Utilisation of stranded marine fauna washed ashore on K’gari (Fraser Island), Australia, by dingoes

2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Behrendorff ◽  
Luke K.-P. Leung ◽  
Benjamin L. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Food Source ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Large Animal ◽  
Marine Fauna ◽  
Trophic Links ◽  
Marine Subsidies ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Important Food Source

Stranded marine fauna have been identified as a potentially significant food resource for terrestrial carnivores, but how such subsidisation influences terrestrial species ecology is not well understood. We describe the dietary and behavioural responses of dingoes (Canis familiaris) to the occurrence of large-animal marine strandings (e.g. dead cetaceans, marine turtles and pinnipeds) between 2006 and 2016 on K’gari (Fraser Island), Australia, to better understand the trophic links between marine and terrestrial systems. A total of 309 strandings were recorded during this period (~3.1 strandings per month), yielding an annual average of 30.3 tons of available carrion to the 100–200 dingoes present on the island. Carcass monitoring with camera traps showed that dingoes used carcasses almost daily after a short period of decomposition. Whole packs of up to seven dingoes of all age classes at a time were observed visiting carcasses for multiple successive days. These data demonstrate that large-animal marine subsidies can be a common, substantial and important food source for dingoes, and that the estimated daily dietary needs of roughly 5–10% of the island’s dingo population were supported by this food source. Our data suggest that marine subsidisation can influence terrestrial carnivore diet, behaviour and abundance, which may produce cascading indirect effects for terrestrial ecosystems in contexts where subsidised carnivores interact strongly with other species.

The cottonwood mushroom (Tricholoma populinum): a food resource of the Interior Salish Indian peoples of British Columbia

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
pp. 921-927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy J. Turner ◽  
Harriet V. Kuhnlein ◽  
Keith N. Egger
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
Edible Mushroom ◽  
Native People ◽  
Important Food ◽  
Mushroom Species ◽  
Important Food Source ◽  
Interior Salish ◽  
First Time

Tricholoma populinum Lange is identified for the first time as one of the edible mushroom species traditionally eaten by Interior Salish Indian peoples of British Columbia. A description of this species is given, and harvesting and preparation information is provided based on its use by contemporary Native people. Nutrient composition data are also reported. This mushroom continues to be an important food source for some Native people in British Columbia.

Pigeonpea as an important food source

1986 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. K. Salunkhe ◽  
J. K. Chavan ◽  
S. S. Kadam ◽  
N. R. Reddy
Keyword(s):  
Food Source ◽  
Important Food ◽  
Important Food Source

scholarly journals Tracking data and retrospective analyses of diet reveal the consequences of loss of marine subsidies for an obligate scavenger, the Andean condor

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1879) ◽  
pp. 20180550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio A. Lambertucci ◽  
Joan Navarro ◽  
José A. Sanchez Zapata ◽  
Keith A. Hobson ◽  
Pablo A. E. Alarcón ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Foraging Ecology ◽  
Average Distance ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Marine Subsidies ◽  
Nesting Sites ◽  
Foraging Pattern ◽  
Andean Condor

Over the last century, marine mammals have been dramatically reduced in the world's oceans. We examined evidence that this change caused dietary and foraging pattern shifts of the Andean condor ( Vultur gryphus ) in Patagonia. We hypothesized that, after the decrease in marine mammals and the increase in human use of coastlines, condor diet changed to a more terrestrial diet, which in turn influenced their foraging patterns. We evaluated the diet by means of stable isotope analysis ( δ 13 C, δ 15 N and δ 34 S) of current (last decade) and historical (1841–1933) feathers. We further evaluated the movement patterns of 23 condors using satellite tracking of individuals. Condors reduced their use of marine-derived prey in recent compared with historical times from 33 ± 13% to less than 8 ± 3% respectively; however, they still breed close to the coast. The average distance between the coast and nests was 62.5 km, but some nests were located close to the sea (less than 5 km). Therefore, some birds must travel up to 86 km from nesting sites, crossing over the mountain range to find food. The worldwide reduction in marine mammal carcasses, especially whales, may have major consequences on the foraging ecology of scavengers, as well as on the flux of marine inputs within terrestrial ecosystems.

