Non-breeding movement strategies of migratory birds may be expected to be flexibly adjusted to the distribution and quality of habitat, but few studies compare movement strategies among populations using distinct migration ...

Climate warming is rapidly altering marine ecosystems towards a more temperate state on the European side of the Arctic. However, this “Atlantification” has rarely been confirmed, as long-term datasets on Arctic marine ...

Lipophilic persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are released from fat reserves during fasting, causing increased blood concentrations. Thus, POPs represent a potential anthropogenic stressor during fasting periods. We ...

In conspecific brood parasitism, some females (“parasites”) lay eggs in nests of other females of the same species (“hosts”). This reproductive tactic is particularly common in waterfowl, in which studies suggest that ...

Reproductive timing in many taxa plays a key role in determining breeding productivity1, and is often sensitive to climatic conditions2. Current climate change may alter the timing of breeding at different rates across ...

The need to recognise individuals in population and behavioural studies has stimulated the development of various identification methods. A commonly used method is to employ natural markers to distinguish individuals. In ...

Vertebrates cannot synthetize carotenoids de novo but have to acquire themthrough their diet. In birds, carotenoids are responsible for the yellow to red colouration of many secondary sexual traits. They are also involved ...

In seasonal environments, organisms are expected to optimally schedule reproduction within an annual range of environmental conditions. Latitudinal gradients generate a range of seasonality to which we can expect adaptations ...

Life-history theory predicts that long-lived organisms should reduce parental effort under inclement environmental conditions in order to favour long-term survival. Seabirds are long-lived top predators often exposed to ...

Carry-over effects, whereby events in one season have consequences in subsequent seasons, have important demographic implications. Although most studies examine carry-over effects across 2 seasons in single populations, ...