Limosa lapponica

World Register of Marine Species

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WoRMS for SMEBD

Distribution

accidental shore bird from Eurasia, reported in Newfoundland

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North-West Atlantic Ocean species (NWARMS)

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WoRMS for SMEBD

occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

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NatureServe

National Distribution

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Breeding

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NatureServe

Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) BREEDING: just inland from the coasts across northern and western Alaska (east to Sagavanirktok River), northern Scandinavia, across northern Russia and northern Siberia to Chukotski Peninsula and northern Anadyrland. NON-BREEDING: Eurasia, Africa, Indian Ocean islands, southeastern Asia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand (AOU 1983, Johnson and Herter 1989). MIGRATION: through Hawaiian, Aleutian, and Pribilof Islands, along Bering Sea coast of Alaska Peninsula, through Europe and Pacific (AOU 1983). Lagoons along north shore of Alaska Peninsula are important fall staging areas (see Johnson and Herter 1989).

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NatureServe

Size

Length: 41 cm

Weight: 376 grams

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NatureServe

Habitat

Habitat and Ecology

Behaviour This species is a full long-distance migrant¹. It breeds from late-May to August² in solitary pairs¹, although it may also form small colonies⁴. After breeding adults disperse to coastal moulting sites, the onward migration to wintering grounds then continuing into October and November². The species often flies in large flocks² and forages in groups outside of the breeding season¹, occasionally aggregating into huge flocks of several hundreds of thousands of individuals at favoured sites (e.g. in Mauritania)². Habitat Breeding The species breeds in marshy, swampy areas in lowland moss and shrub tundra^{1, 3, 4} near wet river valleys³, lakes and sedge bogs⁴, as well as on swampy heathlands in the willow and birch zone near the Arctic treeline³, in open larch Larix spp. woodland close to water¹, and occasionally on open bogs in the extreme north of the coniferous forest zone³. Non-breeding On passage the species may frequent inland wetlands², sandy beaches with pine Pinus spp. stands, swampy lowlands near lakes⁴ and short-grass meadows, but during the winter it is more common in intertidal areas along muddy coastlines, estuaries, inlets, mangrove-fringed lagoons and sheltered bays¹ with tidal mudflats or sandbars³. Diet Breeding When breeding the species feeds on insects, annelid worms, molluscsand occasionally seeds and berries¹. Non-breeding In intertidal areas the species's diet consists of annelids (e.g. Nereis spp. and Arenicola spp.), bivalves and crustaceans, although it will also take cranefly larvae and earthworms on grasslands and occasionally larval amphibians (tadpoles) and small fish¹. Breeding site The nest is a depression positioned on a dry elevated site¹ such as a tundra ridge³ or hummock⁴, often between clumps of grass¹ or under a thicket⁴. Management information In the UK there is evidence that the removal of Spartina anglica from tidal mudflats using a herbicide is beneficial for the species⁵.

Systems

Terrestrial
Freshwater
Marine

Source:

IUCN

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Ocean Biogeographic Information System

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International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources

Depth range based on 10 specimens in 3 taxa.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 7 samples.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): 0 - 0
  Temperature range (°C): 9.226 - 10.963
  Nitrate (umol/L): 1.402 - 6.915
  Salinity (PPS): 31.635 - 35.082
  Oxygen (ml/l): 6.327 - 6.746
  Phosphate (umol/l): 0.273 - 0.481
  Silicate (umol/l): 0.987 - 3.586

Graphical representation

Temperature range (°C): 9.226 - 10.963

Nitrate (umol/L): 1.402 - 6.915

Salinity (PPS): 31.635 - 35.082

Oxygen (ml/l): 6.327 - 6.746

Phosphate (umol/l): 0.273 - 0.481

Silicate (umol/l): 0.987 - 3.586

Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.

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Comments: Coastal tundra and sedge-dwarf shrub tundra of foothills; in migration and winter also marshes, flooded fields, estuarine areas and beaches (AOU 1983). Nest is a simple depression in dry upland tundra. In Europe, apparently seeks nest protection by breeding near nesting Whimbrels (NUMENIUS PHAEOPUS), which are more actively defensive against predators (Larsen and Moldsvor 1992).

