Short-term effects of intertidal macroalgal blooms on the macrohabitat selection and feeding behaviour of wading birds in the Mondego estuary (West Portugal).
Data
1996
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Resumo
The possible effects of intertidal macroalgal blooms on the feeding distribution
and behaviour of the waders in the Mondego Estuary (West Portugal) are
discussed in the present paper. The presence of algae over the sediments did
not deter the waders absolutely from feeding in a place, but most species did
show some tendency to avoid highly eutrophic areas. However, there were no
clear signs that the species redistributed themselves within the Estuary as the
amount of algae changed, nor did the alternative feeding habitats (the salt pans)
seem to be used more when algae were particularly abundant on the mud flats.
In one species, bird numbers, rather than the amount of algae present,
explained the numbers of birds using the salt pans when the two factors were
considered together in a multiple regression analysis. There were no striking
differences between algae-free and algae-weeded areas in some aspects of the
foraging of two representative species, the scolopacid Dunlin Calidris alpina and
the charadriid Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola. The results suggest either: (1)
that the presence of algae did not strongly influence the distribution of the
feeding waders, at least in the conditions prevailing during the study; or (2) that
most waders were able to adapt to feeding on weeded areas; perhaps through
subtle and undetected alterations in their feeding behaviour.
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Macroalgae blooms , Effects on waders , Mondego Estuary , Portugal
Citação
Múrias T. et al., 1996