Pacific Salmon: Ecology and Management of Western Alaska’s Populations

2009 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Food Source ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Pacific Salmon ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Food Resources ◽  
Growth And Survival ◽  
Terrestrial Invertebrates ◽  
Riverine Ecosystems ◽  
Aquatic Food

<em>Abstract.</em>—Much is known about the importance of the physical characteristics of salmonid habitat in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, with far less known about the food sources and trophic processes within these habitats, and the role they play in regulating salmonid productivity. Freshwater food webs supporting salmonids in Alaska rely heavily on nutrient, detritus, and prey subsidies from both marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Adult salmon provide a massive input of marine biomass to riverine ecosystems each year when they spawn, die, and decompose, and are a critical food source for young salmon in late summer and fall; riparian forests provide terrestrial invertebrates to streams, which at times comprise over half of the food ingested by stream-resident salmonids; up-slope, fishless headwater streams are a year-round source of invertebrates and detritus for fish downstream. The quantity of these food resources vary widely depending on source, season, and spatial position within a watershed. Terrestrial invertebrate inputs from riparian habitats are generally the most abundant food source in summer. Juvenile salmonids in streams consume roughly equal amounts of freshwater and terrestrially-derived invertebrates during most of the growing season, but ingest substantial amounts of marine resources (salmon eggs and decomposing salmon tissue) when these food items are present. Quantity, quality, and timing of food resources all appear to be important driving forces in aquatic food web dynamics, community nutrition, and salmonid growth and survival in riverine ecosystems.

scholarly journals An invasive alien bivalve apparently provides a novel food source for moulting and wintering benthic feeding sea ducks

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Kottsieper ◽  
Philipp Schwemmer ◽  
Nele Markones ◽  
Anthony D. Fox ◽  
Stefan Garthe
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
Sea Ducks ◽  
Novel Food ◽  
Important Prey ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Sea Coast ◽  
North Sea Coast

AbstractSince its introduction from North America in the 1970s, the American razor clam Ensis leei (M. Huber, 2015) has successfully spread throughout North Sea coasts from Spain to Norway and the United Kingdom to the western Baltic. We investigated the distribution and abundance of this non-indigenous bivalve species as a potential novel food resource for common scoter Melanitta nigra (Linnaeus, 1758) along the eastern German North Sea coast. Highest densities of flightless moulting and wintering common scoters coincided with areas of high E. leei abundance. Other European studies showed common scoters extensively feed on E. leei. Even with these findings, it remains difficult to demonstrate convincingly that E. leei constitutes a major food source for common scoter in the German North Sea during their non-breeding season. However, our study suggests that E. leei has become an important prey item for internationally important concentrations of common scoters at large spatial scales.

scholarly journals Fruit ontogeny of Garcinia gardneriana (Planch. & Triana) Zappi (Clusiaceae)

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Eglaé Camargo Asinelli ◽  
Maria Conceição de Souza ◽  
Káthia Socorro Mathias Mourão
Keyword(s):  
Food Source ◽  
White Pulp ◽  
Important Food ◽  
Fruit Type ◽  
Standard Procedures ◽  
Cell Layers ◽  
Important Food Source ◽  
Structural Aspects ◽  
Yellowish Orange ◽  
Secretory Ducts

Garcinia gardneriana (Clusiaceae) is a small to medium-sized tree that usually occurs on the floodplains of the Paraná River and it is an important food source for the local inhabitants. The fruit itself is consumed in natura, and juices and sweets are made from it. The purpose of this study was to describe morphological and structural aspects of fruits and seeds of this species in order to classify the fruit type and the pulpy layer which involves the seeds. The material analyzed consisted of ovary and fruits in different stages of development, collected from five plants from Aurélio Island, Baía River (MS, BR) and the description was done according to standard procedures in anatomy. The fruit is a yellowish-orange spherical berry ("bacóide" type). The smooth, coriaceous skin consists of the lignified exocarp. The endocarp cell layers are derived from the activity of an adaxial meristem that undergoes radial elongation. The edible sweet white pulp is formed by the endocarp, as well as the spongy mesocarp, in which the secretory ducts lose their function. The unitegmic anatropous ovules develop into anatropous exalbuminous seeds with a collapsed and undifferentiated testa. The embryo is hypocotylar. The features here described generally occur in Clusioideae-Garcinieae and Symphonieae.

