Savvas Iezekiel, Jakub Z. Kosicki, Reuven Yosef, Dimitrios E. Bakaloudis, Christos G. Vlachos
{"title":"模拟生长速度,并开发一个年龄测定工具,为雏鹰的波内利鹰的fasciata","authors":"Savvas Iezekiel, Jakub Z. Kosicki, Reuven Yosef, Dimitrios E. Bakaloudis, Christos G. Vlachos","doi":"10.1111/aab.70002","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Understanding the growth rate of nestlings is essential for explaining developmental strategies and is particularly important for birds of prey. Given that they have lower reproduction rates than other species, the growth rate could be one of the critical factors determining parental fitness and influencing the individual's condition. Despite variability often resulting from various stress conditions, the growth rate is predictable for given ages of nestlings, as highlighted here. This study investigates the growth dynamics of Bonelli's Eagle (<i>Aquila fasciata</i>) nestlings in the Republic of Cyprus, focusing on 13 biometric variables measured over time. We employed logistic and generalized additive models to analyse growth trajectories and identify predictors of age. Our findings highlight that nestlings achieve maximum growth rates in body mass and tarsus length early in development, followed by primary feathers and wing length. Conversely, head width, beak dimensions, and talon length exhibit slower and more gradual growth. Precisely describing the rate and pattern of growth of individual body components enabled us to develop a tool for predicting age. We found that wing, tarsus, and middle talon lengths are the most reliable predictors of nestling age. The effectiveness test of our predictive model conducted on an independent data set showed that the age estimation error is 1 day. Thus, our research provides a deep insight into the eagles’ developmental patterns while offering practical tools for field studies and conservation efforts.</p>","PeriodicalId":7977,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Applied Biology","volume":"187 1","pages":"99-110"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/aab.70002","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Modelling growth rates and developing an age determination tool for nestling Bonelli's Eagle Aquila fasciata\",\"authors\":\"Savvas Iezekiel, Jakub Z. Kosicki, Reuven Yosef, Dimitrios E. Bakaloudis, Christos G. Vlachos\",\"doi\":\"10.1111/aab.70002\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p>Understanding the growth rate of nestlings is essential for explaining developmental strategies and is particularly important for birds of prey. Given that they have lower reproduction rates than other species, the growth rate could be one of the critical factors determining parental fitness and influencing the individual's condition. Despite variability often resulting from various stress conditions, the growth rate is predictable for given ages of nestlings, as highlighted here. This study investigates the growth dynamics of Bonelli's Eagle (<i>Aquila fasciata</i>) nestlings in the Republic of Cyprus, focusing on 13 biometric variables measured over time. We employed logistic and generalized additive models to analyse growth trajectories and identify predictors of age. Our findings highlight that nestlings achieve maximum growth rates in body mass and tarsus length early in development, followed by primary feathers and wing length. Conversely, head width, beak dimensions, and talon length exhibit slower and more gradual growth. Precisely describing the rate and pattern of growth of individual body components enabled us to develop a tool for predicting age. We found that wing, tarsus, and middle talon lengths are the most reliable predictors of nestling age. The effectiveness test of our predictive model conducted on an independent data set showed that the age estimation error is 1 day. Thus, our research provides a deep insight into the eagles’ developmental patterns while offering practical tools for field studies and conservation efforts.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":7977,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Annals of Applied Biology\",\"volume\":\"187 1\",\"pages\":\"99-110\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":2.2000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-03-13\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/aab.70002\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Annals of Applied Biology\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"97\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aab.70002\",\"RegionNum\":3,\"RegionCategory\":\"农林科学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"AGRICULTURE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annals of Applied Biology","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aab.70002","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"AGRICULTURE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
Modelling growth rates and developing an age determination tool for nestling Bonelli's Eagle Aquila fasciata
Understanding the growth rate of nestlings is essential for explaining developmental strategies and is particularly important for birds of prey. Given that they have lower reproduction rates than other species, the growth rate could be one of the critical factors determining parental fitness and influencing the individual's condition. Despite variability often resulting from various stress conditions, the growth rate is predictable for given ages of nestlings, as highlighted here. This study investigates the growth dynamics of Bonelli's Eagle (Aquila fasciata) nestlings in the Republic of Cyprus, focusing on 13 biometric variables measured over time. We employed logistic and generalized additive models to analyse growth trajectories and identify predictors of age. Our findings highlight that nestlings achieve maximum growth rates in body mass and tarsus length early in development, followed by primary feathers and wing length. Conversely, head width, beak dimensions, and talon length exhibit slower and more gradual growth. Precisely describing the rate and pattern of growth of individual body components enabled us to develop a tool for predicting age. We found that wing, tarsus, and middle talon lengths are the most reliable predictors of nestling age. The effectiveness test of our predictive model conducted on an independent data set showed that the age estimation error is 1 day. Thus, our research provides a deep insight into the eagles’ developmental patterns while offering practical tools for field studies and conservation efforts.
期刊介绍:
Annals of Applied Biology is an international journal sponsored by the Association of Applied Biologists. The journal publishes original research papers on all aspects of applied research on crop production, crop protection and the cropping ecosystem. The journal is published both online and in six printed issues per year.
Annals papers must contribute substantially to the advancement of knowledge and may, among others, encompass the scientific disciplines of:
Agronomy
Agrometeorology
Agrienvironmental sciences
Applied genomics
Applied metabolomics
Applied proteomics
Biodiversity
Biological control
Climate change
Crop ecology
Entomology
Genetic manipulation
Molecular biology
Mycology
Nematology
Pests
Plant pathology
Plant breeding & genetics
Plant physiology
Post harvest biology
Soil science
Statistics
Virology
Weed biology
Annals also welcomes reviews of interest in these subject areas. Reviews should be critical surveys of the field and offer new insights. All papers are subject to peer review. Papers must usually contribute substantially to the advancement of knowledge in applied biology but short papers discussing techniques or substantiated results, and reviews of current knowledge of interest to applied biologists will be considered for publication. Papers or reviews must not be offered to any other journal for prior or simultaneous publication and normally average seven printed pages.