title: Timing and location of reproduction in African waterfowl: an overview of >100 years of nest records.
abstract: The timing and location of reproduction are fundamental elements of reproductive success for all organisms. Understanding why animals choose to reproduce at particular times and in particular places is also important for our understanding of other aspects of organismal ecology, such as their habitat requirements, movement strategies, and biogeography. Although breeding patterns in waterfowl are relatively well documented, most studies are from northern temperate regions and the influences of location and time of year on breeding in Afrotropical ducks (Anatidae) are poorly understood. We outline six alternative (but not mutually exclusive) hypotheses that might explain where and when Afrotropical ducks choose to breed. To explore these hypotheses, we assembled and analyzed a new database of c. 22,000 breeding records for 16 Afrotropical ducks and one introduced Palearctic species (the Mallard Anas platyrhynchos). The full database is available on line as an appendix to this article. We identified five distinct breeding strategies as well as two outliers. Peak breeding for 9 of 16 indigenous duck species occurs during the dry season. We found no evidence for spatial synchrony or spatial autocorrelation in breeding, suggesting a high level of flexibility in waterfowl responses to prevailing conditions in any given year. More intensive analyses of alternative hypotheses are needed, but our initial analysis suggests that the timing of breeding for the majority of Afrotropical ducks is driven by a combination of resource availability and predation risk.
authors: Percy FitzPatrick Institute DST/NRF Centre of Excellence University of Cape Town Rondebosch Cape Town 7701 South Africa.
authors: Graeme S
authors: GS
authors: Cumming
authors: Animal Demography Unit Department of Biological Sciences University of Cape Town Rondebosch 7701 South Africa.
authors: Douglas M
authors: DM
authors: Harebottle
authors: National University of Science and Technology P.O Box AC939 Ascot Bulawayo Zimbabwe.
authors: Josphine
authors: J
authors: Mundava
authors: Ornithology Department National Museums of Kenya 40658 Nairobi Kenya.
authors: Nickson
authors: N
authors: Otieno
authors: Yew Tree Cottage Lone Lane Penallt Monmouthshire Wales NP25 4AJ U.K; BirdLife Botswana Gaborone Botswana.
authors: Stephanie J
authors: SJ
authors: Tyler
keywords: Anatidae; Botswana; Kenya; South Africa; Zimbabwe; breeding; mortality; nesting; predation; reproduction; waterfowl