Presentatie op de Landelijke Dag 2012 van spreker Martin Flade. Samenvatting: Fight for a small brown bird: Current status of the globally threatened Aquatic Warbler (Acrocephalus paludicola) – Martin Flade (universiteit Brandenburg) The Aquatic Warbler is the only globally threatened passerine species breeding on mainland Europe, listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of Globally Threatened Species due to its rapid decline in the past and the current limited area of occupancy of <500>95%. Although most current breeding sites are now protected, some peripheral breeding populations are either decreasing in numbers (Pomerania, Lithuania) or have almost disappeared (West Siberia, Hungary). However, Aquatic Warblers spend only about 3-4 months at the breeding sites and 2-3 months on migration, but about 5-7 months in the non-breeding areas in sub-Saharan West Africa. This lecture summarises our current knowledge on breeding sites, population sizes and trends, on migration routes and wintering sites and the threat status in Europe and West Africa.

1. Operation Paludicola –
Fight for a small brown bird
Current status of the globally
threatened Aquatic Warbler
Martin Flade, chairman of the BirdLife
International Aquatic Warbler Conservation Team

2. Photos: Zymantas Morkvenas

3. Most threatened
passerine bird of
continental Europe,
classified as
‚vulnerable‘ at a
global scale
Photo: Zymantas Morkvenas

4. inhabits large open mesotrophic to eutrophic fens and grassy marshes
of central Europe and W-Siberia
Photo: Arunas Pranaitis
Biebrza, NE-Poland, May 2010

5. Biebrza, NE-Poland, May 2010

6. Historical breeding records of Aquatic Warbler in Central and West
Europe (from J. Bellebaum in prep.)
AW has suffered a population decline
by >95 % during the 20th century

7. AW have no pair bonds - the mating
system is characterised by
successive polygyny and promiscuity
(unique in reed warblers!)
Photos: Arunas Pranaitis

8. Intense sperm
competition:
copula can last up
to 45 minutes!
drawing: David Quinn,
from:
Leisler, B. & K.
Schulze-Hagen 2011:
The Reed Warblers –
Diversity in a
uniform Bird Family.
KNNV Publishing,
Zeist.

9. Size of testis of the Aquatic Warbler
in comparison with other
reed warbler species
from: Leisler, B. & K. Schulze-Hagen 2011: The Reed Warblers –
Diversity in a uniform Bird Family. KNNV Publishing, Zeist.

10. Photo: Alexander Kozulin
uniparental care by the females – possible due to high
abundance of large invertebrates in the sedge fens

11. Photos: Zymantas Morkvenas

12. multiple paternity:
broods are fathered by
up to 5 different males!

13. Middle Pripyat, Belarus
Biebrza, NE-Poland
high degree of flexibility and mobility as adaption
to quickly changing habitats in floodplain mires!
Biebrza, NE-Poland

14. The BirdLife International
Aquatic Warbler Conservation Team (AWCT) ...
an informal association of researchers and
conservationists working on the Aquatic Warbler
coming from all breeding range states and some stopover and
wintering countries (France, Spain, UK, Belgium, Senegal)

15. Operation Paludicola –
Fight for a small brown bird
Current status of the globally
threatened Aquatic Warbler
Overview
1. Introduction to the Aquatic Warbler and the BLI Aquatic Warbler
Conservation Team
2. Breeding range, population trends
3. Threats and conservation projects at the breeding sites
4. West Siberia Mystery
5. Wintering sites
6. Geolocators – new approach to study migratory connectivity

16. Aquatic -15 0 15 30 45 60 75 90
Warbler 75 Knowledge in 1995 75
Global range
? ?
current breeding:
?
60 60
<50
50-200 45 45
200-1000
1000-5000 30 30
>5000
Winter rec.
(Dec., Jan.) 15 Pripyat 15
former
range
0 0
migration
-15 0 15 30 45 60 75 90

17. go there!

18. 75
1999
60
2006
2003 1998
1998
2001
BirdLife AWCT 1995 2000
expeditions since 1996 1996
1995 2004
1997
45 2005
and national follow-
up research
30

19. Aquatic Lithuania: c. 100
Warbler 55
Pomerania: 34-54
Central Europe:
10,000-12,000
Current breeding
distribution
(maximum number of
singing males)
50
0-10
Hortóbagy: 0-16
10-50
45
50-200
200-1000
1000-5000
40
>5000

20. Zvaniec, Belarus: discovered 1995,
biggest AW breeding site on the world
(150 km², 3,000-7,000 singing males)
(mesotrophic green moss – sedge fen)

21. Zvaniets, Belarus
24th May, 1995

22. Industrial peat extraction in Belarus, 1996

23. Borki, upper Pripyat, Ukraine, 2005
Zvaniec, Belarus, summer 2004

24. Dikoe, Belarus, spring mire of Yaselda and Narew rivers
Lysimachia thyrsiflora Menyanthes trifoliata

25. oscillating floodplain mire,
middle Yaselda,
West Belarus
(mesotrophic green moss – sedge fen)
globally highest abundance of
Aquatic Warbler:
up to 135 singing males/km²,
but strong fluctuations

