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- Title
Effects of anthropogenic activities on scavenger communities in freshwater riparian zones of eastern Ontario, Canada.
- Authors
Etherington, B. S.; Piczak, M. L.; LaRochelle, L.; Gallagher, A. J.; Cooke, S. J.
- Abstract
Carrion as a food source and the role of scavengers both contribute to ecosystem connections, services, and food webs. Historically overlooked, there are paucities in the literature examining scavenging ecology and it remains unknown how anthropogenic activities such as riparian shoreline development impact scavengers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of human disturbance on freshwater riparian zone scavenger communities and their activity. Using bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) carcasses as carrion bait and trail cameras, we conducted a field experiment on Big Rideau Lake, Ontario, Canada, and contrasted developed (impact) and undeveloped (control) sites. We found that it took a similar amount of time for scavengers to locate and consume the carcass regardless of degree of development. Additionally, we determined that the composition of scavenger communities varied across impact and control sites, although this difference was not significant. Using generalized linear mixed modeling to investigate scavenging (binary), we found that the top models included total length of carcass, and distance to closest development, respectively. Further, there was a positive relationship between scavenging and both the distance to closest to development and the body size of bluegill sunfish (i.e., further distance to development and larger bluegill were more likely to be scavenged, respectively). Our results suggest that anthropogenic activities are likely imparting a negative effect on the scavenging community within freshwater riparian zones; however, the scavenging community may be able to offset the negative impacts through flexible feeding strategies.
- Subjects
ONTARIO; RIPARIAN areas; COMMUNITIES; BLUEGILL; SCOUTING cameras; FRESH water; FRESHWATER habitats
- Publication
Aquatic Ecology, 2023, Vol 57, Issue 1, p115
- ISSN
1386-2588
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s10452-022-09993-3