive direct solar radiation during daytime, and carotenoids bleach when exposed to solar radiation, we expected that the plumage color would fade if there is no maintenance for cosmetic purposes. Here, we show that the concentrations of pigments inside feathers and on the surface of feathers were correlated, as well as that there was a correlation between the concentrations of pigments in the uropygial secretions and on the surface of feathers. There was fading in color (becoming less red) in feathers that received direct solar radiation when there was no plumage maintenance, but not so in others maintained in darkness. When we controlled for the initial color of feathers, the feathers of those individuals with higher concentration of pigments on the feather surfaces were those that lost less coloration after experimental exposure of feathers to sunny conditions. These results indicate that exposure to sunlight is correlated with the fading of feather color, which suggests that individuals need to regularly apply makeup to be more colorful. These results also reinforce the view that these birds use cosmetic coloration as a signal amplifier of plumage color. This may be important in species using highly variable habitats, such as wetlands, since the conditions experienced when molting may differ from those when the signal should be functional, usually months after molting., Greater flamingo plumage coloration fades when there is no frequent application of cosmetics.

By rapidly modifying key habitat components, habitat restoration is at risk of producing attractive cues for animals without providing habitats of sufficient quality. As such, individual fitness components, such as reproduction, could be reduced and restored habitats could become ecological traps. This risk notably appears by using artificial constructions in restoration projects, yet few studies have evaluated their efficacy in a robust way. We investigated this by analyzing 154 islets that were created or restored to improve the conservation status of 7 colonial Laridae species in the South of France. From 2007 to 2016, we compared occupancy dynamics and breeding parameters of these species between the restored sites and 846 unmanaged nesting sites. We also explored species' preference for different nesting site characteristics and their respective effect on breeding parameters. Restored nesting sites were 2-9 times as attractive as unmanaged sites for all species except the Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus). Colonization probability was up to 100 times higher in sites already used by other species the previous year and increased with distance to the shore until0.2 when distance was over 250 m. Abandonment probability was 29-70% lower when breeding was successful the previous year in all species except the Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis). Productivity and breeding success probability were 2 times higher on managed sites. Distance from the shore was an important attractive characteristic of artificial nesting sites in all species. Other nesting site characteristics had species-specific effects on colonization, abandonment, and breeding success. Our results indicate that managed nesting sites are successful conservation tools for colonial Laridae in the Mediterranean and do not act as ecological traps. Our study showed that testing the ecological trap hypothesis is a robust way to evaluate the success of restoration projects of breeding habitats.Eficiencia de los sitios de anidación creados y restaurados para la conservación de láridos coloniales en el sur de Francia Resumen Con la rápida modificación de los componentes clave de un hábitat, la restauración corre el riesgo de producir entradas atractivas para los animales sin proporcionar hábitats con la suficiente calidad. Como tal, los elementos individuales de la aptitud, como la reproducción, podrían ser reducidos y los hábitats restaurados podrían convertirse en trampas ecológicas. Aunque este riesgo aparece especialmente cuando se usan construcciones artificiales en los proyectos de restauración, son pocos los estudios que han evaluado su efectividad de manera firme. Investigamos lo anterior con el análisis de 154 islotes que fueron creados o restaurados para mejorar el estado de conservación de siete especies de láridos coloniales en el sur de Francia. Comparamos las dinámicas de ocupación y los parámetros de reproducción de estas especies entre 2007 y 2016 en los sitios restaurados y en 846 sitios de anidación no administrados. También exploramos la preferencia de las especies por diferentes características en los sitios de anidación y su respectivo efecto sobre los parámetros de reproducción. Los sitios de anidación restaurados fueron de 2 a 9 veces más atractivos para todas las especies, excepto la gaviota de cabeza negra (Croicocephalus ridibundus), que los sitios no administrados. La probabilidad de colonización fue hasta 100 veces mayor en los sitios usados por otras especies el año previo e incrementó con la distancia a la costa hasta0.2, cuando la distancia fue mayor a los 250 metros. La probabilidad de abandono fue de 29 a 70% más baja para todas las especies, excepto el charrán de Sándwich (Thalasseus sandvicensis), cuando la reproducción fue exitosa el año anterior. La probabilidad de la productividad y el éxito de reproducción fueron dos veces mayores en los sitios administrados. La distancia a la costa fue una característica atractiva importante de los sitios artificiales de anidación para todas las especies. Otras características de los sitios de anidación tuvieron efectos específicos por especie sobre la colonización, el abandono y el éxito de la reproducción. Nuestros resultados indican que los sitios de anidación administrados son herramientas exitosas de conservación para los láridos coloniales en el Mediterráneo y no funcionan como trampas ecológicas. Nuestro estudio demuestra que analizar la hipótesis de la trampa ecológica es una manera sólida de evaluar el éxito de la restauración en los proyectos de hábitats para la reproducción.生境恢复可以迅速改变关键的生境组分, 这有可能在不能保障生境质量的情况下对动物产生吸引力, 导致个别的适合度组分(如繁殖)下降, 因此, 恢复的生境可能会成为生态陷阱。这一风险主要来自于恢复项目使用的人工建筑物, 但很少有研究通过稳健的方法来评估其保护效力。本研究通过分析为保护法国南部繁殖的七种鸥科鸟类而建立或恢复的154个小岛, 以探讨这个问题。我们比较了2007-2016年间, 这些物种在恢复后的位点和846个未纳入管理的巢址之间的使用动态和繁殖参数。我们还研究了物种对不同巢址特征的偏好及其对繁殖参数的影响。结果表明, 除黑头鸥(Croicocephalus ridibundus)外, 恢复后的位点对于鸟类筑巢的吸引力是未管理位点的2-9倍。在前一年已经被其他物种使用过的位点中, 鸟类繁殖概率高达100倍, 并且随着与海岸的距离增加而增加, 当距离海岸超过250米时, 筑巢概率0.2。除白嘴端凤头燕鸥(Thalasseus sandvicensis)外, 所有物种对前一年繁殖成功的巢址的弃用率都降低29-70%。得到管理的位点生产力和繁殖成功率比未管理位点高2倍。在所有物种中, 与海岸的距离都是人工巢址的一个重要吸引力特征。其他巢址特征对筑巢情况、弃用率和繁殖成功率的影响有物种特异性。我们的研究结果表明, 受到管理的巢址是地中海繁殖鸥科鸟类的有效保护工具, 且没有成为生态陷阱。此外, 对生态陷阱假说的检验是评估繁殖生境恢复项目成功与否的一种稳健方法。【翻译:胡怡思;审校:聂永刚】.

