Use the following type of citation: North-western Journal of Zoology 2021: e212601
Paper Submitted to The North-Western Journal of Zoology
1 *Handling editor: Kornélia Kurucz
2 *Manuscript Domain: Ornithology
3 *Manuscript code: NwJZ_20_OR_02
4 *Submission date: 29_03_2020
5 *Revised: 28_12_2020
6 *Accepted / Rejected: 07_01_2021
7 *No. of words (without abstract, acknowledgement, references, tables, captions): 8 (papers under 700 words are not accepted)
9 *Editors only: 10
11 Title of the paper: Nest-site selection by Ammomanes deserti in deserts of southern Iran
12 Running head : Nest-site selection by desert lark
13 Authors: Davood PAKNIAT, Mohsen AHMADI, Gilda SHAHNASERI, Mahmoud-Reza
14 HEMAMI
15 Key Words: Arid environment, ground-nesting birds, nest microclimate, nest structure, nest
16 entrance orientation
17 No. of Tables: 2
18 No. of Figures: 2 North-western Journal of Zoology 19 No. of Files: 1 Accepted paper until proofing 20 Use the following type of citation: North-western Journal of Zoology 2021: e212601
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21 {NEST-SITE SELECTION BY AMMOMANES DESERTI OF SOUTHERN IRAN}
22 {Davood, PAKNIAT} 1, {Mohsen, AHMADI} 1, {Gilda, SHAHNASERI} 1 and {Mahmoud-
23 Reza HEMAMI} 1
24 1. Department of Natural Resources, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran
25 * Corresponding authors name and email address: Mahmoud-Reza HEMAMI,
27 Abstract. We evaluated the effect of habitat characteristics on nest-site selection of desert
28 lark (Ammomanes deserti) in southern Iran. Habitat variables were measured within a 1- and a
29 4-m radius circle plots around 20 active nests and 20 randomly selected control locations. All
30 the detected nests were located beside a big stone with a maximum weight of 6.5 kg. The
31 percentage cover of <50mm sized gravel and non-vegetated areas within both plot sizes as
32 well as the percentage cover of ≥50mm sized gravel in 4-m radius plots were the most
33 important variables affecting nest-site selection by desert lark. About 40% of the nests were
34 built on flat plains, 30% on eastern domains, 15% on southeastern domains, and 10% on
35 southern domains. The majority of the nests’ entrances were oriented toward the east (50%)
36 and the south (25%) directions to reduce fluctuations in the nests’ microclimate from adverse
37 wind and direct exposure to sunlight. Our results revealed that desert lark’s nest-sites are
38 mainly characterisedNorth-western by the availability of bigJournal stones, a ppropriatenessof Zoology of geographical aspect, Accepted paper until proofing 39 the internal slope of the stone, and nest entrance orientation. Environmental characteristics
40 contributing to stabilising nest microclimate are the most important variables influencing the
41 pattern of nest-site selection by desert lark.
42 Key Words: Arid environment, ground-nesting birds, nest microclimate, nest structure, nest
43 entrance orientation
44 Running title: Nest-site selection by desert lark
45 Use the following type of citation: North-western Journal of Zoology 2021: e212601
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46 Introduction
47 The assessment of nest-site selection is important due to the impact of habitat variables on
48 the reproductive success of birds. From an evolutionary perspective, selecting habitat and
49 nest site should bring about increasing reproduction success and survival rate of birds (Smith
50 et al 2003; Hosseini-Moosavi et al 2017).
51 The exact location and the shape and the size of bird’s nest have evolved to provide a
52 suitable micro-environment with regard to temperature and humidity, a secure environment
53 for egg-laying, and hatchlings (Hansell 2000; Ar & Sidis 2002; Ardia et al. 2006; Burton
54 2006), and in some birds signal the phenotypic quality of the builder (Mainwaring et al.
55 2014).
