HIGH MORTALITY OF PIPING PLOVERS ON BEACHES WITH ABUNDANT GHOST CRABS: CORRELATION, NOT CAUSATION.(Statistical Data Included): An article from: Wilson Bulletin
Book Details
Author(s)Donna L. Wolcott, Thomas G. Wolcott
PublisherWilson Ornithological Society
ISBN / ASINB00098YEFK
ISBN-13978B00098YEF7
AvailabilityAvailable for download now
MarketplaceUnited States 🇺🇸
Description
This digital document is an article from Wilson Bulletin, published by Wilson Ornithological Society on September 1, 1999. The length of the article is 6440 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
From the author: Ghost crabs (Ocypode quadrata) have been implicated in mortality of eggs and chicks of the beach-nesting Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) whose Atlantic Coast populations are listed as threatened. Through observation and experimentation, we investigated the interactions between ghost crabs and plovers on Wild Beach, a Piping Plover nesting area on Assateague Island, Virginia. This site has a high abundance of ghost crabs and historically low fledging success compared to adjacent areas with fewer crabs. We observed encounters of crabs with plover eggs, chicks, and adults in the field, but never predation. In staged encounters of crabs with eggs and chicks (using hatchery reared quail as plover surrogates), we were unable to elicit predatory behavior either on the beach or in the lab. We conclude that although instances of ghost crab predation on Piping Plover eggs and chicks occur, they are rare and cannot account for the high mortality frequently reported on beaches where ghost crabs are abundant. Adult plovers behave toward crabs as if they were dangerous to eggs and chicks, and their young broods in the study area did not forage along the foreshore. Hence, ghost crabs may increase mortality indirectly. Frequent responding to crabs by parents may attract more deadly brood predators. Brood nutrition may suffer as adult plovers direct chicks away from areas where forage is reportedly richer but crabs are abundant, such as the foreshore. Nutrient intake may be further reduced on more southerly breeding grounds where high temperatures on backshores force chicks to stop foraging and take shelter during mid-day. Although high mortality cannot be attributed directly to predation by crabs, it may be due to factors that covary with crab abundance, such as high temperature, behavioral responses of adult birds, and poor forage.
Citation Details
Title: HIGH MORTALITY OF PIPING PLOVERS ON BEACHES WITH ABUNDANT GHOST CRABS: CORRELATION, NOT CAUSATION.(Statistical Data Included)
Author: Donna L. Wolcott
Publication:Wilson Bulletin (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 1999
Publisher: Wilson Ornithological Society
Volume: 111 Issue: 3 Page: 321
Article Type: Statistical Data Included
Distributed by Thomson Gale
From the author: Ghost crabs (Ocypode quadrata) have been implicated in mortality of eggs and chicks of the beach-nesting Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) whose Atlantic Coast populations are listed as threatened. Through observation and experimentation, we investigated the interactions between ghost crabs and plovers on Wild Beach, a Piping Plover nesting area on Assateague Island, Virginia. This site has a high abundance of ghost crabs and historically low fledging success compared to adjacent areas with fewer crabs. We observed encounters of crabs with plover eggs, chicks, and adults in the field, but never predation. In staged encounters of crabs with eggs and chicks (using hatchery reared quail as plover surrogates), we were unable to elicit predatory behavior either on the beach or in the lab. We conclude that although instances of ghost crab predation on Piping Plover eggs and chicks occur, they are rare and cannot account for the high mortality frequently reported on beaches where ghost crabs are abundant. Adult plovers behave toward crabs as if they were dangerous to eggs and chicks, and their young broods in the study area did not forage along the foreshore. Hence, ghost crabs may increase mortality indirectly. Frequent responding to crabs by parents may attract more deadly brood predators. Brood nutrition may suffer as adult plovers direct chicks away from areas where forage is reportedly richer but crabs are abundant, such as the foreshore. Nutrient intake may be further reduced on more southerly breeding grounds where high temperatures on backshores force chicks to stop foraging and take shelter during mid-day. Although high mortality cannot be attributed directly to predation by crabs, it may be due to factors that covary with crab abundance, such as high temperature, behavioral responses of adult birds, and poor forage.
Citation Details
Title: HIGH MORTALITY OF PIPING PLOVERS ON BEACHES WITH ABUNDANT GHOST CRABS: CORRELATION, NOT CAUSATION.(Statistical Data Included)
Author: Donna L. Wolcott
Publication:Wilson Bulletin (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 1999
Publisher: Wilson Ornithological Society
Volume: 111 Issue: 3 Page: 321
Article Type: Statistical Data Included
Distributed by Thomson Gale
