2.4 Ambient environment data collection
For
our investigation, we collected two types of ambient temperature data.
We assessed the average temperature of the 10 days preceding each nest’s
initial egg laying date to explore the ambient temperature that may
impact female partner choice during the courtship period. This is due to
the 10-day gap that plovers normally have between the start of courting
and the completion of the first egg . The China Meteorological
Administration’s National Meteorological Information Centre
(http://data.cma.cn/en) provided the daily ambient temperature data.
To explore the ambient temperature that may influence parental
incubation behaviors, we collected temperature data using nest cameras
at one-minute intervals for each nest. The average temperature was
calculated every three hours, and the statistical analyses section
provides further information on why we chose this interval.