56 Microclimate variables such as wind, rain and solar radiation can influence the nest site
57 selection behaviour of birds (Hartman and Oring 2003; Mezquida 2004; Burton 2006; Schaaf
58 et al. 2018b). Nest entrance orientation is one of the most salient determinants of the nest’s
59 microenvironment (Rauter et al. 2002; Burton 2006). Recent studies have shown that nest
60 entrance orientation is largely influenced by latitude, solar radiation (Burton 2006, Schaaf et
61 al. 2018a, Carroll et al 2020), nest-site vegetation (Schaaf 2020a, Hoekman et al. 2002),
62 topography (Porneluzi 2011), and prevailing winds (Long et al. 2009). The nest’s
63 microenvironment/microclimateNorth-western has a significant Journal impact of onZoology the cost of reproduction and Accepted paper until proofing 64 offspring development. For instance, nest’s temperature affects the viability of eggs (Webb
65 & King 1983; Cook et al. 2003, Heenan 2013), energy balance during incubation (Vleck
66 1981), fledging success and clutch sizes (Boer 2018) and nestling development (Starck &
67 Ricklefs 1998; Ardia 2005). Decreasing nest temperature fluctuations through suitable
68 selection of nest entrance position can significantly increase reproductive success in harsh
69 environments with low vegetation cover (With & Webb 1993; Hoekman et al. 2002;
70 Hartman & Oring 2003, Carroll et al 2020). Use the following type of citation: North-western Journal of Zoology 2021: e212601
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71 Habitat and nest-site selection occur through a hierarchical process (Kotliar & Wiens 1990,
72 Jones 2001, Harris et al 2020). The finest level is referred to as nest patch: characteristics of
73 the habitat patch enclosing the nest (Martin & Roper 1988). Studies by Petersen and Best
74 (1985) on Sage Sparrow (Amphispiza belli), and Martin and Roper (1988) on Hermit Thrush
75 (Catharus guttatus) suggested that nest patch lies within a radius of 5 m (area = 78.5 m2)
76 from the nest site. In other studies, however, nest patch size was determined based on the
77 changes in the condition of variables around nest sites (Petit et al. 1988; Holway 1991;
78 Knopf & Sedgwick 1992; With 1994). Although building a nest made of gravel consumes
79 plenty of time and energy (Afik et al. 1991; Shkedy & Safriel 1992), the nest would be
80 prevented from slipping down slopes (Richardson 1965), protected from wind and rain
81 damage (Ferguson-Lees 1960), camouflaged (Etchécopar & Hüe 1967) and structurally
82 sstabilised (Afik et al. 1991, Aznar et al 2016).
83 Desert lark (Ammomanes deserti) is found in arid steppes and semi-desert regions (Vaurie
84 1951) of 37 countries extending from West Asia and the Middle East to North Africa
85 (Birdlife International 2016). The species breeding season is from early March to late June.
86 They build cup-like nests on the ground near big stones and braid a rampart enclosing the
87 nest (Orr 1970) (Fig. 1). Desert lark is a common species of semi-desert steppes of central
88 and southern Iran andNorth-western represents a typical behaviourJournal of of nest Zoology selection by a wide spectrum of Accepted paper until proofing 89 ground-nesting species in such ecosystems. Accordingly studying patterns of nest-site
90 selection by this species provides more insights into the breeding behaviour of desert birds.
91 We evaluated the effect of habitat characteristics on the nest-site selection of desert lark
92 (Ammomanes deserti) in southern Iran. We hypothesised that nest-site selection by desert lark
93 is not random and the species select sites that provide optimal microclimate for chicks’
94 development. We also expected that the species further regulates the nest’s microclimate by
95 nest architecture and construction materials. Use the following type of citation: North-western Journal of Zoology 2021: e212601
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96 Material and Methods
97 Study area
98 This study was carried out in an area of approximately 4000 ha in rugged steppes of Zarrin
99 Dasht City, southern Iran (25" 2 28 to 40" 7 28 north latitude and 15" 33 54 to 19" 43
100 54 east longitude). The majority of the landscape is dominated by dry climates.
101 Field surveys and data collection were performed from 21st March to 15th May 2015 at the
102 peak of the species breeding period. Weather parameters at the time of sampling were
103 obtained from Fars Province synoptic weather station (http://www.farsmet.ir; 28 21 54" N,
104 54 25 44" E). During field investigations, minimum and maximum temperatures were 9.8° C
105 and 33.4° C, respectively (mean of 13.8° C). Strong prevailing wind often occurs during the
106 second half of the day. Nearly 35% of the wind pattern was towards the west and southwest.
107 The wind was calm, less than 0.51 meters per second, on 44% of the days (Fig. 2). The most
108 frequent plant species in the region are Artemisia spp., Fagonia spp., Convolvulus spp.,