The Mediterranean Basin is a biodiversity hotspot. Wetlands make a key contribution to this status, but many of them remain outside the Ramsar network fifty years after the establishment of the Ramsar Convention. Here we evaluate the extent to which the Mediterranean Ramsar network covers wetlands of international importance for wintering waterbirds using the Ramsar Convention criteria 2 (species of conservation concern), 5 (> 20,000 waterbirds) and 6 (1% of a population). These criteria were applied to 4186 sites in 24 Mediterranean countries using counts of 145 wintering waterbird species from 1991 to 2017. We identified 161 sites of international importance for waterbirds that have not yet been declared as Ramsar sites, which could be added to the 180 current Mediterranean Ramsar sites established based on waterbird criteria (criteria 5 and/or 6). Among these sites, a subset of 32 very important sites reached double the required level for at least one criterion and 95 were not protected by any site conservation status. Coastal wetlands represented half of the Ramsar gap for waterbirds. We identified that an additional 1218 monitored sites could be provisionally considered as internationally important and thus require more survey efforts to assess their status. This study highlights a lack of participation of the Mediterranean countries to build the Ramsar network for wetland protection. Our results should help policymakers and managers to prioritize future Ramsar site designation, notably in the Middle East and Western European region where important gaps were identified.

We used a large dataset of greater flamingo chicks banded and measured at Camargue, France, to verify the applicability of discriminant function analysis to sex this species. Males and females sexed genetically differed significantly in all of the morphological characters measured (body mass, tarsus and wing length), with males being significantly larger than females. Although the discriminant rate varied substantially from one year to another, we found that it increased with the sample size of genetically sexed individuals. Our results suggest that discriminant function analysis (DFA) does not provide an efficient tool to sex greater flamingo chicks as these relationship are highly variable across years, requiring the genetic determination of sex on a large number of individuals every year for calibrating the DFA and still providing an overall low accuracy in sex determination. Indeed, conditions at breeding seasons can vary between years and can be considered proximate causes affecting the correct discriminant rate. Like previous studies, we recommend caution in dealing with discriminant equations computed from small datasets, and our simulation suggests that 325 genetically sexed individuals are needed to obtain 80 % correctly classified greater flamingo chicks.

International audience; Integrated socio-ecological decision-making is important in improving legitimacy in management decisions through effective solutions that avert conflicts. This research examined social perceptions in landscape planning and management with regard to the Greater flamingo, a flagship species along the southern French Coast. A strategic delivery to a cross-section in a social catchment (n = 87) captured the perception and the recognition of management strategies through a survey questionnaire. Analysis was conducted through a multi-method approach, triangulating qualitative and quantitative results. Results show the importance of the attachment to flamingos in local landscapes. Knowledge on flamingo ecology was relatively high and participants perceived some of the regional management options to be unfavorable for flamingos. Participants identified threats to the species and expressed concern for the future of the flamingos, challenging the legitimacy of some landscape management decisions and planning policies. This research demonstrates the role of flagship species in stimulating reflection on landscape management, addressing both the ecological and human dimensions. Understanding social perceptions of biodiversity management objectives is fundamental for effective coastal conservation.

The Spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca) is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with small and fragmented populations located around the Mediterranean basin. In Turkey, this species has remained poorly studied which hampers solid assessment of threats and conservation measures. We studied the spatial distribution, habitat use, and demography of the species in the Gediz Delta (Aegean coast of Turkey) between 2015 and 2017 with a specific capture-mark-recapture survey made in the Sazligol marshes. A total of 114 individuals (20 juveniles, 62 males and 32 females) were captured and released in that period. Carapace length of adult females was on average higher (205.2 +/- 3.2 mm) than in adult males (190.9 +/- 2.3 mm). Sex ratio was biased with 1.94 males per female. Based on the capture-recapture histories of 65 individuals (3 juveniles, 37 males and 25 females) marked in 2015, we estimated the population size of the Sazligol marsh population to be 137 +/- 23 individuals, which corresponds to a density of 5.7 individuals per ha. The main threats detected were agricultural activities, urbanisation and captures for the pet trade., Doga Dernegi; Tour du Valat, Ege University Scientific Research Fund (Ege Universitesi Bilimsel Arastirmalar Fonu) [2017/FEN/041]; PACA Regional Council; MAVA Foundation, This study is part of a project supported by Doga Dernegi and the Tour du Valat, Ege University Scientific Research Fund (Ege Universitesi Bilimsel Arastirmalar Fonu) [Grant No: 2017/FEN/041]. Legal authorization for the study was provided by the Turkish National Parks Authority (Research permit No: 72784983-488.04-41632) and ethical permission was provided from Ege University. We are grateful to these organizations, the PACA Regional Council and the MAVA Foundation for their generous financial support.

International audience; It is now well admitted by ecologists that the conservation of biodiversity should imply preserving the evolutionary processes that will permit its adaptation to ongoing and future environmental changes. This is attested by the ever‐growing reference to the conservation of evolutionary potential in the scientific literature. The impression that one may have when reading papers is that conserving evolutionary potential can only be a good thing, whatever biological system is under scrutiny. However, different objectives, such as maintaining species richness versus ecosystem services, may express different, when not conflicting, underlying values attributed to biodiversity. For instance, biodiversity can be intrinsically valued, as worth it to be conserved per se, or it can be conserved as a means for human flourishing. Consequently, both the concept of evolutionary potential and the prescriptions derived from the commitment to conserve it remain problematic, due to a lack of explicit mention of the norms underlying different conservation visions. Here, we contend that those who advocate for the conservation of evolutionary potential should position their conception along four dimensions: what vehicles instantiate the evolutionary potential relevant to their normative commitment; what temporality is involved; how measurable evolutionary potential is, and what degree of human influence is tolerated. We need to address these dimensions if we are to determine why and when the maintenance of evolutionary potential is an appropriate target for the conservation of biodiversity.

Relating the effects of foraging niche variation to reproductive dynamics is critical to understand species response to environmental change. We examined foraging niche variations of the slender‐billed gull (Chroicocephalus genei), a nomadic colonial waterbird species during its range expansion along the French Mediterranean coast over a 16‐year period (1998–2013). We investigated whether range expansion was associated with a change in chick diet, breeding success, and chicks body condition. We also examined whether breeding success and chicks body condition were explained by diet and colonial characteristics (number of pairs, laying phenology, habitat, and locality). Diet was characterized using dual‐stable isotopic proxies (δ 13C and δ 15N) of feather keratin from 331 individuals subsampled from a total of 4,154 chicks ringed and measured at 18 different colonies. δ 13C decreased and δ 15N increased significantly during range expansion suggesting that chicks were fed from preys of increasing trophic level found in the less salty habitat colonized by the end of the study period. Niche shift occurred without significant change of niche width which did not vary among periods, habitats, or localities either. Breeding success and chick body condition showed no consistent trends over years. Breeding success tended to increase with decreasing δ 13C at the colony level while there was no relationship between stable isotope signatures and chick body condition. Overall, our results suggest that even if range expansion is associated with foraging niche shift toward the colonization of less salty and more brackish habitats, the shift had marginal effect on the breeding parameters of the Slender‐billed gull. Niche width appears as an asset of this species, which likely explains its ability to rapidly colonize new locations., We examined the change in foraging niche of a colonial waterbird which suddenly enlarge its breeding distribution. In spite of a diet shift, reproductive success and chicks' body condition were only marginally affected. Interestingly, the impressive plasticity of this species allows maintaining its breeding parameters despite important changes of nesting habitat.

