Estimating prey accessibility for waders : a problem still to be solved
Data(s) |
01/12/2001
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Resumo |
Estimating the accessible prey fraction for short-billed waders, we used a new sampling device - the sediment- plane( Desholme t al. 1998) - to record prey density of the uppermost benthos communities in softbottom habitats. In contrast to "ordinary"core-samplers, the sediment plane allows a relatively quick sampling of the uppermost layers of the sediment and, thus, it should allow a more reliable estimate of the accessible benthos community especially of vertically mobile prey organisms such as polychaetes. To assess its usefulness, we compared samples collected with the sediment-plane that took only the uppermost 3cm of the sediment with samples taken with a core-sampler. These investigations showed significant differences between the two sampling methods. In comparison with the corresponding layer of the core samples, we found significantly higher numbers and a higher biomass for at least four polychaete species (e.g. Ragworm Nereis diversicolor) in the plane samples.Therefore, we recommend the use of the sediment-plane when studying the accessible fraction for foraging waders especially when studying short-billed species.<br /> |
Identificador | |
Idioma(s) |
eng |
Publicador |
National Centre for Ornithology, International Wader Study Group |
Relação |
http://dro.deakin.edu.au/eserv/DU:30039236/leyrer-estimatingprey-2001.pdf http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/iwsgb/v096/p00060-p00063.pdf |
Palavras-Chave | #short-billed waders #prey density #vertically mobile prey organisms |
Tipo |
Journal Article |