Food web interactions of two breeding Arctic shorebird species, little stint Calidris minuta and red knot Calidris canutus, are shaped by their elevational distribution
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Birds often have to choose their nest site location along a food safety axis, balancing nest predation danger with the food requirements of themselves and their offspring. This is probably most important for precocial species, such as most shorebirds, in which both chicks and parents need access to food resources in the surroundings of the nest, at least during the first days of life of the chicks. In many Arctic ecosystems, shorebird nests are typically prone to predation by both avian and terrestrial predators, especially in lemming-poor years. Among other factors, the strength of the trophic interactions between shorebirds, their prey, and their predators depend on how all of these are distributed across space. During two breeding seasons in northern Taimyr, North-Central Russia, we investigated how the spatial distribution of red knot Calidris canutus and little stint Calidris minuta nests and broods overlaps with the local food landscape and also with the distribution of avian predators and their main prey, lemmings. We found that the two shorebird species use different habitats that vary in arthropod community structure in accordance with the birds’ diet: while little stints selected lower elevations where chironomid midges Chironomidae are more abundant, red knots selected higher elevations where crane flies Tipulidae are more abundant. Furthermore, little stints share low-elevation habitats with lemmings and predators, while red knots inhabit higher elevations averted by both lemmings and avian predators. We found higher nest predation for little stint nests than for red knots nests, especially in a low-lemming year. Our results thus support the idea that food web interactions are driven by landscape and community aspects.
期刊介绍：
Polar Biology publishes Original Papers, Reviews, and Short Notes and is the focal point for biologists working in polar regions. It is also of interest to scientists working in biology in general, ecology and physiology, as well as in oceanography and climatology related to polar life. Polar Biology presents results of studies in plants, animals, and micro-organisms of marine, limnic and terrestrial habitats in polar and subpolar regions of both hemispheres.
Taxonomy/ Biogeography
Life History
Spatio-temporal Patterns in Abundance and Diversity
Ecological Interactions
Trophic Ecology
Ecophysiology/ Biochemistry of Adaptation
Biogeochemical Pathways and Cycles
Ecological Models
Human Impact/ Climate Change/ Conservation
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