International audience; A partir d'une réflexion historique, écologique et politique sur l'une des plus vastes et emblématiques zones humides d'Europe, cet ouvrage propose une nouvelle vision pour la protection de la nature. Le réensauvagement des territoires s'impose à la fois comme un constat et comme un projet. "Il s'agit d'un problème de géographie politique : comment la mobilité animale rebat les cartes de l'aménagement du territoire. Le sauvage sort des zones où l'on pensait depuis longtemps l'avoir confiné, s'immisce dans le territoire des humains, y provoquant des désagréments divers qui révèlent des conflits de souveraineté. " Le flamant rose nichait régulièrement dans le sud de la France, en Camargue, jusqu'aux années 1960. Après de nombreux efforts de surveillance, de comptage, de baguage, de création de site de reproduction, de gestion de l'eau, de communication, l'espèce se reproduit à nouveau et a retrouvé des effectifs importants : elle n'est plus menacée. Mais un îlot créé à la pelle mécanique, surveillé de près par scientifiques et gardiens, dans un bassin de pré-concentration tiré au cordeau d'une exploitation industrielle du sel de mer, ce n'est pas vraiment ce que la plupart d'entre nous considérons comme la nature. L'histoire du sauvetage du flamant rose révèle un vaste réseau d'acteurs qui participent à la protection de la nature, en particulier dans le cadre du plus grand projet de restauration écologique d'Europe. Dans l'ombre de ce succès, se dissimulent de nombreuses questions sur l'état de la nature et des relations que nous entretenons avec elle. Politiques du flamant rose raconte, au plus près du terrain, les histoires, les conflits et les alliances d'un territoire, et invite à penser le territoire des autres et les conditions de la coexistence avec les autres-qu'humains. Un ouvrage destiné à tous les publics. (4e de couverture)

A partir d'une réflexion historique, écologique et politique sur l'une des plus vastes et emblématiques zones humides d'Europe, cet ouvrage propose une nouvelle vision pour la protection de la nature. Le réensauvagement des territoires s'impose à la fois comme un constat et comme un projet. "Il s'agit d'un problème de géographie politique : comment la mobilité animale rebat les cartes de l'aménagement du territoire. Le sauvage sort des zones où l'on pensait depuis longtemps l'avoir confiné, s'immisce dans le territoire des humains, y provoquant des désagréments divers qui révèlent des conflits de souveraineté. " Le flamant rose nichait régulièrement dans le sud de la France, en Camargue, jusqu'aux années 1960. Après de nombreux efforts de surveillance, de comptage, de baguage, de création de site de reproduction, de gestion de l'eau, de communication, l'espèce se reproduit à nouveau et a retrouvé des effectifs importants : elle n'est plus menacée. Mais un îlot créé à la pelle mécanique, surveillé de près par scientifiques et gardiens, dans un bassin de pré-concentration tiré au cordeau d'une exploitation industrielle du sel de mer, ce n'est pas vraiment ce que la plupart d'entre nous considérons comme la nature. L'histoire du sauvetage du flamant rose révèle un vaste réseau d'acteurs qui participent à la protection de la nature, en particulier dans le cadre du plus grand projet de restauration écologique d'Europe. Dans l'ombre de ce succès, se dissimulent de nombreuses questions sur l'état de la nature et des relations que nous entretenons avec elle. Politiques du flamant rose raconte, au plus près du terrain, les histoires, les conflits et les alliances d'un territoire, et invite à penser le territoire des autres et les conditions de la coexistence avec les autres-qu'humains. Un ouvrage destiné à tous les publics. (4e de couverture)

Correction DOI: 10.1007/s00442-017-4001-6 (WOS:000419477800010); International audience; Sex- and age-dependence in recruitment and dispersal are often explained by costs arising from competition for holding a breeding territory over the years-a typical feature of species living in stable habitats. For instance, long-lived birds with male territoriality often exhibit large variation in recruitment age and higher dispersal in females and young individuals. As a corollary, we expected that species with ephemeral habitat suitability, and hence nomadic breeding, would show weak age- and sex-dependence in dispersal and low variation in recruitment age, because territory ownership is not maintained over the years. In addition, the higher cost of reproduction in females might not be (over)compensated for by costs of territoriality in males. Accordingly, females would recruit later than males. We explored these variations using multievent capture-recapture models over 13 years, 3479 (2392 sexed) slender-billed gulls (Chroicocephalus genei) and 45 colony sites along the French Mediterranean coast. As expected, variability in recruitment age was low with males recruiting earlier than females. Nonetheless, dispersal in and out of the study area decreased with age and was slightly higher in males than in females. Decreased dispersal with age might result from foraging benefits associated with increased spatial familiarity. Higher dispersal in males might be explained by a male-biased sex ratio or higher philopatry benefits in females (arising from their higher cost of reproduction). Sex- and age-dependent dispersal and recruitment may thus occur in the absence of year-to-year breeding territory ownership, which stresses the importance of considering other processes in shaping recruitment and dispersal patterns.

Repeated association between subsets of individuals is a common feature of species living in social groups. Because colonial breeding, an extreme case of group living, is associated with certain group behaviour, colonial species are interesting study models to explore the occurrence of social bonds between individuals. As colonial species are usually highly philopatric, disentangling the fidelity to a breeding site from the fidelity to a group of individuals is challenging. Slender-billed gull, Chroicocephalus genei, colonies, however, relocate almost yearly. This behaviour makes it possible to study individual associations over several years, i.e. associations between individuals breeding in the same colony in more than 1 year. To quantify and identify the mechanisms that favour repeated individual associations across years, we analysed data from 14 years of observations of 953 individually marked gulls. Our results showed that some individuals repeatedly bred together across breeding seasons despite the colony moving every year. The probability of an individual selecting a colony increased with an increase in the number of birds that had bred in the same colony as that individual the previous year and not the overall number at the colony. However, we found yearly variation in group tenacity levels and that colony breeding failure favoured splitting of the groups. We also found that association rates rapidly decreased across years but stayed higher than random associations during 2 consecutive years after the first observations. Moreover, over the entire study period, we plotted a bipartite network and found that all colonies and individuals in the population were fully connected. This study reveals group tenacity across years in a colonial bird. Evolutionary pressures as well as the mechanisms favouring social bond persistence across years in colonial birds, however, need further research.

