Habitat selection decisions can impact individual fitness and ultimately scale up to mediate population dynamics. Understanding how birds select habitat is thus critical for discerning the biological processes structuring populations and for developing conservation strategies, particularly for species in decline. Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus; hereafter murrelet) populations have declined in recent decades due to loss of late-successional forest nesting habitat and changing ocean conditions that impact foraging success. Most other seabirds in the family Alcidae nest colonially and evidence suggests nesting murrelets may aggregate in stands, yet no studies have examined murrelet use of social information in nest-site selection. In 2016, we experimentally simulated the presence of murrelets at 14 randomly chosen potential breeding sites by broadcasting murrelet calls throughout the breeding period. Between broadcasting bouts, we recorded calls of wild murrelets and compared call rates with those recorded at 14 control sites (no broadcast). One year after playbacks ceased (2017) we conducted breeding season surveys to document behaviors indicative of murrelet breeding activity. Broadcasting murrelet calls in 2016 increased daily odds of wild murrelets vocalizing during the treatment period by up to 15.4× (95% CI: 2.3, 125.4) relative to control sites. During the 2017 breeding season, the odds of occupancy were 10.0× (CI: 1.2, 81.4) greater at treatment sites than control sites. These results indicate that social information influences murrelet breeding site selection because the simulated conspecific presence in potential nesting habitat appeared to attract prospectors in 2016 that continued occupying treatment sites the following year. This conspecific attraction implies murrelet nesting sites are likely to remain occupied over time and that large tracts of nesting habitat may be important for supporting murrelet populations. Murrelets may also be susceptible to information-mediated Allee effects whereby a lack of conspecific information about nesting habitat could exacerbate long-term population declines.

中文翻译：

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社会信息影响 Marbled Murrelets 栖息地选择的实验证据

栖息地选择决策会影响个体适应度，并最终扩大规模以调节种群动态。因此，了解鸟类如何选择栖息地对于辨别构成种群的生物过程和制定保护策略至关重要，特别是对于衰退中的物种。近几十年来，由于晚期森林筑巢栖息地的丧失和影响觅食成功的海洋条件的变化，大理石纹鼹鼠（Brachyramphus marmoratus；以下简称 murrelet）种群数量有所下降。Alcidae 家族中的大多数其他海鸟都在殖民地筑巢，有证据表明筑巢的海鸟可能会聚集在林分中，但没有研究检查海鸟在巢址选择中对社会信息的使用。2016年，我们通过在整个繁殖期间广播 murrelet 呼叫，在 14 个随机选择的潜在繁殖地点通过实验模拟 murrelet 的存在。在广播回合之间，我们记录了野生 murrelets 的呼叫并将呼叫率与在 14 个控制站点（无广播）记录的呼叫率进行比较。播放停止一年后（2017 年），我们进行了繁殖季节调查，以记录表明海鳖繁殖活动的行为。相对于对照站点，2016 年广播 murrelet 呼叫使野生 murrelet 在治疗期间发声的每日几率增加了高达 15.4 倍（95% CI：2.3, 125.4）。在 2017 年繁殖季节，处理地点的入住几率比对照地点高 10.0 倍（CI：1.2, 81.4）。这些结果表明，社会信息会影响 murrelet 繁殖地点的选择，因为在 2016 年，潜在筑巢栖息地中模拟的同种存在似乎吸引了探矿者，他们在接下来的一年继续占据治疗地点。这种特定的吸引力意味着墨鱼的筑巢地点可能会随着时间的推移而被占用，并且大片的筑巢栖息地可能对支持墨鱼种群很重要。Murrelets 也可能容易受到信息介导的 Allee 效应的影响，即缺乏有关筑巢栖息地的特定信息可能会加剧长期人口下降。这种特定的吸引力意味着墨鱼的筑巢地点可能会随着时间的推移而被占用，并且大片的筑巢栖息地可能对支持墨鱼种群很重要。Murrelets 也可能容易受到信息介导的 Allee 效应的影响，即缺乏有关筑巢栖息地的特定信息可能会加剧长期人口下降。这种特定的吸引力意味着墨鱼的筑巢地点可能会随着时间的推移而被占用，并且大片的筑巢栖息地可能对支持墨鱼种群很重要。Murrelets 也可能容易受到信息介导的 Allee 效应的影响，即缺乏有关筑巢栖息地的特定信息可能会加剧长期人口下降。