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Effects of cavity orientation on nesting success inferred from long-term monitoring of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker

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dc.contributor.authorLandler, Lukasen
dc.contributor.authorSkelton, Jamesen
dc.contributor.authorJusino, Michelle A.en
dc.contributor.authorVan Lanen, Andyen
dc.contributor.authorWalters, Jeffrey R.en
dc.date.accessioned2022-11-02T17:37:56Zen
dc.date.available2022-11-02T17:37:56Zen
dc.date.issued2022-07-08en
dc.description.abstractAnimals that create structures often display non-random patterns in the direction of their constructions. This tendency of oriented construction is widely presumed to be an adaptive trait of the constructor's extended phenotype, but there is little empirical support for this hypothesis. Particularly, for cavity nesting-birds there is a lack of studies examining this issue. In this study of a primary cavity excavator, the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (Dryobates borealis), we show that cavity entrances exhibited a strong westward bias in all 11 of the populations examined throughout the geographic range of the species in the southeastern United States. This species requires cavities in living pine trees for roosting and nesting that often take many years to complete, resulting in many incomplete excavations on the landscape. We used population monitoring data to show that orientation was stronger among completed cavities than incomplete cavities. There was a significant correlation between latitude and average cavity direction among populations, turning northward with increasing latitude, suggesting adaptation to local conditions. Long-term monitoring data showed that cavity orientation and breeding group size are correlated with egg hatching rates, fledging rates, and the total number of fledglings produced per nest. Our results provide empirical evidence from extensive long-term data that directional orientation in animal constructions is an important feature of the extended animal phenotype and have immediate implications for animal ecology and the conservation of endangered species.en
dc.description.notesFunding for long-term studies was provided by the U.S. Department of Defense, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune (Lejeune), the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of the Army, Fort Bragg (Sandhills), the National Science Foundation (BSR-8307090, BSR-8717683) (Sandhills), and the Harold H. Bailey Fund at Virginia Tech (Lejeune and Sandhills).en
dc.description.sponsorshipU.S. Department of Defense, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune (Lejeune); U.S. Department of Defense, Department of the Army, Fort Bragg (Sandhills); National Science Foundation [BSR-8307090, BSR-8717683]; Harold H. Bailey Fund at Virginia Tech (Lejeune); Harold H. Bailey Fund at Virginia Tech (Sandhills)en
dc.description.versionPublished versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15201-xen
dc.identifier.issn2045-2322en
dc.identifier.issue1en
dc.identifier.other11624en
dc.identifier.pmid35803969en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/112363en
dc.identifier.volume12en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherNature Portfolioen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectbreeding successen
dc.subjecthatching successen
dc.subjectbox temperatureen
dc.subjectoccupationen
dc.subjectselectionen
dc.titleEffects of cavity orientation on nesting success inferred from long-term monitoring of the endangered red-cockaded woodpeckeren
dc.title.serialScientific Reportsen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten

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