Abstract
Habitat losses caused by changes in agricultural land-use have negatively affected many plants and animals. Shorebirds breeding on wet grasslands have particularly suffered from these changes. Even if factors such as predation or genetics affect some populations, the continuing, rapid decline of a whole community of species remains unexplained. Here, I will examine whether the widespread decline of shorebirds is caused by on-going, large-scale changes in the environment, negatively affecting the reproductive success of many species. The project builds on a comparison with a unique reference material collected 10-30 years ago, encompassing behavioural, ecological and genetic data from several shorebird species and breeding sites in southern Sweden. I will test a suite of novel hypotheses; critical parameters examined include food supply for breeders, egg size, start of breeding, sex ratio, and cellular/physiological stress levels as indicated by a "genetic fingerprint" (telomere length). The study will provide important management guidelines for an endangered group of birds, and generally advance our understanding of the impact of large-scale environmental changes on biodiversity.
Sweden