Interactive effects of obligate scavengers and scavenger community richness on lagomorph carcass consumption patterns

Autor(es)

Sebastian-Gonzalez, Esther ^{[1, 2]} ; Antonio Sanchez-Zapata, Jose ^[1] ; Antonio Donazar, Jose ^[2] ; Selva, Nuria ^[3] ; Cortes-Avizanda, Ainara ^[2] ; Hiraldo, Fernando ^[2] ; Blazquez, Miguel ^[1] ; Botella, Francisco ^[1] ; Moleon, Marcos ^{[1, 4]}

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Miguel Hernandez, Dept Biol Aplicada, Alicante - Spain

^[2] CSIC, Estn Biol Donana, Dept Biol Conservac, E-41080 Seville - Spain

^[3] Polish Acad Sci, Inst Nat Conservat, Krakow - Poland

^[4] Univ Witwatersrand, Sch Anim Plant & Environm Sci, Ctr African Ecol, Johannesburg - South Africa

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: IBIS; v. 155, n. 4, p. 881-885, OCT 2013.
• Citações Web of Science: 14

Resumo

Carrion consumption patterns in vertebrate scavenger communities may be influenced by several interacting factors. We assessed the effects of the number of scavenger species and the presence of obligate scavengers (vultures) on carcass detection and consumption times, and the structure (nestedness) of the scavenger assemblage by exploring consumption patterns of lagomorph carcasses provided experimentally. Carcass detection and consumption times were strongly inversely related to vulture presence, whereas scavenger richness had a low contribution, except when interacting with vulture presence. However, none of the scavenger communities presented a nested pattern, perhaps because of the small size of lagomorphs, which prevents large numbers of scavengers and interspecific interactions occurring at one carcass. Our results suggest that scavenger species richness, especially the presence of vultures, increases scavenging efficiency. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 11/17968-2 - Variabilidade estrutural e geográfica em redes mutualísticas de plantas e aves frugívoras
• Beneficiário: Esther Sebastián González
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado