Patch use and departure rules by gull-billed tern Gelochelidon nilotica

Behaviour ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Pablo D. Ribeiro ◽  
Diego D. Navarro ◽  
Oscar O. Iribarne

Abstract The gull-billed tern Gelochelidon nilotica feeds on the fiddler crab Leptuca uruguayensis, which settles forming patches in south-eastern temperate mudflats of Argentina. Through field observations, we evaluated whether gull-billed terns used patches following the marginal value theorem (MVT). Gull-billed tern residence time in a patch was not related to crab density or travel times. The number of captures was also unrelated to crab density. Most of the times (44.6%) terns captured only one crab from each patch, and 35% of the times they left without a capture. However, crab density was lower when terns left the patches than when they arrived. This suggests that following several capture attempts by terns, crabs hide, producing a temporary decrease in their availability, forcing tern departure from the patches, which are no longer profitable. Thus, when prey availability is affected more by predator activity than by consumption, the MVT may not necessarily apply.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph M. Eisaguirre ◽  
Perry J. Williams ◽  
Xinyi Lu ◽  
Michelle L. Kissling ◽  
William S. Beatty ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Reintroducing predators is a promising conservation tool to help remedy human-caused ecosystem changes. However, the growth and spread of a reintroduced population is a spatiotemporal process that is driven by a suite of factors, such as habitat change, human activity, and prey availability. Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are apex predators of nearshore marine ecosystems that had declined nearly to extinction across much of their range by the early 20th century. In Southeast Alaska, which is comprised of a diverse matrix of nearshore habitat and managed areas, reintroduction of 413 individuals in the late 1960s initiated the growth and spread of a population that now exceeds 25,000. Methods Periodic aerial surveys in the region provide a time series of spatially-explicit data to investigate factors influencing this successful and ongoing recovery. We integrated an ecological diffusion model that accounted for spatially-variable motility and density-dependent population growth, as well as multiple population epicenters, into a Bayesian hierarchical framework to help understand the factors influencing the success of this recovery. Results Our results indicated that sea otters exhibited higher residence time as well as greater equilibrium abundance in Glacier Bay, a protected area, and in areas where there is limited or no commercial fishing. Asymptotic spread rates suggested sea otters colonized Southeast Alaska at rates of 1–8 km/yr with lower rates occurring in areas correlated with higher residence time, which primarily included areas near shore and closed to commercial fishing. Further, we found that the intrinsic growth rate of sea otters may be higher than previous estimates suggested. Conclusions This study shows how predator recolonization can occur from multiple population epicenters. Additionally, our results suggest spatial heterogeneity in the physical environment as well as human activity and management can influence recolonization processes, both in terms of movement (or motility) and density dependence.


Crustaceana ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 94 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 1429-1440
Author(s):  
Kanitta Keeratipattarakarn ◽  
Fahmida Wazed Tina ◽  
Rattapon Sangngam ◽  
Ketsanee Thongsri ◽  
Arreeya Suphap

Abstract Estimations of crab density, sex-ratio, and body sizes are difficult. Though the ‘burrow excavation’ method is widely used to estimate these parameters in surface-active crabs, it is destructive to crab populations. Therefore, an alternative, non-destructive method is desirable. This study compared the non-destructive ‘photography’ method with the ‘burrow excavation’ method in a fiddler crab (Austruca perplexa (H. Milne Edwards, 1852)) population. Twenty 0.25 m2 quadrats were set out and 4 photos were taken of the surface-active crabs in each quadrat. All crab burrows were then excavated, and the crabs were collected to estimate their numbers, sexes, and body and claw sizes. Afterward, the photographs were analysed to estimate the same parameters by using the GIMP program. These parameters were then compared between the two methods. The results showed that these parameters were not different between the methods compared. This study thus reveals that the ‘photography’ method could safely be used instead of the ‘burrow excavation’ method, and yield the same results.


1982 ◽  
Vol 119 (4) ◽  
pp. 511-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
James N. McNair

1964 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 821 ◽  
Author(s):  
RCL Bosworth ◽  
CM Groden

When a reacting substance or mixture is caused to flow in a cylindrical reactor, all portions of the stream will not flow at the same rate and will exhibit different residence times and, accordingly, are subject to different extents of degrees of reaction. The average degrees of reaction following the residence time distribution proper to laminar flow are given in the earlier publication1 and this paper extends the treatment to that of turbulent flow. In the earlier treatment of laminar flow the ratio of average extent of reaction with non-interacting streams to that of complete intermingling, or the C/Cm, is plotted against the ratio of the times of flow with those of reaction (S). The C/Cm versus S curves are all above unity and increase with increasing S, with the exception of very high orders of chemical reaction for which values of C/Cm are all unity. In the case of turbulent flow the values of C/Cm are more nearly unity at all values of S.


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