The buffer effect and large-scale population regulation in migratory birds
@article{Gill2001TheBE, title={The buffer effect and large-scale population regulation in migratory birds}, author={J. Gill and K. Norris and Peter M. Potts and T. Gunnarsson and P. Atkinson and W. Sutherland}, journal={Nature}, year={2001}, volume={412}, pages={436-438} }
Buffer effects occur when sites vary in quality and fluctuations in population size are mirrored by large changes in animal numbers in poor-quality sites but only small changes in good-quality sites. Hence, the poor sites ‘buffer’ the good sites, a mechanism that can potentially drive population regulation if there are demographic costs of inhabiting poor sites. Here we show that for a migratory bird this process can apply on a country-wide scale with consequences for both survival and timing… CONTINUE READING
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