High annual-cycle repeatability suggests low flexibility to environmental changes in a near-threatened migratory shorebird
Abstract
Migratory species often repeat spatio-temporal patterns within their annual cycle. Although this may help to promote knowledge about local features and site quality, stereotyped behaviours may also create an ecological trap by preventing the flexibility required to adjust to environmental changes. Using a long-term international dataset, this study assesses 24 spatial and temporal parameters describing the repeatability of the entire migratory cycle in 94 individuals of the migratory nearthreatened Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata) that were tracked for up to 7 consecutive years using high-resolution GPS tags. Twenty-two parameters show significant repeatability, with the highest repeatability for use of the same breeding and wintering sites, indicating consistent faithfulness. All migration and stopover parameters during spring migration are also significantly repeatable, with lower repeatability for autumn migration, likely related to variable breeding success. The location of migration routes varies between consecutive years, but intra-individual similarity is significantly greater than inter-individual similarity. While the potential of adaptations to long-term environmental changes needs further studies (preferably including several cohorts of individuals) there are indications of a potentially maladaptive behaviour to short-term changes that should be carefully observed by site managers to conserve this near-threatened species.
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BibTeX
@article{schwemmer2026high,
title = {{High annual-cycle repeatability suggests low flexibility to environmental changes in a near-threatened migratory shorebird}},
author = {Philipp Schwemmer and Marie Donnez and Moritz Mercker and Stefan Garthe and Martin Boschert and Heinz Düttmann and Jaanus Elts and Thomas Fartmann and Wolfgang Fiedler and Frédéric Jiguet and Steffen Kämpfer and Michał Korniluk and Helmut Kruckenberg and Dominik Krupiński and Riho Marja and Markus Piha and Pierre Rousseau and Verena Rupprecht and Pierrick Bocher},
journal = {Communications Biology},
year = {2026},
month = may,
doi = {10.1038/s42003-026-10371-0},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05855043v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - High annual-cycle repeatability suggests low flexibility to environmental changes in a near-threatened migratory shorebird
AU - Philipp Schwemmer
AU - Marie Donnez
AU - Moritz Mercker
AU - Stefan Garthe
AU - Martin Boschert
AU - Heinz Düttmann
AU - Jaanus Elts
AU - Thomas Fartmann
AU - Wolfgang Fiedler
AU - Frédéric Jiguet
AU - Steffen Kämpfer
AU - Michał Korniluk
AU - Helmut Kruckenberg
AU - Dominik Krupiński
AU - Riho Marja
AU - Markus Piha
AU - Pierre Rousseau
AU - Verena Rupprecht
AU - Pierrick Bocher
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/30
JO - Communications Biology
DO - 10.1038/s42003-026-10371-0
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05855043v1
AB - Migratory species often repeat spatio-temporal patterns within their annual cycle. Although this may help to promote knowledge about local features and site quality, stereotyped behaviours may also create an ecological trap by preventing the flexibility required to adjust to environmental changes. Using a long-term international dataset, this study assesses 24 spatial and temporal parameters describing the repeatability of the entire migratory cycle in 94 individuals of the migratory nearthreatened Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata) that were tracked for up to 7 consecutive years using high-resolution GPS tags. Twenty-two parameters show significant repeatability, with the highest repeatability for use of the same breeding and wintering sites, indicating consistent faithfulness. All migration and stopover parameters during spring migration are also significantly repeatable, with lower repeatability for autumn migration, likely related to variable breeding success. The location of migration routes varies between consecutive years, but intra-individual similarity is significantly greater than inter-individual similarity. While the potential of adaptations to long-term environmental changes needs further studies (preferably including several cohorts of individuals) there are indications of a potentially maladaptive behaviour to short-term changes that should be carefully observed by site managers to conserve this near-threatened species.
SN - 2399-3642
ER -