109 Astragalus spp., and Salsola species.
110 Data collection
111 To find desert lark’s nests, thirty transects with 500 m long, and 800 m distance in between
112 were systematically surveyed. In total, 20 desert lark’s nests were found. Data collected for North-western Journal of Zoology 113 each nest consisted of geographicalAccepted position paper (latitude until and proofinglongitude), elevation (m.a.s.l.), time 114 and date, the number, weight, and size of pebbles used in fencing the nest, and internal slope
115 of the rock beside the nest. We generated a similar number of random points (control
116 locations) within the area surveyed for the desert lark nests in ArcMap 10.3. Subsequently,
117 these random points were located in the field and checked for the absence of the species nests;
118 no random point was located in vicinity of the detected nests. Two circle plots with radii of 1
119 and 4 m were established around each of the detected nests (occupied plot) and the random
120 points (unoccupied plot). An array of habitat variables was measured in each of these plots Use the following type of citation: North-western Journal of Zoology 2021: e212601
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121 including the percent slope, geographical aspect, the nest entrance orientation, the percentage
122 cover of vegetation, the percentage cover of ground components (≤ 50 mm and > 50 mm sized
123 gravel), and the percentage of bare soil. All variables were measured by one observer to
124 minimise the risk of errors.
125 Data analysis
126 Mann-Whitney test was used, to compare the mean of the variables measured in the nest
127 presence and absence plots of Ammomanes deserti. The effect of plot size in determining the
128 effect of habitat variables was evaluated using the Wilcoxon test. We used Chi-square test to
129 address the hypothesis that the orientation of domains and nest entrances were not randomly
130 selected. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 21.
131
132 Results
133 The number of pebbles used to fence the nest entrance was found to range between 53 and
134 292 (mean of 119.85 ± 56.87 SD). The internal slope of the main overhanging stones
135 shadowing the nests ranged between 30 and 70 degrees with a mean of 47.55± 12.20 SD.
136 The nests were located between 828 and 900 m.a.s.l. with a mean of 875.9 ± 18.4 SD. Table 1
137 gives a brief descriptionNorth-western of the size of gravels Journal used to fence of theZoology nest entrance. Accepted paper until proofing
138 The results of the Mann-Whitney test showed that the percentage gravel with the size ≤ 50
139 mm and the percentage of bare soil within both plots as well as the percentage gravel with the
140 size <50 mm in 4 m-radius plots were significantly different between the occupied and
141 unoccupied plots (Table 2). Furthermore, mean percentage gravel within the 1 m-radius plots
142 was significantly greater than those found in 4 m-radius plots (Wilcoxon Z = -2.140, p =
143 0.032) indicating that desert larks’ nests are located in places with higher amount of gravels Use the following type of citation: North-western Journal of Zoology 2021: e212601
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144 compared to the immediate adjacent sites. However, comparison of bare soil between the two
145 small and large plots did not show a significant difference (Wilcoxon Z = -1.027, p = 0.304).
146 The results of the Chi-square test showed that the geographical aspect of the nesting area and
147 the nest entrance orientation were significantly different from those of the randomly selected
148 pseudo-absence points (p < 0.001). Forty percent of the nests were located on flat plains, 30%
149 on eastern domains, 15% on southeastern domains and 10% on southern domains. Moreover,
150 the majority of the nests’ entrances was oriented towards the east (50%) and south (25%)
151 directions (Fig. 2).
152 Discussion
153 Desert lark’s nesting locations had low vegetation covers (canopy cover of less than 10%), but
154 larks did not build nests in completely non-vegetated areas. They also tended to select the
155 immediate margin of big stones and sometimes small holes on the lateral side of rocks as the
156 nesting locations. Such a propensity in nest-site selection is to protect the nest and its contents
157 from the direct heat of sunlight in regions where few shadow areas are available. Similar
158 studies have also revealed that the availability of large stones is of high importance for the
159 nest-site selection of desert lark (Vaurie 1951; Orr 1970). Our results showed that desert lark
160 could carry pebbles North-westernwith an average size of Journal 450 grams andof Zoologythickness-edge of less than 3 mm 161 to the nest location. Accepted paper until proofing
162 Before noon, wind speed is often below 0.1 m s-1, and then the wind speed increases with
163 increasing temperature. Nearly 35% of proportionally strong winds moved from the west,
164 south, and southwest. It seems that building nests on the ground in the immediate eastern
165 margin of big stones are strategies to avoid the damaging effect of wind. In addition, the
166 majority of the desert lark’s nests were situated on the east, southeast, and or south-facing
167 slopes, which shelter the nests from south-westerly and southerly warm winds and the hot
168 afternoon sun. In contrast, nests receive and absorb the maximum direct solar radiation at the Use the following type of citation: North-western Journal of Zoology 2021: e212601
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169 beginning of a day when the mean minimum temperature is about 9.8° C. These findings are
170 consistent with the results of previous studies on open-cup ground-nesting species
171 (Mainwaring et al. 2014 and references within it). The internal slope of the rock beside the
172 nest provides shade during the middle part of the day. Moreover, building a rampant by a
173 combination of small pebbles and twigs of plants such as Hammada salicornica creates a
174 porous structure, which reduces thermal fluctuations within the nests. Other studies have also
175 outlined that desert lark alleviates the nest temperature by enclosing the nest through a rim of
176 pebbles (Orr 1970; Afik et al. 1991). It is documented that a high percentage of the nest
177 entrance selected by middle-latitude ground-nesting bird species are easterly-oriented (Burton
178 2007). This strategy is effective in protecting nests from harmful effects of sunlight irradiated
179 from the west (Afik et al. 1991; Lloyd & Martin 2004; Burton 2006; Long et al. 2009),
180 reducing water needs (Tieleman et al. 1999) and absorbing the maximum thermal energy of
181 sunlight in the cool morning time (Richardson 1965; Orr 1970; Burton 2006, Schaaf et al
182 2020b).