Elevated concentrations of trace elements represent a major concern to wetland ecosystems, since river estuaries are geochemical endpoints that accumulate pollution. Although the negative impact of environmental exposure of highly toxic elements such as Pb and Hg has received substantial attention, we still lack a comprehensive understanding of the effects that these and other common trace elements have on natural populations. We used greater flamingos as a study system within three sites that represent a gradient of pollution. Controlling for environmental sediment exposure, we assessed if signatures of bioaccumulation in feathers for ten trace elements (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Se, Sn and Zn) are associated with two known proxies of health: body condition and the gut bacterial microbiome. We found evidence of an adverse effect of Se, Hg, and Pb bioaccumulation on body condition. Furthermore, bioaccumulation of the elements As, Cu, Se, Pb and Zn influenced different aspects of the gut microbiome. Bioaccumulation of Se led to a shift in the microbiome composition, largely driven by an enrichment of Bacteroides plebeius, which is linked to the breakdown of sulphated polysaccharides of algae. Bacteroides plebeius was negatively associated with chick body condition, suggesting an adverse effect of a microalgae diet rich in Se. Pb bioaccumulation was linked with a decrease in microbial diversity (adjusted-R2 = 10.4%) and an increase in heterogeneity of the microbial community (adjusted-R2 = 10.5%), an indication of impaired gut homeostasis. As, Cu and Zn had more nuanced effects on gut microbiome heterogeneity according to breeding site and bioaccumulation concentration. Our results therefore suggest that in addition to well-studied elements, bioaccumulation of poorly studied elements also adversely affect health of natural populations.

Biodiversity offsets aim to achieve a “no-net-loss” of biodiversity, ecosystem functions and services due to development. The “no-net-less” objective assumes that the multi-dimensional values of biodiversity in complex ecosystems can be isolated from their spatial, evolutionary, historical, social, and moral context. We examine the irreplaceability of ecosystems, the limits of restoration, and the environmental values that claim to be compensated through ecosystem restoration. We discuss multiple ecological, instrumental, and non-instrumental values of ecosystems that should be considered in offsetting calculations. Considering this range of values, we summarize the multiple ecological, regulatory, and ethical losses that are often dismissed when evaluating offsets and the “no-net-loss” objective. Given the risks that biodiversity offsets pose in bypassing strict regulations, eroding our moral responsibility to protect nature, and embracing misplaced technological optimism relating to ecosystem restoration, we argue that offsets cannot fulfil their promise to resolve the trade-off between development and conservation. If compensation for biodiversity loss is unavoidable, as it may well be, these losses must be made transparent and adequate reparation must embrace socio-ecological uncertainty, for example through a Multi-Criteria Evaluation framework. Above all, strict protection legislation should be strengthened rather than watered down as is the current trend.

International audience; Migratory birds often travel long distances between non-breeding and breeding areas. The suitability of weather and foraging conditions they experience upon arrival at their breeding grounds is an essential component explaining the timing and success of reproduction. Climate change has been identified as a major contributor to "mismatches" in resource phenology and timing of reproduction in animal populations. Climate models project a disproportionate degree of warming at high latitudes, thus the potential for marked temperature-related mismatches in polar regions. Timing of breeding for many Arctic species is also governed by snowmelt. Current models project a general increase in winter precipitation for the Arctic, which can lead to years of delayed snowmelt despite the overall warming trend. This delayed snowmelt could affect phenology, or the availability of resources for egg production. We use an unplanned contrast in dates of snowmelt during a two year research program in the Canadian Arctic to explore the hypothesis that, for Arctic-breeding shorebirds with fixed clutch sizes and an income-breeding strategy, adjustment of reproductive effort to delayed snowmelt could result in a reduced egg size. We compared egg volume in clutches of several shorebird species in the two consecutive years. We found significant variation in egg volume between years, with eggs approximately 5% smaller in the year of late snowmelt, suggesting that shorebirds faced with adverse conditions upon arrival to their breeding grounds can respond by decreasing egg-size. A larger sample of years, sites and shorebird species would help to clarify the generality of this response.

8 pages; International audience; Lateralization refers to the preferential use of one side of the body to perform certain tasks, often as a consequence of the specialization of cerebral hemispheres. Individuals may benefit from lateralization if it allows them to perform complex tasks simultaneously. Studies on laterality further suggest that sex and age can influence the extent of lateralization. However, most studies on lateralization have been performed on captive individuals, exposed to simplified environments and expressing limited behavioural repertoire. Here, we evaluated behavioural lateralization in the greater flamingo, Phoenicopterus roseus, through observations of wild individuals 5–37 years old. We examined the lateralization of simple behaviours (resting postures) and of several demanding behaviours requiring enhanced motor control and coordination (stamping for food and five courtship postures). Resting postures were not lateralized. In contrast, nearly all flamingos were completely lateralized for stamping, with a significant predominance of right-footed individuals. During courtship displays, twist-preens were significantly lateralized, yet with no dominant laterality at the population level. Finally, we detected a slight positive effect of age on the intensity of twist-preen lateralization, which may be related to the increased complexity of courtship displays with age in this species. Our results support the hypothesis that lateralization manifests in complex behaviours, even in wild animals.

International audience; Delayed maturity and high survival rates of immatures and adults characterize long‐lived species’ life histories. Understanding how these traits interact in stochastic environments is essential to understand early life in long‐lived species and to assist conservation planning. Unfortunately, available information of demographic traits in immatures are often fragmentary and the logistical difficulties of capturing and recapturing this cohort leave little room for improvement. Published immature chelonian survival estimates vary broadly, are often not age‐specific, and lack precision. In an attempt to overcome this issue, we developed a novel modelling approach based on Capture‐Recapture data to obtain robust age‐specific survival probabilities in two chelonian species (the freshwater European pond turtle, Emys orbicularis, and the terrestrial Hermann's tortoise, Testudo hermanni). More specifically, we show that implementing a linear relationship between survival probabilities and age does not distort survival estimates and improves precision. Both species display a progressive increase in survival with age, reaching a plateau at the ages of four to five. As maturity occurs later in both species (8–12 years‐old), the survival plateau might be governed by the final hardening of the carapace, which brings obvious survival benefits. Taking advantage of the flexibility of multievent models we encourage a systematic field approach even when very large samples from immatures cannot be amassed. Only so can demographic traits in chelonians, and more generally in long‐lived species, be properly explored. The elusive nature of immature animals with delayed maturity has hindered the estimation of age‐specific survival. Early life capture‐recapture datasets are often sparse and incomplete precluding precision. In order to ameliorate this circumstance, we present here a novel statistical approach that can help streamline results of age‐specific early life survival of two chelonian species. Such endeavors are crucial for proper construction of projection matrices, indispensable to ecological and evolutionary studies and efficient conservation planning.

Colourful plumage is typical of males in species with conventional sex roles, in which females care for offspring and males compete for females, as well as in many monogamous species in which both sexes care for offspring. Reversed sexual dichromatism—more colourful females than males—is predominant in species with sex role reversal. In the latter species, males care for offspring and females compete for mates, the mating system is mainly polyandrous and there is reversed size dimorphism—females are larger than males. Here, we document a case of reversed dichromatism, in the greater flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus, in which there is no sex role reversal and no reversed size dimorphism. Although theoretical models postulate that cases of reversed dichromatism should be rare among monogamous ornamented birds, our findings show that the use of cosmetics might be a mechanism for the occurrence of more ornamented females than males. Indeed, the concentrations of carotenoids in the uropygial secretions used as make-up were higher in females than in males. Apparently, there was a trade-off between coloration and antioxidant defence, as the concentrations of carotenoids in the uropygial secretions were lower during chick provisioning than in other periods, contrary to those in plasma. In this system, the application of make-up would act as a dynamic signal, which would allow a rapid reallocation of resources used for signalling among functions depending on needs. Cases like this may have evolved to signal the ability to provide parental care when females are more physiologically stressed than males.

The viability and dynamics of spatially structured populations depend critically upon dispersal behaviour. Yet, in long lived species with delayed maturity, the fitness consequences of post-fledging dispersal, dispersal from the birthplace after independence and before first breeding attempt, are poorly understood although it is a critical determinant of natal dispersal.We aimed at estimating sex-specific variations of juvenile survival in a long-lived bird species with sexual size dimorphism, the greater flamingo, as a function of post fledging dispersal destination. Using capture-recapture models, we estimated the survivorship of flamingos ringed in the Camargue (south of France) and wintering in the Mediterranean.Dispersal probability from France was > 0.66 with important annual variations in preferred dispersal destinations. First-year survival increased along the winter temperature gradient with estimates below 0.50 ± 0.07 in France and above 0.60 ± 0.07 in African wetlands. The survival of flamingos wintering in France dropped by 30–50 % depending on sex between fall and spring of their first year.In African sites and in Italy, there was no detectable difference of survival between sexes suggesting favorable wintering conditions. Body condition at fledging did not explain variations in first-fall survival within genders. Males wintering in France had a better survival than females.These results show that sex and post-fledging dispersal destination affect juvenile survival, support theenergetichypothesis predicting an advantage of large body size to cope with cold temperatures and thecompetitionhypothesis, and suggest the existence of sex-specific post fledging dispersal tactics.

Participatory mapping provides a way to collate a wide range of landscape values providing a visual representation to inform conservation planning. We tested the use of an iconic species, the Greater Flamingo, as a lens for participatory mapping to render explicit the socio-cultural values attributed in a landscape. Spatial information on six landscape values in a biodiversity hotspot, the Camargue Biosphere Reserve (southern France) was collected from 113 participants through surveys, interviews and workshops. This data was geo-located through a SoftGIS methodology to map and quantify the overlap of bivariate hotspots identifying value concurrence. The most frequent values recorded through total number of polygons and surface areas were wilderness and recreation. The least frequently mapped values were economic loss and biodiversity. There was frequent concurrence between biodiversity and aesthetic values especially in wetlands (lagoons, salt flats and sea). There was also frequent concurrence between biodiversity and recreational values with more overlap in sites with easy access (along roads and public areas). Our results show that using an iconic species is an effective way to render explicit spatial variations in the values attributed to a landscape and to identify concurrence of values, thus enabling integration of multiple landscape values in conservation planning.

The Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus is a waterbird commonly found in saline and brackish lagoons throughout the Mediterranean Region. We have gathered existing data on Greater Flamingos in Turkey and carried out field surveys to present the most up to date information on wintering (1999–2014) and breeding (1969– 2014). The wintering population of flamingos shows an increasing trend with 54,947±20,794 individuals mainly concentrated in the Gediz, Buyuk Menderes and Cukurova deltas, respectively. Breeding attempts were recorded in at least seven wetlands in Turkey in the past, yet after 1999 most of the colonies were abandoned due to basin scale intensive water management practices in Central Anatolia. Currently, only Tuz Lake and Gediz Delta are used as regular breeding sites, while breeding has been recorded sporadically in Acigol and Aksehir Lakes. The breeding colony of Tuz Lake is of prime importance at the Mediterranean scale, with the number of young chicks in 2011, 2012 and 2013 accounting fo...

Environmental trace element composition can have an important impact on ecosystem and population health as well individual fitness. Therefore, carefully assessing bioaccumulation of trace elements is central to studies investigating the ecological impact of pollution. Colonial birds are important bioindicators since non-invasive sampling can easily be achieved through sampling of chick feathers, which controls for some confounding factors of variability (age and environmental heterogeneity). However, an additional confounding factor, external contamination (ExCo), which remains even after washing feathers, has frequently been overlooked in the literature. We developed a new method to reliably interpret bioaccumulation of 10 trace elements (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Se, Sn and Zn) in feathers using chicks of a colonial species: the Greater Flamingo, Phoenicopterus roseus. First, only shafts were used to remove ExCo retained in vanes. Secondly, we applied a thorough washing procedure. Thirdly, we applied a new analytical method to control for ExCo, which assumes that ExCo is mainly due to adhered sediment particles and that the relative concentration of each trace element will be similar to the sediment geochemical composition of sampling sites. We validated this new methodology by comparing trace element composition and particle composition (by scanning electron microscopy and mass spectrometry) of washed and unwashed feathers. The washing procedure removed >99% of K indicating that most of the ExCo from salt was removed. Scanning electron microscopy and mass spectrometry revealed that some sediment particles remained after washing, especially clays which are likely to severely bias bioaccumulation interpretation. We successfully controlled for ExCo by calculating the ratio of ExCo due to sediment using the geochemical fingerprint of sediment samples. Our methodology leads to conservative estimates of bioaccumulation for As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Se, Sn and Zn. We have validated a new more reliable method of analysing trace element concentrations in feathers, which effectively controls for ExCo, if geochemical sediment data can be meaningfully compared to ExCo of feathers. We have demonstrated that overlooking ExCo leads to potentially erroneous conclusions, and we urge that the method applied in this study be considered in future studies.

WOS: 000397335400001, PubMed ID: 28219340, Background: Selective pressure from pathogens is thought to shape the allelic diversity of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes in vertebrates. In particular, both local adaptation to pathogens and gene flow are thought to explain a large part of the intraspecific variation observed in MHC allelic diversity. To date, however, evidence that adaptation to locally prevalent pathogens maintains MHC variation is limited to species with limited dispersal and, hence, reduced gene flow. On the one hand high gene flow can disrupt local adaptation in species with high dispersal rates, on the other hand such species are much more likely to experience spatial variation in pathogen pressure, suggesting that there may be intense pathogen mediated selection pressure operating across breeding sites in panmictic species. Such pathogen mediated selection pressure operating across breeding sites should therefore be sufficient to maintain high MHC diversity in high dispersing species in the absence of local adaptation mechanisms. We used the Greater Flamingo, Phoenicopterus roseus, a long-lived colonial bird showing a homogeneous genetic structure of neutral markers at the scale of the Mediterranean region, to test the prediction that higher MHC allelic diversity with no population structure should occur in large panmictic populations of long-distance dispersing birds than in other resident species. Results: We assessed the level of allelic diversity at the MHC Class IIB exon 2 from 116 individuals born in four different breeding colonies of Greater Flamingo in the Mediterranean region. We found one of the highest allelic diversity ( 109 alleles, 2 loci) of any non-passerine avian species investigated so far relative to the number of individuals and loci genotyped. There was no evidence of population structure between the four major Mediterranean breeding colonies. Conclusion: Our results suggest that local adaptation at MHC Class IIB in Greater Flamingos is constrained by high gene flow and high MHC diversity appears to be maintained by population wide pathogen-mediated selection rather than local pathogen-mediated selection. Further understanding of how pathogens vary across space and time will be crucial to further elucidate the mechanisms maintaining MHC diversity in species with large panmictic populations and high dispersal rates., TOTAL foundation; Conseil Regional de BourgogneRegion Bourgogne-Franche-Comte; MAVA foundation; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); German Science FoundationGerman Research Foundation (DFG) [DFG Gl 1065/2- 1], This study was funded by the TOTAL foundation, the Conseil Regional de Bourgogne, the MAVA foundation, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and the German Science Foundation (DFG Gl 1065/2- 1).

Only a few studies have shown positive impacts of ecological compensation on species dynamics affected by human activities. We argue that this is due to inappropriate methods used to forecast required compensation in environmental impact assessments. These assessments are mostly descriptive and only valid at limited spatial and temporal scales. However, habitat suitability models developed to predict the impacts of environmental changes on potential species' distributions should provide rigorous science-based tools for compensation planning. Here we describe the two main classes of predictive models: correlative models and individual-based mechanistic models. We show how these models can be used alone or synoptically to improve compensation planning. While correlative models are easier to implement, they tend to ignore underlying ecological processes and lack accuracy. On the contrary, individual-based mechanistic models can integrate biological interactions, dispersal ability and adaptation. Moreover, among mechanistic models, those considering animal energy balance are particularly efficient at predicting the impact of foraging habitat loss. However, mechanistic models require more field data compared to correlative models. Hence we present two approaches which combine both methods for compensation planning, especially in relation to the spatial scale considered. We show how the availability of biological databases and software enabling fast and accurate population projections could be advantageously used to assess ecological compensation requirement efficiently in environmental impact assessments.

a b s t r a c t This study tracks temporal variations in the habitat use of breeding adult greater flamingos (Phoeni copterus roseus) in the Camargue (southern France) using simultaneous sampling of d 15 N, d 13 C and d 34 S from feather and blood of chicks at fledging. Camargue flamingos forage in a heterogeneous complex of saltpans, permanent and temporary brackish lagoons, freshwater and euryhaline marshes to provision their chicks over a two month period. Using Bayesian mixing models with diet and tissue speci fic discrimination factors and invertebrates collected from 23 locations, we investigated whether blood and feather isotopes indicated temporal variations in habitat use relative to salinity and hydroperiod. We also tested whether fledgling body condition could be explained by the isotopic signatures of their tis sues. While d 13 C and d 15 N values did not differ signi ficantly between blood and feather, marked differ ences were apparent in the d 34 S values obtained from these tissues. Saltpans (38%) and freshwater marshes (33%) appeared to be the main habitats visited by adult birds in the early phase of parental care with use of saline wetlands increasing later in the season (54%). This habitat shift may be related to the peak of resources in saltpans and the drying up of freshwater and brackish marshes by mid summer. Habitat shift (as expressed in individual shifts in isotope values between feather and blood) was not correlated with offspring age, and differed between individuals. A negative relationship was observed between offspring body condition and feather d 15 N, indicating that chicks fed from temporary flooded marshes fare better than those provisioned from permanent marshes. Foraging strategies of greater flamingos during parental care were heterogeneous, possibly tracking changes in resource availability as the season progressed and re flecting differences in the competitive ability of parent birds. Given that the Camargue saltpans face closure and the region ’s temporary wetlands remain threatened, our results emphasize the critical importance of conserving these two key habitats for greater flamingos. Dual tissue, triple stable isotope analysis provides a useful and sensitive means of tracking localized environmental change in this threatened system.

Agri-environment schemes (AES) favouring the maintenance of hedges were implemented in the Camargue (southern France) as it has previously been proven to reduce the risk of damage caused by Greater Flamingo incursions into rice fields. Given the persistent incursions, we estimated the economic cost of damage from 2007 to 2009, the uptake rate of hedge-related AES and explored the limits of these schemes as a mitigation effort. Semi-structured and key informant interviews, site mapping and field visits were made to verify claims and estimate damage. Number of plants/m2 and fertile stems/plant were estimated on 1,498 and 312 grids, respectively, spread over 26 rice fields. Damaged areas of rice fields forayed by flamingos presented from 1.35 to 3.06 t/ha lower yield than undamaged areas. We estimated 228€/ha average loss in forayed fields for a total of 400,000€ in yield loss in 2008. Administrative constraints limited AES and free seedlings distribution, preventing the problem from being addressed at an ap...

International audience; Cet article collectif aborde la question des différentes valeurs de la biodiversité par les prismes de la philosophie, l'écologie, l'économie et le droit. Sont traités la polysémie du terme « valeur » ( valeur intrinsèque, écologiques, instrumentales etc. ), la diversité des moyens d’appréhender les valeursde la biodiversité (indicateurs, évaluations monétaires) et enfin la dynamique de production et d’évolution des valeurs par le droit, la culture ou la lutte.