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NatureServe

Migration

Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Nesting birds from Alaska probably winter in southeastern Asia and on South Pacific islands (Johnson and Herter 1989). Adults begin fall migration before juveniles, which usually depart nesting areas shortly after mid-August.

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NatureServe

Associations

Known prey organisms

Limosa lapponica (Limosa lapponica bar-tailed godwit) preys on:
Nereis diversicolor

Based on studies in:
Scotland (Estuarine)

This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.

References:

Hall SJ, Raffaelli D (1991) Food-web patterns: lessons from a species-rich web. J Anim Ecol 60:823842
Huxham M, Beany S, Raffaelli D (1996) Do parasites reduce the chances of triangulation in a real food web? Oikos 76:284300

Source:

SPIRE

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SPIRE project

Population Biology

Global Abundance

>1,000,000 individuals

Comments: Estimated to be 1,345,000 (range 1,200,000 - 2,200,000) by Rose and Scott (1997).

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NatureServe

Life Expectancy

Lifespan, longevity, and ageing

Maximum longevity: 31.3 years (wild)

Source:

AnAge

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Joao Pedro de Magalhaes

Reproduction

Clutch size usually 4. Incubation 20-21 days, by both sexes (female at night). Young tended by both parents or by male only (Johnson and Herter 1989).

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD)

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NatureServe

Molecular Biology

Statistics of barcoding coverage: Limosa lapponica

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 11
Specimens with Barcodes: 36
Species With Barcodes: 1

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD)

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Barcode of Life Data Systems

Barcode data: Limosa lapponica

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

There are 7 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank. Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species. See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.

TTTTCTCCAACCCACAAAGACATTGGCACCCTATACTTAATTTTCGGCGCATGAGCCGGTATAGTCGGAACTGCCCTTAGTCTACTCATTCGTGCAGAACTAGGCCAACCAGGAACCCTTCTAGGAGACGACCAAATTTACAATGTAATCGTCACCGCCCATGCTTTCGTAATAATTTTCTTCATAGTAATGCCAATCATGATCGGCGGATTTGGAAACTGACTAGTCCCACTCATAATCGGCGCCCCCGATATGGCATTCCCACGCATAAACAACATGAGCTTTTGACTGCTTCCCCCATCATTCCTACTATTATTGGCCTCATCTACAGTAGAAGCTGGAGCAGGGACAGGATGAACAGTTTATCCTCCTCTCGCTGGTAACCTTGCCCACGCTGGAGCCTCAGTAGACCTGGCCATCTTCTCTCTTCACCTAGCAGGTGTCTCCTCCATCCTAGGTGCTATTAACTTCATCACAACAGCCATTAACATAAAACCCCCAGCTCTTTCCCAATATCAAACCCCCCTGTTCGTATGATCAGTACTCATCACCGCTGTTCTACTACTGCTCTCCCTCCCAGTTCTCGCTGCTGGCATTACCATACTACTAACAGATCGAAACCTAAACACTACATTCTTCGATCCCGCTGGGGGAGGAGATCCAGTTCTATATCAACACCTTTTCTGATTCTTTGGACACCCAGAAGTCTATATCCTAATCCTACCAGGATTTGGAATTATCTCCCACGTA
-- end --

Download FASTA File

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Barcode of Life Data Systems

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List Assessment

Red List Category

Least Concern

Red List Criteria

Version

3.1

Year Assessed

2009

Assessor/s

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s

Bird, J., Butchart, S.

Contributor/s

Justification

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

History

2008

Least Concern
2004

Least Concern

Source:

IUCN

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International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources

Status in Egypt

Regular passage visitor and winter visitor?

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Bibliotheca Alexandrina

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Bibliotheca Alexandrina

National NatureServe Conservation Status

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N5B - Secure

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NatureServe

NatureServe Conservation Status

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Reasons: Fairly large range, numerous within range, no significant threats.

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NatureServe

Threats

Major Threats

The species is threatened by the degradation of foraging sites due to land reclamation, pollution, human disturbance^{1, 6}, reduced river flows⁶ and in some areas the invasion of mudflats and coastal saltmarshes by mangroves (owing to sea-level rise and increased sedimentation and nutrient loads at the coast from uncontrolled development and soil erosion in upstream catchment areas)⁸. The species is also susceptible to avian influenza so may be threatened by future outbreaks of the virus⁷.

Source:

IUCN

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