26. Breeding populations of Aquatic Warbler (Flade & Malashevich, in prep.)

27. Breeding sites of Aquatic Warbler (Flade & Malashevich, in prep.)

29. Aquatic Warbler: average global population
2001-2010 (singing males)
Russia
Lithuania 158 Pomerania
178 76
E-Poland
3,045
Belarus
5,360
Ukraine Hungary
3,620 282

30. Aquatic Warblerin Hungary 1971-2012
Estimated Global population development of 800
Aquatic Warbler since 1996 (AWCT data base) 700
600
singing males
500
Belarus good estimates
14.000 400
300
Belarus rough estimates/ extrapolations
200
Belarus best guesses, interpolations 100
0
12.000
1971
1973
1977
1979
1983
1985
1989
1991
1995
1997
2001
2003
2007
2009
1975
1981
1987
1993
1999
2005
2011
Ukraine extrapolations from monitoring
Year
transects
Ukraine interpolations (minimum value)
Aquatic Warbler in Lithuania 1996-2008
East-Poland (nearly) full counts
10.000 350
East-Poland estimates 300
singing males
250
East-Poland interpolations (minimum value)
200
8.000
Lithuania counts 150
100
Lithuania estimates
50
6.000 Lithuania interpolations (minimum value) 0
1996
2002
2004
2012
1998
2000
2006
2008
2010
Year
Hungary counts
Aquatic Warbler in Pomerania 1993-2012
450
Hungary interpolations
400
4.000
Pomerania counts 350
observed
Pomerania estimates 300 model
Number of males
250
2.000 global population good estimate
200
global population weak estimate 150
100
50
0
0
1996
1998
2000
2001
2002
2004
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
1997
1999
2003
2005
1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

31. Biebrza, NE-Poland, Bagno Lawki,
second-biggest AW breeding site on the world
(mesotrophic green moss – sedge fen)

32. Abandonment leads to
overgrowth with
trees and bushes (Biebrza)

33. Successional overgrowth due to
abandonment of land use (Biebrza)

35. Polish-German EU LIFE Project
on the Conservation of Aquatic
Warbler in Pomerania and NE-
Poland (2005-2010)

36. Production of biomass
briquets and pellets in
Trczianne, NE-Poland

37. Achievements of the LIFE project:
and of course:
more and better AW habitat
• 3,200 ha actively managed by the project
• 4,000 ha under AES packages good for AW
• Area occupied by AW within managed areas
strongly increased at Biebrza
• Strong indications for higher densities of AW
after mowing at Biebrza

38. Siberia
Mystery

39. Aquatic -15 0 15 30 45 60 75 90
Warbler 75 75
Global range
current breeding:
60 60
??
<50
50-200 45 45
200-1000
1000-5000 30 30
>5000
Winter rec.
(Dec., Jan.) 15 15
former
range
0 0
migration
-15 0 15 30 45 60 75 90

40. Siberia 1999:
huge transport problems...
Tara bridge near Mezhowka

41. Siberia 1999:
Very hard field
conditions,
wild animals...
Nice coffee break („I survived Vietnam“)
„Moshka very klein, but bolshoj scheisse“
Fresh bear tracks beside the tents ...

42. Most important result in 1999:
We need a helicopter!

43. Siberia 2000:
Northern Omsk Oblast
Bol. Uki
Vegetation
description & bird
survey / teams
dropped off for 2 days
Jarovskoe
Place One
100 km

44. ‚Place One‘ N Omsk First singing Aquatic Warbler in W-Siberia,
22nd of May, 2000

45. Birch group ‚Hotel Aureola‘
Jarovskoe, 25 May 2000

46. 2001
1960: 5 ind./km²
2000 1967: 53-220/km²
1999
1961/62
1962
1,000 km
SW-Siberian plain between Ural and middle Ob
Southern Taiga and Forest Steppe zone
unconfirmed historical AW records confirmed AW records
mires surveyed by AWCT 1999-2001

47. The secret of Aquatic Warbler occurrence in W-Siberia
 tremendous drainage campaigns in central Europe/Russia starting in the 1950s
 concentration of reliable breeding records in W-Siberia in the 1960s
 increased occurrence of AW on migration in the E-Mediterranean 1958-66
 occupation of sites in W-Siberia extremely discontinuous, despite huge areas
of suitable habitats
 song, biometric measurements and genetics of Siberian AW are not different.
The ‚Exodus Hypothesis‘:
The strong occurrence of AW in W-Siberia in the 1950s/60s and
recent disappearance was the result of a big exodus from central
and eastern Europe to the east, initiated through large-scale
drainage campaigns in the 1950s.