17 pages; International audience; The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a cornerstone in the study of adaptive genetic diversity. Intriguingly, highly polymorphic MHC sequences are often not more similar within species than between closely related species. Divergent selection of gene duplicates, balancing selection maintaining trans-species polymorphism (TSP) that predate speciation and parallel evolution of species sharing similar selection pressures can all lead to higher sequence similarity between species. In contrast, high rates of concerted evolution increase sequence similarity of duplicated loci within species. Assessing these evolutionary models remains difficult as relatedness and ecological similarities are often confounded. As sympatric species of flamingos are more distantly related than allopatric species, flamingos represent an ideal model to disentangle these evolutionary models. We characterized MHC Class I exon 3, Class IIB exon 2 and exon 3 of the six extant flamingo species. We found up to six MHC Class I loci and two MHC Class IIB loci. As all six species shared the same number of MHC Class IIB loci, duplication appears to predate flamingo speciation. However, the high rate of concerted evolution has prevented the divergence of duplicated loci. We found high sequence similarity between all species regardless of codon position. The latter is consistent with balancing selection maintaining TSP, as under this mechanism amino acid sites under pathogen-mediated selection should be characterized by fewer synonymous codons (due to their common ancestry) than under parallel evolution. Overall, balancing selection maintaining TSP appears to result in high MHC similarity between species regardless of species relatedness and geographical distribution.

The long-lived greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is famous for performing conspicuous group displays during which adults try to acquire a new mate each year with varying success. We examined variation in the sexual display complexity (SDC) of wild flamingos aged between 4 and 37 yrs. SDC was defined as the product of richness (the number of different display movements) and versatility (the number of transitions between movements) within a 5 min behavioral sequence. In both sexes, date in the pairing season had a linear and positive effect on SDC, whereas age had a quadratic effect, with SDC increasing until about age 20yrs, and declining afterwards. SDC better explained pairing patterns than age, and positively influenced the probability of becoming a breeder. Our results thus support the idea that SDC is an honest signal of individual quality and further suggest that senescence in display could be an overlooked aspect of reproductive decline in species with no or weak pair bonding.

SUMMARY 1. Although the influence of water availability and precipitation regimes on amphibians has been studied at large scales, whether and how interannual rainfall and hydrological variations affect amphibians dynamics at a local scale have rarely been addressed. In this respect, accounting for variations in species detectability in space and time has also been overlooked. 2. We assessed the effects of rainfall and hydrological variations on the breeding dynamics of three amphibian taxa: Pelodytes punctatus, Hyla meridionalis and Pelophylax spp. in 20 ponds of the Camargue region (southern France) over a 7-year study period. 3. We used multiple season occupancy models to test the effect of winter‐spring rainfall and interannual variations in hydroperiod, mean water depth and drought events on tadpole presence in spring (March‐June), a proxy for breeding dynamics. 4. We used an independent survey with spatial replicates (dipnet sweeps) to disentangle the relative contributions of phenology and detectability to the absence of records in a given month. For the three taxa considered, the probability of missing a species when that species was actually present in a pond was most often negligible. Hence, we could consider that multiseason models properly tracked changes in species phenology. 5. Pelodytes punctatus was first detected in March, while the two other taxa appeared later in April. Hyla meridionalis appeared as a mid-season species with much more synchronous pond occupancy than Pelodytes punctatus. The detection peak of Pelophylax spp. was short and unexpectedly early for this taxon. 6. Seasonal winter‐spring rainfall was associated with a decrease in extinction rates and even more strongly with an increase in colonisation rates at individual ponds. 7. Colonisation rate increased following an annual drought and was best modelled as a negative quadratic effect of the variance of pond hydroperiod. Extinction probability was best modelled by a negative quadratic effect of mean water level. Hence, breeding was more stochastic (i) in unpredictable and shallow ponds because of yearly drying up and (ii) in highly predictable and deep ponds, possibly due to the presence of predators such as fish and crayfish. 8. Overall, we show that ponds with intermediate rather than extreme variations in environmental conditions currently correspond to optimal breeding sites. Our study demonstrates that amphibian monitoring coupled with fine-scale analysis of environmental conditions is necessary to understand species dynamics in the long run and to inform conservation efforts for these species.

Body condition is an important determinant of fitness in many natural populations. However, as for many fitness traits, the underlying genes that regulate body condition remain elusive. The dopamine receptor D4 gene (DRD4) is a promising candidate as dopamine is known to play an important role in the regulation of food intake and the metabolism of both glucose and lipids in vertebrates. In this study, we take advantage of a large data set of greater flamingos, Phoenicopterus roseus, to test whether DRD4 polymorphism predicts early body condition (EBC) while controlling for whole-genome effects of inbreeding and outbreeding using microsatellite multilocus heterozygosity (MLH). We typed 670 of these individuals for exon 3 of the homologue of the human DRD4 gene and 10 microsatellite markers. When controlling for the effects of yearly environmental variations and differences between sexes, we found strong evidence of an association between exon 3 DRD4 polymorphisms and EBC, with 2.2–2.3% of the variation being explained by DRD4 polymorphism, whereas there was only weak evidence that MLH predicts EBC. Because EBC is most likely a polygenic trait, this is a considerable amount of variation explained by a single gene. This is to our knowledge, the first study to show an association between exon 3 DRD4 polymorphism and body condition in non-human animals. We anticipate that the DRD4 gene as well as other genes coding for neurotransmitters and their receptors may play an important role in explaining variation in traits that affect fitness.

1. The balance between costs and benefits of migration under different environmental, density-dependent and individual conditions may promote a broad range of migratory behaviours. We studied the factors influencing first-year migration and subsequent fidelity or dispersal among wintering areas, and the survival costs of different wintering behaviours in the greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus). 2. We analysed by multievent capture-recapture modelling among-site dispersal/fidelity and site-dependent survival probabilities from 22 671 flamingos ringed in the Camargue (France) between 1977 and 2010 and resighted subsequently in their wintering grounds classified as France, Iberian Peninsula, Italy and North Africa. 3. We found that first- and second-year birds either resident or wintering at medium distances from their birth place, survived better than those wintering further afield. However, under severe winter conditions (extremely cold winter 1984-1985), individuals with the sedentary strategy suffered the highest levels of mortality. From the third winter onwards, the pattern of survival reversed: the long-distance wintering individuals (i.e. North Africa) survived better. 4. The proportion of first-year birds migrating for wintering was highly variable among cohorts and increased with favourable environmental conditions (wet years). After the first winter, birds showed high fidelity (>90%) to their previous wintering area and wintered preferably near their natal colony when they became adults (>2 years). 5. Survival estimates suggest that long-distance migration was costly for young and inexperienced individuals. Nonetheless, for adults, the most southern wintering areas seem to offer the most favourable local conditions for overwinter survival. 6. The higher availability of intermediate stopover sites during wet years may facilitate first-year migration. Then, once they have some wintering experience, flamingos appear to favour the known wintering grounds. As they grow older, dispersing towards the vicinity of the natal colony may provide higher breeding prospects for individuals wintering closer to this high-quality and saturated breeding ground, as predicted by the arrival-time hypothesis.

