| Abstract |
The emergence of Cygnus olor in the north-eastern part of the Gulf of Finland led to the formation of a new population, exhibiting an increase in breeding pairs in recent decades. In this study, we assess the influence of environmental factors on Cygnus olor nesting site selection in a rocky skerry landscape. The data were analysed using generalised linear mixed models (GLMMs). The study involved a comprehensive analysis of the spatial characteristics of nesting sites, encompassing both island parameters (area, perimeter, shape) and the surrounding aquatic environment. To examine the influence of spatial scale, buffer zones with radii of 0.5, 1, and 3 km were considered around each island. Within these zones, we assessed parameters such as shallow water area, average depth, reed coverage. In addition, distances to the mainland and to the nearest wooded island, as well as a temporal factor (year) accounting for potential inter-annual variations in conditions, were included. Our analysis revealed that nesting probability was positively correlated with a shallow water area within a 3 km radius of the island and negatively correlated with the average depth within the same radius. Furthermore, distance to the mainland was found to be a significant negative predictor, suggesting that swans preferred islands situated closer to the mainland shoreline. Conversely, island characteristics (area, perimeter, shape), surrounding aquatic environment within 0.5 km and 1 km radii, reed coverage, distance to the nearest wooded island, and the temporal factor were not statistically significant predictors. Thus, the prevalence of shallow areas located close to the mainland was a key factor determining a habitat suitability for this species in the region. The proximity to the mainland appeared to influence only indirectly the nest site selection, as it was closely associated with the presence of richer foraging grounds. These results highlight the importance of foraging resource availability at the northern edge of the species' range. The statistically insignificant effect of distance to forested islands suggests that predation pressure may be relatively low. The successful establishment of Cygnus olor along the northern coasts is probably due to the climate warming, the species' increasing population size in Europe and the overcrowding of traditional nesting sites in the southern and western Gulf of Finland. To gain a more complete understanding of the species' adaptation processes when colonising new territories, further research is essential, including long-term population monitoring and an analysis of reproductive success. |
| References |
Athamnia M., Samraoui F., Kelailia B., Rouabah A., Alfarhan A.H., Samraoui B. 2015. Nest-site selection and reproductive success of the little grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis in northeast Algeria. Ardeola 62(1): 113–124. DOI: 10.13157/arla.62.1.2015.113
Bacon P.J., Coleman A.E. 1986. An analysis of weight changes in the Mute Swan Cygnus olor. Bird Study 33(3): 145–158. DOI: 10.1080/00063658609476913
Bartoń K. 2016. MuMln: Multi-Model Inference. R Package Version 1.15.6. Available from https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/MuMIn
Bates D., Mächler M., Bolker B., Walker S. 2015. Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software 67(1): 1–48. DOI: 10.18637/jss.v067.i01
Bell M.C., Delany S.N., Millett M.C., Pollitt M.S. 1997. Wintering waterfowl community structure and the characteristics of gravel pit lakes. Wildlife Biology 3(2): 65–78. DOI: 10.2981/wlb.1997.009
Burnham K.P., Anderson D.R. 2002. Model selection and multimodel inference: A practical information-theoretic approach. New York: Springer. 454 p.
Calsbeek R., Sinervo B. 2002. An experimental test of the ideal despotic distribution. Journal of Animal Ecology 71(3): 513–523. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2656.2002.00619.x
Clark R.G., Shutler D. 1999. Avian habitat selection: pattern from process in nest-site use by ducks?. Ecology 80(1): 272–287. DOI: 10.1890/0012-9658(1999)080[0272:AHSPFP]2.0.CO;2
del Hoyo J., Elliot A., Sargatal J. 1992. Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 1: Ostrich to Ducks. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. 696 p.