48. Africa

49. Minsk/Belarus 30.04.2003:

50. Desk study 1: Collecting records during the
non-breeding period (Schäffer et al. 2006)
January-February
November-December
March-April
September-October

51. Desk study 2: δ13C isotope analysis
(Pain et al. 2004 and unpublished)
Pain et al. 2004
Potential non-breeding range: 13°-20°N

52. Desk study 3: BIOCLIM modelling of non-breeding
distribution (Walther et al. 2007)

55. A model for successful inter-continental co-operation to
protect a globally threatened migratory species under CMS
The Senegal 2007 Team
for results see Flade et al 2011:
J Ornithol 152 (supplem. 1): 129-140

56. French Group ACROLA (Julien Foucher et al.) at the Niger in Mali

57. 2011
2011 (3)
2007
(1)
2011
(13)
from: Buchanan et al. 2011, Ostrich 82: 81-85
New discoveries/ringing 2011: Julien Foucher et al., group ACROLA

60. Global distribution of Aquatic Warbler
Global distribution of
the Aquatic Warbler
Wintering sites
Historical records
CONNECTIVITY? 1 – 3 ind. captured
13 and 205 ind. capt.
Stopover on migration
autumn
spring
Breeding sites
0 – 9 sing. males
10 – 499males
> 500 males

61. Aquatic Warblers ringed at the wintering sites and recovered in the breeding grounds
Poluda et al. 2012, Ringing & Migration, DOI:10.1080/03078698.2012.691250
Global distribution of
the Aquatic Warbler
Wintering sites
Historical records
1 – 3 ind. captured
13 and 205 ind. capt.
Stopover on migration
autumn
spring
Breeding sites
0 – 9 sing. males
10 – 499males
> 500 males

62. historical records
hatched: stabile isotope signatures of birds at the breeding sites
potential breeding habitats
New modelling of Aquatic Warbler non-breeding distribution
on the basis of satellite image analyses
Buchanan et al. 2011: Ostrich 82 (2): 81–85

63. from:
Zwarts/Bijlsma/van
den Kamp/Wymenga
2009:
Living on the edge.
Wetlands and birds in
a changing Sahel.

64. from:
Zwarts/Bijlsma/van
den Kamp/Wymenga
2009:
Living on the edge.
Wetlands and birds in
a changing Sahel.

65. from:
Zwarts/Bijlsma/van
den Kamp/Wymenga
AW wintering 2009:
site Living on the edge.
Wetlands and birds in
a changing Sahel.

66. Lac de Guers

67. Drought in the Inner Niger Delta in winter 2011/2012
February 2011 November 2011

68. Existing and planned river dams in the
catchment of the Inner Niger Delta
(after Zwarts et al. 2009)

69. The Geolocator Project – which breeding population winters where?
• Geolocators measure light intensity (every 5 minutes)
• data are stored for one year
• birds have to be recaptured to retrieve the logger data;
• positions during migration and wintering can be calculated bysunrise and day length
• Isolated population in central Ukraine (Supoij) chosen for pilot study (30 males with
GL, 16 controls)
• recapture of birds in May 2011 (6 GL, 6 controls)

70. 0.6 g Geolocator (SOI-GDL2):
• newly developed in 2010 by the Swiss Ornithol. Institute
• at the first time used for Aquatic Warbler

72. Geolocator Project:
First results from the
first pilot study
2010/11
from:
Salewski et al. in
press (J. Ornithol.)

73. change in global priorities im AW conservation
Before c. 2000 today
Breeding - Site protection - restoration of hydrology
range - restoration of hydrology - vegetation management
- stabilisation of hydrology mowing techniques,
- agricultural extensification controlled burning
- biomass use
Wintering - identification of wintering - identification of wintering/
range and moulting sites moulting sites
- site protection
- research on threat factors

74. Thanks for support to
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
Michael Otto Stiftung für Umweltschutz
Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft (DO-G)
Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU)
UK Department for Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFRA)
MAVA Stiftung
Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU)
Sekretariat der Bonner Konvention (CMS)
O.M.H. Schmidt-Felsche Stiftung
BirdLife Belarus (APB)
The Wetlands Trust
and
The members of the Aquatic Warbler Conservation Team,
especially:
Poland: Janusz Kloskowski, Jarek Krogulec, Grzegorz Kiljan, Lars Lachmann, Piotr
MarczakiewiczAndrzej Dyrcz; Belarus: Alexander Kozulin, Viktar Fenchuk, Olegh
Pareyko, Luba Vergeichik, Arkady Skuratovich; Belgium: Norbert Roothaert;
France: Bruno Bargain, Julien Foucher, Arnaud LeNevé, Germany: Karl Schulze-
Hagen, Benedikt Gießing, Sebastian Körner, Sven Baumung, Hans-Günther Bauer,
Jürgen Jebram, Tanja Leinweber, Torsten Ryslavy, Volker Salewski, Franziska
Tanneberger; Latvia: Oskars Keiss; Lithuania: Zymantas Morkvenas, Zydrunas
Preiksa, Renatas Jakaitis; Russia: Mikhail Kalyakin, Sergej Tsibulin, Sergej
Soloviev, Vladimir Morozov; Ukraine: Anatoly Poluda, Igor Gorban; Hungary: Zsolt
Végváry; Senegal: Ibrahima Diop, Indega Bindia

75. Wanted:
We are searching for skilled volunteers for Aquatic Warbler
counts in S Belarus and NW Ukraine in late May/June 2013
Are you interested?
Please have a look on our AWCT Website
www.aquaticwarbler.net
or contact me via e-mail: flade@dda-web.de