PRE2023- Phenotypic plasticity and long-term population dynamics in social birds: unravelling the impact of agricultural management using an observational and experimental approach (PID2022-139442NB-I00)

Ecological or phenotypic plasticity refers to changes in the behaviour, morphology and physiology of organisms in response to environmental variation. The ability to adopt innovative behaviours allows individuals to exploit new opportunities as a consequence of natural and anthropogenic changes. The influence of these capacities and processes has been little studied in the long term on population dynamics and temporal trends, as well as their role as a rescue effect that enables the persistence and recovery of wild bird populations. In this proposal, we use long-term monitoring of social and long-lived species to analyse changes in size, distribution, breeding success, phenotype and population trends. In recent decades, the foraging habitats of many species have undergone drastic changes following the implementation of common policies in the EU, in particular resulting from the intensification of agricultural practices. These changes are particularly evident in habitat composition and in the nature of food resources, providing an excellent opportunity to study aspects of population dynamics dependent on food availability (assessed by targeted sampling), food nature (assessed by metabarcoding) and food quality in relation to contamination risk (assessed by contaminant load in failed eggs). This integration of research lines can provide ground-breaking results in ecology, behaviour and conservation.