9 pages; International audience; Bird reproductive performance often increases with age or experience as a result of improved foraging skills, increased reproductive effort, improved coordination between partners, or a selection process. However, it remains unclear whether age and/or experience affect equally the successive steps of the breeding process, from egg laying to incubation and chick rearing. Using data from a long-term study of the Camargue (southern France) population of the greater flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus, we studied the influence of age on step-specific breeding performances during a single breeding season. We used, for the first time, multistate recapture models to evaluate the effect of age on breeding attendance (as a surrogate for breeding success) during incubation, early chick rearing and late chick rearing. Our results show a significant positive influence of age on breeding attendance, but only during the incubation period. Older parents had a higher probability than younger ones of completing incubation, whereas after the chick had hatched, the influence of parental age on breeding attendance was no longer significant. Although a high rate of nest desertion by younger flamingos during the middle of the incubation period coincided with a period of heavy rainfall, including rainfall level as a covariate did not improve the fit of the models. We discuss our results in relation to the evolution of life-history strategies in long-lived bird species and the influence of environmental instability.

Salinas are highly valued habitats for the conservation of ground-nesting colonial waterbirds in the Mediterranean, yet they often lack islets, preferred breeding habitats for these species. In this paper, we evaluated the relative importance of island availability and terrestrial predation risk for nesting habitat selection of five species of colonial Charadriiformes (Avocet, Little Tern, Common Tern, Gull-billed Tern and Slender-billed Gull) in the Sfax Salina (Tunisia), one of the most important breeding areas of these species along the southern Mediterranean coast. We monitored colony settlement pattern, colony size and colony site features used by the birds in 2004 and 2005. In total, 101 sites were occupied during the two years of study. These occupied sites included 19 isolated islets, which represent the total number of available inaccessible islets in the studied salina. 92.6% of the 8277 breeding pairs counted in 2004 and 86.3% of the 7844 breeding pairs counted in 2005 settled on accessible sites. Our results also show that the occupation of accessible sites began before the occupation of isolated ones. We propose that these accessible sites should be considered as ecological traps resulting from the overall lack of isolated sites. Finally, because dikes are an unlimited habitat for nesting, we identify the environmental cues selected by colonial Charadriiformes within this habitat to develop guidelines for the construction of attractive islets., Importance relative de la disponibilité en îlots et du risque de prédation terrestre pour la sélection de l’habitat de nidification des Charadriiformes coloniaux dans le salin de Sfax (Tunisie). En zone Méditerranéenne, les salins sont de plus en plus considérés comme un habitat particulièrement important pour la nidification des oiseaux d’eau coloniaux. Toutefois, ces salins manquent le plus souvent d’îlots isolés et inaccessibles aux prédateurs terrestres, ce qui est de nature à exposer les colonies d’oiseaux à une importante pression de prédation, diminuant ainsi leur succès reproducteur. L’importance relative de la disponibilité en îlots inaccessibles et de la pression de prédation terrestre comme clefs possibles dans le processus de sélection des sites de nidification par ces oiseaux a été rarement élucidée. Ainsi, l’objectif de ce travail est d’examiner cette question en utilisant des données sur la nidification de cinq espèces de Laro-limicoles (Avocette élégante, Sterne naine, Sterne pierregarin, Sterne hansel et Goéland railleur) dans le salin de Sfax, l’un des plus importants sites de nidification de ces oiseaux sur la rive sud de la Méditerranée. Ces données ont été recueillies grâce à un suivi des colonies de nidification installées sur un total de 101 sites au cours de deux saisons de reproduction successives (2004 et 2005). Parmi ces sites, 19 correspondent à des îlots complètement isolés, soit le nombre total de sites inaccessibles aux prédateurs terrestres du salin. La très grande majorité des effectifs reproducteurs se sont installés sur des sites accessibles (92,6% et 86,3% des 8277 et des 7844 couples recensés en 2004 et 2005 respectivement). Nos résultats montrent aussi que l’occupation des sites accessibles précède généralement celle des sites inaccessibles et que les caractéristiques physiques sélectionnées par les oiseaux pour le choix de ces sites accessibles varient selon les espèces. Globalement, l’ensemble de nos résultats suggère qu’en absence d’un nombre suffisant d’îlots isolés, les digues, parcourues par les prédateurs terrestres, représentent des pièges écologiques pour les oiseaux d’eau coloniaux nichant dans ce salin. Ces résultats sont enfin utilisés pour proposer un mode de création de sites de nidification attractifs pour les oiseaux., Ali Chokri Mohamed,Sadoul Nicolas,Selmi Slaheddine,Bechet Arnaud. Relative importance of island availability and terrestrial predation risk for nesting habitat selection of colonial Charadriiformes in Sfax salina (Tunisia). In: Revue d'Écologie (La Terre et La Vie), tome 66, n°4, 2011. pp. 367-382.

1. Contrary to the generally high level of natal philopatry (i.e. likelihood that individuals breed at their natal colony) found in first-breeding colonial birds, little is known of natal philopatry later in life. Most hypotheses advanced to explain natal philopatry are valid at all ages. However, for young and inexperienced birds, the benefits of natal philopatry may be counterbalanced by the costs of intraspecific competition at the natal colony making dispersal temporarily advantageous. In turn, experience may increase competitive ability and make natal philopatry advantageous again. 2. We evaluated this hypothesis on the large-scale dispersal of greater flamingos Phoenicopterus roseus breeding among three colonies comprising >85% of the Western Mediterranean metapopulation. The Camargue (France) and Fuente de Piedra (Spain) are large and saturated colonies while Molentargius (Sardinia) is a recent and growing colony. 3. We used a 20-year capture-mark-resighting dataset of 4900 flamingos ringed as chicks in Camargue and Fuente de Piedra and breeding at the three colonies. We assessed the effects of natal colony and breeding experience (first-time observed breeders versus confirmed experienced breeders) on dispersal using multistate capture-recapture models. Dispersal to an unobservable state accounted for temporary emigration. 4. Fidelity was higher at the natal colony (>84%) than elsewhere. Fidelity increased with experience in the two large colonies (Camargue and Fuente de Piedra) suggesting a large-scale experience-related despotic distribution. Breeding dispersal was significant (up to 61% and 52% for first-time breeders and experienced breeders, respectively) so that colony dynamics is affected by exchanges with other colonies. Except for Fuente-born breeders leaving Molentargius, dispersal to the natal colony was higher than to any other colonies. 5. Survival was not higher at the natal colony. Inexperienced birds likely had lower breeding success at the Camargue and skipped reproduction after having emigrated to the other large colony but not to Molentargius. Breeding at Molentargius could allow avoiding queuing (and non-breeding) at the large colonies while gaining experience and competitive ability for future attempts. 6 Natal philopatry appears as an important driver of large-scale breeding dispersal in the Greater flamingo. The fitness advantage of natal philopatry is likely experience-dependent and mediated by the variations of intraspecific competition.