Spatial ecology of long‐tailed ducks and white‐winged scoters wintering on Nantucket Shoals
Abstract We examine the long‐term co‐occurrence of long‐tailed ducks ( Clangula hyemalis ) and white‐winged scoters ( Melanitta fusca ) wintering at the Nantucket Shoals off Massachusetts, USA , and ask: (1) What oceanographic features attract these aggregations? (2) How are distributions of prey an...
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crwiley:10.1002/ecs2.3002 2024-09-15T18:18:28+00:00 Spatial ecology of long‐tailed ducks and white‐winged scoters wintering on Nantucket Shoals White, Timothy P. Veit, Richard R. Graduate Center 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3002 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fecs2.3002 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3002 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ecs2.3002 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3002 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Ecosphere volume 11, issue 1 ISSN 2150-8925 2150-8925 journal-article 2020 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3002 2024-07-30T04:18:41Z Abstract We examine the long‐term co‐occurrence of long‐tailed ducks ( Clangula hyemalis ) and white‐winged scoters ( Melanitta fusca ) wintering at the Nantucket Shoals off Massachusetts, USA , and ask: (1) What oceanographic features attract these aggregations? (2) How are distributions of prey and sea ducks related to one another? and (3) What is the explanation for the spatial association between these two species? A winter concentration of long‐tailed ducks on the order of 3 × 10 5 birds have been present near Nantucket Island and the Nantucket Shoals since the 1970s, and there is evidence of some concentration there since the late 1800s. Despite the difference in diet, the two duck species overlap in spatial distribution in relation to a prominent tidal front on the west side of Nantucket Shoals where nested swarms of pelagic amphipods and massive clam beds occur in persistent broadscale concentrations. Gammarid amphipods were collected seasonally by bongo tows over 39 yr (1977–2016), and Atlantic surf clams and ocean quahogs were collected by hydraulic dredge over a 34‐yr timescale (1982–2016). Long‐tailed ducks and white‐winged scoters were counted during systematic low‐level aerial surveys. Both long‐tailed ducks and white‐winged scoters associated with amphipod and clam aggregations at similar scales, and tracked amphipod and clam concentrations at larger spatial scales, up to ~30 km. These multi‐scalar nested associations suggest that the sea ducks foraged within a hierarchical patch system structured by the tidal regime, and concentrated in areas of spatially anchored recurring prey, with highest densities in southwest areas. Enhanced concentrations of prey within a relatively narrow zone on Nantucket Shoals provide a predictable food resource to wintering sea ducks whose populations are in decline. As supported by our generalized additive models, we propose that the positive spatial associations among these species are at least partly explained by local enhancement or facilitation, whereby each ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Melanitta fusca Wiley Online Library Ecosphere 11 1 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract We examine the long‐term co‐occurrence of long‐tailed ducks ( Clangula hyemalis ) and white‐winged scoters ( Melanitta fusca ) wintering at the Nantucket Shoals off Massachusetts, USA , and ask: (1) What oceanographic features attract these aggregations? (2) How are distributions of prey and sea ducks related to one another? and (3) What is the explanation for the spatial association between these two species? A winter concentration of long‐tailed ducks on the order of 3 × 10 5 birds have been present near Nantucket Island and the Nantucket Shoals since the 1970s, and there is evidence of some concentration there since the late 1800s. Despite the difference in diet, the two duck species overlap in spatial distribution in relation to a prominent tidal front on the west side of Nantucket Shoals where nested swarms of pelagic amphipods and massive clam beds occur in persistent broadscale concentrations. Gammarid amphipods were collected seasonally by bongo tows over 39 yr (1977–2016), and Atlantic surf clams and ocean quahogs were collected by hydraulic dredge over a 34‐yr timescale (1982–2016). Long‐tailed ducks and white‐winged scoters were counted during systematic low‐level aerial surveys. Both long‐tailed ducks and white‐winged scoters associated with amphipod and clam aggregations at similar scales, and tracked amphipod and clam concentrations at larger spatial scales, up to ~30 km. These multi‐scalar nested associations suggest that the sea ducks foraged within a hierarchical patch system structured by the tidal regime, and concentrated in areas of spatially anchored recurring prey, with highest densities in southwest areas. Enhanced concentrations of prey within a relatively narrow zone on Nantucket Shoals provide a predictable food resource to wintering sea ducks whose populations are in decline. As supported by our generalized additive models, we propose that the positive spatial associations among these species are at least partly explained by local enhancement or facilitation, whereby each ... |
author2 |
Graduate Center |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
White, Timothy P. Veit, Richard R. |
spellingShingle |
White, Timothy P. Veit, Richard R. Spatial ecology of long‐tailed ducks and white‐winged scoters wintering on Nantucket Shoals |
author_facet |
White, Timothy P. Veit, Richard R. |
author_sort |
White, Timothy P. |
title |
Spatial ecology of long‐tailed ducks and white‐winged scoters wintering on Nantucket Shoals |
title_short |
Spatial ecology of long‐tailed ducks and white‐winged scoters wintering on Nantucket Shoals |
title_full |
Spatial ecology of long‐tailed ducks and white‐winged scoters wintering on Nantucket Shoals |
title_fullStr |
Spatial ecology of long‐tailed ducks and white‐winged scoters wintering on Nantucket Shoals |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatial ecology of long‐tailed ducks and white‐winged scoters wintering on Nantucket Shoals |
title_sort |
spatial ecology of long‐tailed ducks and white‐winged scoters wintering on nantucket shoals |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3002 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fecs2.3002 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3002 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ecs2.3002 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3002 |
genre |
Melanitta fusca |
genre_facet |
Melanitta fusca |
op_source |
Ecosphere volume 11, issue 1 ISSN 2150-8925 2150-8925 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3002 |
container_title |
Ecosphere |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1810456597930967040 |