Predation on green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas, hatchlings by invasive rats

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Gronwald ◽  
Quentin Genet ◽  
Margaux Touron
Keyword(s):  
Food Source ◽  
Sea Turtles ◽  
Rattus Rattus ◽  
Chelonia Mydas ◽  
Sea Turtle ◽  
French Polynesia ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Green Sea Turtle ◽  
Green Sea Turtles ◽  
Invasive Rats

We used camera traps to identify invasive Rattus rattus as predators at a green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas, nest in French Polynesia. The footage shows that the hatchlings are a familiar food source for rats and that the control of invasive rats has to be considered for the protection of endangered green sea turtles.

Holkham Salts Hole, an Isolated Salt-Water pond with Relict Features. An Account Based on Studies by the late C. F. A. Pantin

1971 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 717-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. D. Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Salt Water ◽  
High Water ◽  
North Coast ◽  
Marine Fauna ◽  
The North ◽  
Short Period ◽  
History Of ◽  
Water Pond

A saline pond known as the ‘Salts Hole’ at Holkham on the north coast of Norfolk is situated between the pine-covered sand-hills and the fields that have been reclaimed for agriculture from pre-existing salt-marshes. It has a salinity of about 75% of that of sea water and supports a peculiar relict marine fauna. Except for the rare occurrence of flooding for a short period, as in the great storm of 1953, the pond has probably been cut off from the sea for about 250 years. It presents three problems: how it got its fauna and flora; how its marine character is maintained; and how the pond originated geographically. The fauna and flora, as described, show the pond as a refuge where various marine and brackish species have managed to maintain themselves and co-exist in water outside their normal and differing ranges of salinity. The main character of the pond is kept remarkably constant with respect to salinity, alkalinity, temperature and oxygenation. The pond is a study in ‘natural engineering’, constituting a natural marine aquarium with natural controls. It is fed near the level of high-water neap tide by continuous flow from a salt spring of very constant salinity supplied from water contained in the extensive coastal sands. Its only apparent artificial feature is the outlet controlled by a dam through a culvert into a ditch that conveys its water through the fields to the sea at Wells nearly two miles away. Search in the muniment room at Holkham Hall brought to light maps dating back to Elizabethan days which show the history of the Salts Hole.

Prescribed burning in a Eucalyptus woodland suppresses fruiting of hypogeous fungi, an important food source for mammals

2006 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 1333-1339 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Trappe ◽  
A.O. Nicholls ◽  
Andrew W. Claridge ◽  
Steven J. Cork
Keyword(s):  
Food Source ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Important Food ◽  
Hypogeous Fungi ◽  
Important Food Source

Diet composition and food habits of Diplodus puntazzo (Sparidae) from the Gulf of Gabès (Central Mediterranean)

2013 ◽  
Vol 93 (8) ◽  
pp. 2257-2264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Houda Chaouch ◽  
Olfa Ben Abdallah-Ben Hadj Hamida ◽  
Mohamed Ghorbel ◽  
Othman Jarboui
Keyword(s):  
Food Source ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Feeding Strategy ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Important Food ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Gulf Of Gabes ◽  
Diplodus Puntazzo ◽  
Gulf Of Gabès ◽  
Important Food Source

The diet and feeding habits of the sharpsnout seabream, Diplodus puntazzo, from the Gulf of Gabès were investigated using stomach contents of 490 specimens ranging from 12.6 cm to 26.1 cm total length in size and from 29.95 g to 230.83 g in weight collected from commercial catches between April 2008 and March 2009. Of the total number of examined stomachs, 279 were empty (%VI = 56.94). This percentage varied significantly with months, attaining a maximum in spring (74.88%) and a minimum in autumn (37.38%). Eight major taxa were identified (Plantae, Spongia, Tunicata, Echinodermata, Crustacea, Annelida, Mollusca and Teleostei) in stomach contents of D. puntazzo. Plants were the most important food source, constituting 89.88% of the total Index of relative importance. The other groups, such as teleosts, molluscs, crustaceans and annelids represented accessory food. Significant differences in diet were observed in relation to season. Plants were the most important food source item in all seasons, especially during the autumn. The estimation of trophic level gave an average of 2.57 ± 0.2 for the whole population of D. puntazzo in the Gulf of Gabès. Based on the composition of its diet, this species may be considered as an omnivorous fish with a preference for vegetable material, and showing specialist feeding strategy.

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