Dietary relationships among Nearctic and Neotropical migratory shorebirds in a key coastal wetland of South America
Natalia S. Martínez-Curci A D , Adrián B. Azpiroz B , Juan P. Isacch A and Rodolfo Elías C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Laboratorio de Vertebrados, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMdP), Funes 3250, Mar del Plata B7602AYJ, Argentina.
B Departamento de Biodiversidad y Genética, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Avenida Italia 3318, Montevideo 11600, Uruguay.
C Laboratorio de Bioindicadores Bentónicos, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMdP), Funes 3250, Mar del Plata B7602AYJ, Argentina.
D Corresponding author. Email: nanusmc@gmail.com
Emu 115(4) 326-334 https://doi.org/10.1071/MU15031
Submitted: 21 March 2015 Accepted: 24 July 2015 Published: 17 September 2015
Abstract
Dietary requirements influence the structure of shorebird assemblages, and information on diet is a key to understanding why and when particular species of shorebird use an area and how competition for food might shape their geographical distributions. We describe the diet and patterns of use of food resources of four migratory shorebirds at Samborombón Bay, Argentina, one of the most important sites for shorebirds in the western hemisphere. The birds consumed items representing at least 15 taxa but only a few taxa comprised the main resources consumed. The four species of shorebird showed dietary flexibility influenced by season and tidal level. Co-occurring species showed complementary differentiation in two dimensions of their respective trophic niches (taxonomic composition, size-class). The greatest differences in taxonomic composition of the diet were between Red Knots, which fed mainly on molluscs, and the other three species, which fed mainly on polychaetes. Polychaete consumers that co-occurred during autumn (Hudsonian Godwit and White-rumped Sandpiper) focussed on different prey sizes. Alternatively, shorebirds that co-occurred during winter (Hudsonian Godwits and Two-banded Plovers) fed mainly on polychaete of similar size but showed differences in the taxonomic composition of their diets. Interspecific competition for food resources might shape the composition of the shorebird assemblage of our study area during the austral autumn and winter.
Additional keywords: Argentina, diet, molluscs, polychaetes, Samborombón Bay, trophic ecology.
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