Devictor V., Julliard R., Couvet D., Jiguet F. 2008. Birds are tracking climate warming, but not fast enough. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 275(1652): 2743–2748. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0878
Gayet G., Eraud C., Benmergui M., Broyer J., Mesleard F., Fritz H., Guillemain M. 2011a. Breeding mute swan habitat selection when accounting for detectability: a plastic behaviour consistent with rapidly expanding populations. European Journal of Wildlife Research 57(5): 1051–1056. DOI: 10.1007/s10344-011-0518-x
Gayet G., Guillemain M., Benmergui M., Mesleard F., Boulinier T., Bienvenu J.P., Fritz H., Broyer J. 2011b. Effects of seasonality, isolation and patch quality for habitat selection processes by mute swans Cygnus olor in a fishpond landscape. Oikos 120(6): 801–812. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2010.18750.x
Gayet G., Guillemain M., Fritz H., Mesleard F., Begnis C., Costiou A., Body G., Curtet L., Broyer J. 2011c. Do mute swan (Cygnus olor) grazing, swan residence and fishpond nutrient availability interactively control macrophyte communities?. Aquatic Botany 95(2): 110–116. DOI: 10.1016/j.aquabot.2011.04.003
Gayet G., Matthieu G., François M., Hervé F., Laurence C., Joël B. 2013. Annual use of man-made wetlands by the Mute Swan (Cygnus olor). Journal of Environmental Management 120: 120–126. DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2013.02.017
Gillings S., Balmer D.E., Fuller R.J. 2015. Directionality of recent bird distribution shifts and climate change in Great Britain. Global Change Biology 21(6): 2155–2168. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.12823
Guisan A., Thuiller W. 2005. Predicting species distribution: offering more than simple habitat models. Ecology Letters 8(9): 993–1009. DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00792.x
Hartig F. 2022. DHARMa: Residual Diagnostics for Hierarchical (Multi-Level/Mixed) Regression Models. Available from https://cran.r-project.org/package=DHARMa
Hästbacka H., Ulfvens J. 1987. The Mute Swan Cygnus olor in Ostrobothnia in 1970–1986. Ornis Fennica 64: 27–30.
Hu R., Gu Y., Luo M., Lu Z., Wei M., Zhong J. 2020. Shifts in bird ranges and conservation priorities in China under climate change. PLoS ONE 15(10): e0240225. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240225
Iovchenko N.P., Gaginskaya A.R., Noskov G.A., Rezvyj S.P. 2017. Results of the ornithological survey of the islands of the Gulf of Finland in 1994–1995. Russian Journal of Ornithology 26(1528): 4884–4902. [In Russian]
Johnsgard P.A. 1978. Ducks, geese and swans of the World. Lincoln; London: University of Nebraska Press. 498 p.
Kirby J., Delany S., Quinn J. 1994. Mute swans in Great Britain: a review, current status and long-term trends. Hydrobiologia 279: 467–482. DOI: 10.1007/BF00027878
Kouzov S.A. 2016. Mute swan (Cygnus olor Gmelin, 1789) in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland: history of dispersion, distribution of breeding birds and features of biology. Vestnik of Saint-Petersburg University. Series 3. Biology 2: 38–69. DOI: 10.21638/11701/spbu03.2016.204 [In Russian]
Kouzov S.A., Khrabry V.M., Kravchuk A.V., Smirnov Y.Y., Lukyanov S.V., Abakumov E.V., Kouzova N.I., Novikova E.A. 2024a. Dispersal History and Current Breeding Range of the Mute Swan (Cygnus olor, Anatidae, Aves) in Northwestern Russia. Biology Bulletin 51(9): 2829–2845. DOI: 10.1134/S1062359024701668
Kouzov S.A., Kravchuk A.V., Abakumov E.V., Afanaseva D.M. 2024b. Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus nesting on offshore islands – a new occurrence or a well-forgotten old phenomenon?. Wildfowl 74: 3–22.
Kouzov S.A., Kravchuk A.V., Abakumov E.V., Kouzova N.I. 2024c. Influence of winter temperature and spring ice melt on the reproductive performance of Mute Swans Cygnus olor nesting on offshore islands at the northern edge of its breeding range. Wildfowl Special Issue 7: 202–221.
Kravchuk A.V., Kouzov S.A., Abakumov E.V., Starikov D.A. 2025. Effects of environmental factors on the Mute Swan nesting density in marine habitats at the edge of range. Biological Communications. [In Press]
Krivenko V.G. 1991. Waterbirds and their conservation. Moscow: Agropromizdat. 270 p. [In Russian]
Lebreton J.D., Burnham K.P., Clobert J., Anderson D.R. 1992. Modeling survival and testing biological hypotheses using marked animals: a unified approach with case studies. Ecological Monographs 62(1): 67–118. DOI: 10.2307/2937171
Malakhovsky D.B., Markov K.K. 1969. Geomorphology and Quaternary Deposits of the Northwest of the European Part of the USSR: Leningrad, Pskov, and Novgorod Regions. Leningrad: Nauka. 256 p. [In Russian]
Mägi E. 2007. Saarte haudelinnustik 2004–2006: suuremad muutused linnustikus läbi poole sajandi. Loodusevaatlusi 2006: 3–21.
