Nestling diet variation in Arctic Snow buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) through DNA-metabarcoding of fecal samples, RiS ID 2272

In my master’s thesis, I aim to elucidate the snow bunting nestling diet variation, both in regard to seasonal variation and between-year differences, based on nestling fecal samples. Comparing the diet composition with arthropod communities found in the field throughout the breeding season will allow for the assessment of whether or not the snow bunting has access to ideal foraging resources during the breeding season. As this project is part of the snow bunting long-term monitoring project (RiS ID 2272), my work will allow for its continuation during the breeding season in 2025. Such monitoring efforts are crucial to determine future population dynamics under climate change, as mismatches between life history traits are expected to become more prominent. The snow bunting population in Adventdalen will be monitored throughout the breeding season in 2025 from June 10th to the end of July. Nearly daily field work will be conducted to regularly inspect nest sites known from previous years while simultaneously identifying new locations within the given study area. Several parameters, including the breeding onset, clutch size and nestling traits, will be measured. Fecal samples will be taken from nestlings and processed with DNA metabarcoding. To monitor arthropod abundance and community composition along with their peak emergence pattern, twenty pitfall traps will be emptied every four days between June 10th and August 18th. The collected arthropods will be stored in ethanol until taxa identification is conducted in the laboratory.