Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2021
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster V13
Höfundar / Authors: Jamie Noreen Carroll (1, 2), Dr Verónica Méndez Aragón (2)
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: (1) Rannsóknasetur Háskóla Íslands á Snæfellsnesi, (2) Háskólasetur Vestfjarða
Kynnir / Presenter: Jamie Noreen Carroll
Iceland is a globally important breeding area for a variety of wader species. This includes Eurasian Oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus), which are unique waders in that they: hatch semi-precocial chicks dependent on parental feeding, and can establish both coastal and inland breeding territories. This system presents a unique opportunity to study the influences that differences in habitat quality have on breeding success. This study compared the success of oystercatchers breeding in different habitat types in the South, West, and Westfjords of Iceland. Additionally, provisioning data was obtained for the Westfjords region. The results show that productivity and fledging success were influenced by habitat and by region, and were higher in regions of predominantly coastal habitat use. Differences on predation rates and resource availability are most likely driving variances in reproductive success. Oystercatchers in the Westfjords increasingly fed their chicks small, coastal prey as chicks grew, which may also reflect an unavailability of terrestrial prey items. Investigating factors that could be influencing breeding success, and parental care through provisioning rates, is important for identifying habitat quality and anticipating how different threats could impact breeding populations.