Mägi E., Paakspuu T., Kastepold T. 1992. On nesting of Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) on Moonzund islands at Matsalu Nature reserve in 1977–1992. Loodusevaatlusi 1992(1): 38–40.
Mehlhorn K., Sanders P. 2008. Algorithms and Data Structures. The Basic Toolbox. Heidelberg: Springer Berlin. 300 p. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-77978-0
Oksanen J., Simpson G., Blanchet F., Kindt R., Legendre P., Minchin P., O'Hara R., Solymos P., Stevens M., Szoecs E., Wagner H., Barbour M., Bedward M., Bolker B., Borcard D., Carvalho G., Chirico M., De Caceres M., Durand S., Evangelista H., FitzJohn R., Friendly M., Furneaux B., Hannigan G., Hill M., Lahti L., McGlinn D., Ouellette M., Ribeiro Cunha E., Smith T. et al. 2022. Vegan: Community Ecology Package. R package version 2.6-4. Available from https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=vegan
O'Hare M., Stillman R.A., McDonnell J., Wood L.R. 2007. Effects of mute swan grazing on a keystone macrophyte. Freshwater Biology 52(12): 2463–2475. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2427.2007.01841.x
Perry M.C. (Ed.). 2004. Mute swans and their Chesapeake Bay habitats: proceedings of a symposium. Information and Technology Report 2004-0005. Washington: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 60 p.
Polak M., Kasprzykowski Z., Kucharczyk M. 2008. Micro-habitat nest preferences of the great bittern, Botaurus stellaris, on fishponds in central-eastern Poland. Annales Zoologici Fennici 45(2): 102–108. DOI: 10.5735/086.045.0202
Powell M.J.D. 2009. The BOBYQA algorithm for bound constrained optimization without derivatives. Technical report NA2009/06. Cambridge England: Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. 39 p.
Purger J.J., Mészáros L.A. 2006. Possible effects of nest predation on the breeding success of Ferruginous Ducks Aythya nyroca. Bird Conservation International 16(4): 309–316. DOI: 10.1017/S0959270906000451
R Core Team. 2024. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Available from https://www.R-project.org
Rodway M.S. 1998. Habitat use by Harlequin ducks breeding in Hebron Fiord, Labrador. Canadian Journal of Zoology 76(5): 897–901. DOI: 10.1139/z98-023
Szewczuk W., Kasprzykowski Z. 2024. Comparison of nest site selection in Mute Swan Cygnus olor and the expanding Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus. European Zoological Journal 91(1): 252–260. DOI: 10.1080/24750263.2024.2312919
Tenovuo R. 1975. Kyhmyjoutsen Lounais – Suomen asukkaana. Suomen Riista 26: 5–13.
Tuite C.H., Hanson P.R., Owen M. 1984. Some ecological factors affecting winter wildfowl distribution on inland waters in England and Wales, and the influence of water-based recreation. Journal of Applied Ecology 21(1): 41–62. DOI: 10.2307/2403036
Ulfvens J. 1993. Breeding habitat characteristics in a newly established population of the Mute Swan Cygnus olor on the Finnish west coast. Ornis Fennica 70(2): 106–109.
Wieloch M. 1991. Population trends of the Mute swan Cygnus olor in the Palearctic. Wildfowl Suppl.1: 22–32.
Wood K.A., Stillman R.A., Coombs T., McDonald C., Daunt F., O'Hare M.T. 2013. The role of season and social grouping on habitat use by Mute Swans (Cygnus olor) in a lowland river catchment. Bird Study 60(2): 229–237. DOI: 10.1080/00063657.2013.776003
Zaremba U., Kasprzykowski Z., Golawski A. 2020. Effect of nest age and habitat variables on nest survival in Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) in a fishpond habitat. PeerJ 8: e9929. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.9929 |
