Temporal and Spatial Variation in Survival Rates of a House Sparrow, Passer domesticus, Metapopulation

Abstract

In a metapopulation of house sparrows, consisting of island populations off the coast of northern Norway, annual variation in adult and juvenile survival rates was estimated using capture-recapture methods. Annual adult survival rate did not differ estimated using capture-recapture methods. Annual adult survival rate did not differ between sexes, but varied significantly between islands, whereas annual juvenile survival rate varied significantly between years. For both adult and juvenile survival rates the study revealed a significant interaction term between island and years. meaning that the difference in survival rates among islands differed between years. This interaction in both juvenile and adult survival rates indicates that the temporal variation may occur in an uncorrelated manner even within a relatively restricted geographical region such as our study area.