183 In conclusion, desert lark selects rocky areas with vegetation cover of less than 10 percent as
184 the nesting area and refuse to build nests on non-vegetated bare soils. The presence of big
185 stones with a weight of less than 6.5 kg, the internal slope of the stone, and appropriate
186 geographical aspectNorth-western are important factors Journal in nest-site of Zoology selection by desert lark. The Accepted paper until proofing 187 geographical aspect of the nesting site and the nest entrance orientation are selected to
188 alleviate the effect of direct solar radiation (Schaaf 2020b) , and winds (Mezquida 2004)
189 moved from west and southwest, and in turn, to stabilise microclimate condition inside the
190 nest.
191 Acknowledgement
192 We are grateful to Zarindasht Department of Environment for assisting us during the
193 fieldwork. The authors declare no competing interests. Use the following type of citation: North-western Journal of Zoology 2021: e212601
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194 References
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309
310 Table captions
311 Table 1. Range and mean ± SD values of measurements of gravels used to fence the entrance
312 of the desert lark’s nest
313 Table 2. Range and mean ± SD values of variables measured in 1 m- and 4 m-radius occupied and
314 unoccupied plots and the results of the Mann-Whitney test.
315
316 Figure captions
317 Figure 1. Nests of desert lark built by small pebbles and twigs. The nests were shadowed at
318 12:00 AM (A) and 16:00 PM (B) on 15th October 2014
319 Figure 2. The geographical aspect of the nesting area in the nest presence (A) and absence
320 locations (B), the nest entrance orientation built by desert lark (C) and the wind
321 rose of the study areaNorth-western (D). P denotes the percentage Journal of domains of Zoology with no geographical aspect Accepted paper until proofing 322 (slope of less than 10%).
323
324
325
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329
330 Tables:
331 Table 1. Variable
Length Width Overall Weight Maximum Minimum (mm) (mm) thickness (gr) thickness of thickness of (mm) edge (mm) edge (mm)
Range 11-25 4-15 2-7 0.4-1.5 2-6 0.5-4
Mean±SD 16.3±3.7 9.8±2.7 4.7±1.2 0.8±0.3 4.5±1.3 1.5±0.9
Variable The heaviest pebble used to fence the nest entrance
Length Width Overall Weight Maximum Minimum (mm) (mm) thickness (gram) thickness of thickness of (mm) edge (mm) edge (mm)
Range 20-45 12-35 5-15 3.7-12.1 4-15 0.5-3
Mean±SD 35.1±6.5 23.4±5.7 8.5±2.8 6.7±2.2 8.2±3.1 1.8±0. 7
332
333
334 Table 2.
Variable Plot Mean ± SD Man-Whitney size Presence Absence Z p North-western(m2) Journal of Zoology Gravel (≤50 mm) Accepted3.14 %43.63 paper±25.74 until%14.68 proofing±18 -4.071 0.001 50.27 %34.73±17.27 %18.79±16.61 -2.922 0.003 Gravel (<50 mm) 3.14 %26.36±16.65 %25.84±31.15 -1.305 0.192 50.27 %29.21±16.18 %19.47±18.66 -2.088 0.037 Bare ground 3.14 %25.05±15.69 %56.21±33.81 -2.703 0.007 50.27 %29.21±17.90 %54.21±25.22 -3.083 0.002 Vegetation 3.14 %4.95±4.74 %3.26±4.21 -1.318 0.187 50.27 %6.84±4.89 %7.53±7.26 -0.133 0.894 Slope %29.52±34.08 %11.89±14.62 -0.742 0.458 335
336 Use the following type of citation: North-western Journal of Zoology 2021: e212601
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337 338
339 Figure 1. 340
North-western Journal of Zoology Accepted paper until proofing
341 342 Figure 2. 343