The design of artificial nestboxes for the study of secondary hole-nesting birds: a review of methodological inconsistencies and potential biases.
2010
Lambrechts, Marcel M. | Adriaensen, Frank | Ardia, Daniel R. | Artemyev, Alexandr V. | Atiénzar, Francisco | Bańbura, Jerzy | Barba, Emilio | Bouvier, Jean-Charles | Camprodon, Jordi | Cooper, Caren B. | Dawson, Russell D. | Eens, Marcel | Eeva, Tapio | Faivre, Bruno | Garamszegi, László Z. | Goodenough, Anne E. | Gosler, Andrew G. | Grégoire, Arnaud | Griffith, Simon C. | Gustafsson, Lars | Johnson, L. Scott | Kania, Wojciech | Keišs, Oskars | Llambias, Paulo E. | Mainwaring, Mark C. | Mänd, Raivo | Massa, Bruno | Mazgajski, Tomasz D. | Møller, Anders Pape | Moreno, Juan | Naef-Daenzer, Beat | Norte, Ana C. | Orell, Markku | Otter, Ken A. | Park, Chan Ryul | Perrins, Christopher M. | Pinowski, Jan | Porkert, Jiri | Potti, Jaime | Remes, Vladimir | Richner, Heinz | Rytkönen, Seppo | Shiao, Ming-Tang | Silverin, Bengt | Slagsvold, Tore | Smith, Henrik G. | Sorace, Alberto | Stenning, Martyn J. | Stewart, Ian | Thompson, Charles F. | Török, János | Tryjanowski, Piotr | van Noordwijk, Arie J. | Winkler, David W. | Ziane, Nadia | Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE) ; Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) ; Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [Occitanie])-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro) | Evolutionary Ecology Group ; University of Antwerp (UA) | Department of Biology ; Franklin & Marshall College | Institute of Biology ; Russian Academy of Sciences [Moscow] (RAS) | Terrestrial Vertebrates Research Unit "Cavanilles" ; Universitat de València = University of Valencia (UV)-Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology | Department of Experimental Zoology & Evolutionary Biology ; Łódź University of Technology | Unité de recherche Plantes et Systèmes de Culture Horticoles (PSH) ; Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) | Biodiversity Department ; Centre de Ciència i Tecnologia Forestal de Catalunya (CTFC) | Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology ; Cornell University [New York] | Ecosystem Science and Management Program ; University of Northern British Columbia [Prince George] (UNBC) | Department of Biology (Ethology) ; University of Antwerp (UA) | Section of Ecology ; University of Turku | Biogéosciences [UMR 5561] [Dijon] ; Université de Bourgogne (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) | Department of Evolutionary Ecology ; Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD) ; Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas [España] = Spanish National Research Council [Spain] (CSIC)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas [España] = Spanish National Research Council [Spain] (CSIC) | Department of Natural and Social Sciences ; University of Gloucestershire [Gloucester] | Department of Zoology ; Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology-Institute of Human Sciences | Department of Brain, Behaviour and Evolution ; Macquarie University | Evolutionary Biology Centre ; Uppsala University | Department of Biology ; Towson University [Towson, MD, United States] ; University System of Maryland-University System of Maryland | Ornithological Station ; Polska Akademia Nauk = Polish Academy of Sciences = Académie polonaise des sciences (PAN)-Museum and Institute of Zoology | Laboratory of Ornithology ; University of Latvia (LU) | Ecologia del Comportamiento Animal ; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas [Buenos Aires] (CONICET) | Lancaster Environment Centre ; Lancaster University | Department of Zoology ; Faculty of Science and Technology [University of Tartu] ; Tartu Ülikool = University of Tartu [Estonie]-Tartu Ülikool = University of Tartu [Estonie] | Stazione Inanellamento c/o Dipartimento SEN-FIMIZO ; Università degli studi di Palermo - University of Palermo (UNIPA) | Museum and Institute of Zoology ; Polska Akademia Nauk = Polish Academy of Sciences = Académie polonaise des sciences (PAN) | Ecologie Systématique et Evolution (ESE) ; Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-AgroParisTech-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) | Center for Advanced Study ; Center for Advanced Study | Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva ; Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas [España] = Spanish National Research Council [Spain] (CSIC)-Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales [Madrid] (MNCN) ; Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas [España] = Spanish National Research Council [Spain] (CSIC) | Swiss Ornithological Institute | Department of Life Sciences ; Universidade de Coimbra = University of Coimbra [Portugal] (UC) | Department of Biology ; University of Oulu [Finland] = Oulun yliopisto [Suomi] = Université d'Oulu [Finlande] | Warm-temperate Forest Research Center ; Korea Forest Research Institute | Center of Ecological Research ; Polska Akademia Nauk = Polish Academy of Sciences = Académie polonaise des sciences (PAN) | Laboratory of Ornithology ; Palacky University Olomouc | Institute of Ecology & Evolution (IEE) ; Universität Bern = University of Bern = Université de Berne (UNIBE) | Wildlife laboratory ; National Taiwan University [Taiwan] (NTU) | Department of Zoology ; Göteborgs Universitet = University of Gothenburg (GU) | Department of Biosciences [Oslo] ; Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences [Oslo] ; University of Oslo (UiO)-University of Oslo (UiO) | Animal Ecology ; Skane University Hospital [Lund] | School of Life Sciences ; University of Sussex | Department of Biology ; University of Kentucky (UK) | Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics Section ; Illinois State University | Behavioural Ecology Group ; Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) | Institute of Zoology ; Poznan University of Life Sciences | Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) | Laboratory of Ornithology and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology ; Cornell University [New York] | Laboratoire d'Ecophysiologie animale ; Département de Biologie
26 pages
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Show more [+] Less [-]English. The widespread use of artificial nestboxes has led to significant advances in our knowledge of the ecology, behaviour and physiology of cavity nesting birds, especially small passerines. Nestboxes have made it easier to perform routine monitoring and experimental manipulation of eggs or nestlings, and also repeatedly to capture, identify and manipulate the parents. However, when comparing results across study sites the use of nestboxes may also introduce a potentially significant confounding variable in the form of differences in nestbox design amongst studies, such as their physical dimensions, placement height, and the way in which they are constructed and maintained. However, the use of nestboxes may also introduce an unconsidered and potentially significant confounding variable due to differences in nestbox design amongst studies, such as their physical dimensions, placement height, and the way in which they are constructed and maintained. Here we review to what extent the characteristics of artificial nestboxes (e.g. size, shape, construction material, colour) are documented in the ‘methods' sections of publications involving hole-nesting passerine birds using natural or excavated cavities or artificial nestboxes for reproduction and roosting. Despite explicit previous recommendations that authors describe in detail the characteristics of the nestboxes used, we found that the description of nestbox characteristics in most recent publications remains poor and insufficient. We therefore list the types of descriptive data that should be included in the methods sections of relevant manuscripts and justify this by discussing how variation in nestbox characteristics can affect or confound conclusions from nestbox studies. We also propose several recommendations to improve the reliability and usefulness of research based on long-term studies of any secondary hole-nesting species using artificial nestboxes for breeding or roosting.
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