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Using self-organizing maps to investigate environmental factors regulating colony size and breeding success of the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia)

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Abstract

We studied variations in the size of breeding colonies and in breeding performance of White Storks Ciconia ciconia in 2006–2008 in north-east Algeria. Each colony site was characterized using 12 environmental variables describing the physical environment, land-cover categories, and human activities, and by three demographic parameters: the number of breeding pairs, the number of pairs with chicks, and the number of fledged chicks per pair. Generalized linear mixed models and the self-organizing map algorithm (SOM, neural network) were used to investigate effects of biotic, abiotic, and anthropogenic factors on demographic parameters and on their relationships. Numbers of breeding pairs and of pairs with chicks were affected by the same environmental factors, mainly anthropogenic, which differed from those affecting the number of fledged chicks per pair. Numbers of fledged chicks per pair was not affected by colony size or by the number of nests with chicks. The categorization of the environmental variables into natural and anthropogenic, in connection with demographic parameters, was relevant to detect factors explaining variation in colony size and breeding parameters. The SOM proved a relevant tool to help determine actual dynamics in White Stork colonies, and thus to support effective conservation decisions at a regional scale.

Zusammenfassung

Welche Umweltfaktoren regulieren Koloniegröße und Bruterfolg beim Weißstorch Ciconia ciconia ?—der Einsatz von Selbstorganisierenden Karten

Untersucht wurden Unterschiede in Brutkoloniestärke und Bruterfolg bei Weißstörchen Ciconia ciconia in Nordostalgerien, in den Jahren von 2006–2008. Jede Kolonie wurde anhand von zwölf Umweltvariablen charakterisiert, welche Auskunft über physische Umweltbedingungen, Landbedeckung und menschlichen Einfluss gaben, sowie anhand von drei demografischen Parametern: der Anzahl der Brutpaare, der Anzahl von Paaren mit Küken und der Anzahl flügger Junge pro Paar. Es wurden Generalisierte Lineare Gemischte Modelle und der Selbstorganisierende Karten-Algorithmus (Self-Organising Map, SOM, ein neuronales Netz) angewendet, um die Wirkung biotischer, abiotischer und anthropogener Faktoren auf die demografischen Parameter und die Beziehungen zwischen diesen zu untersuchen. Die Anzahl der Brutpaare und die der Paare mit Küken wurden von denselben (hauptsächlich anthropogenen) Umweltfaktoren beeinflusst. Dagegen wurde die Anzahl flügger Küken pro Paar von anderen Faktoren bestimmt: Weder die Koloniegröße noch die Anzahl von Nestern mit Küken hatten hier einen Einfluss. Die Einteilung der Umweltvariablen in natürliche und anthropogen bedingte half in Verbindung mit demografischen Parametern dabei, die Faktoren zu identifizieren, welche die Variation in Koloniegröße und den Brutparametern erklären. Die SOM-Methode erwies sich als geeignetes Werkzeug zur Beschreibung der tatsächlichen Dynamik in Weißstorch-Kolonien und stellt somit eine Hilfe bei der Festlegung effektiver Schutzmaßnahmen auf regionaler Ebene dar.

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Acknowledgments

We warmly thank Mr. Abdellatif Gasmi, the head office for Forest Conservation of the wilaya of Batna, the staff having participated to this survey, and all people, in particular Mr. Athmane Briki, who kindly helped us in the field. We declare that the experiments of this work comply with the current laws of Algeria. We thank two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Natural and Life Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of El Hadj Lakhdar, Batna, 05000, Algeria

    Abdelkrim Si Bachir & Nawel Djeddou

  2. Department of Natural and Life Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Natural and Life Sciences, University of Tebessa, 12002, Tebessa, Algeria

    Haroun Chenchouni

  3. Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS UPR, 1934, 79360, Villiers-en-Bois, France

    Christophe Barbraud

  4. Laboratoire d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement, EcoLab UMR5245, Université Paul Sabatier, Bâtiment 4R3-b2, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse cedex 9, France

    Régis Céréghino & Fréderic Santoul

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  1. Abdelkrim Si Bachir
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  2. Haroun Chenchouni
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Correspondence to Christophe Barbraud.

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Communicated by P. H. Becker.

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Si Bachir, A., Chenchouni, H., Djeddou, N. et al. Using self-organizing maps to investigate environmental factors regulating colony size and breeding success of the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia). J Ornithol 154, 481–489 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-012-0915-2

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