Conference presentation
Raptors are highly efficient and functionally important scavengers of marine carrion on ocean beaches
USC Research Conference, 2014 (Sunshine Coast, Australia, 14-Jul-2014–18-Jul-2014)
University of the Sunshine Coast
2014
Abstract
Exposed sandy shorelines are the world's single longest ecological interface region between the oceans and the land: these boundary ecosystems receive large imports of marine carbon in the form of stranded plant and animal material, thought to energetically support beach food webs. As bird habitats, exposed beaches are under-represented in research and monitoring, and the functional role of birds in beach systems is poorly understood. In my research I ask two questions: 1.) can birds function as efficient consumers of marine carbon stranded on beaches, and 2.) to which degree is this 'avian scavenging function' modified by the presence of mammalian carnivores, including invasive foxes. Fieldwork is done on islands in Southern Queensland (Moreton and North Stradbroke) using repeated camera-trapping (baited with fish) of scavengers at the dune-beach interface. Raptors (white-bellied sea eagle, whistling kite, brahminy kite) dominate the guild of avian scavengers, complemented by crows and silver gulls. I have also recorded the vulnerable beach stone-curlew at experimentally placed fish carcasses. Birds are highly efficient consumers of marine carrion, regularly removing all fish carcasses within 12 h of placement; this remarkable scavenging rate is also consistent between surveys, demonstrating that birds are the main biological vectors that transfer beach-cast marine carbon from near shore oceans to the terrestrial systems. Emerging evidence from my field work also suggests that raptors may expand their niche, or increase their abundance, in systems where competition with invasive foxes is removed.
Details
- Title
- Raptors are highly efficient and functionally important scavengers of marine carrion on ocean beaches
- Authors
- Marion Brown (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
- Conference details
- USC Research Conference, 2014 (Sunshine Coast, Australia, 14-Jul-2014–18-Jul-2014)
- Publisher
- University of the Sunshine Coast
- Date published
- 2014
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2014 The Author.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; GeneCology Research Centre - Legacy
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99449082002621
- Output Type
- Conference presentation
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