Variation in the use of pasture by breeding European Golden Plovers Pluvialis apricaria in relation to prey availability
European Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria populations have declined across Western Europe. Changes to upland grasslands that are utilized by foraging off‐duty birds may have contributed to this decline. The use of enclosed agricultural land by a stable breeding population of Golden Plovers in the S...
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Language: | English |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1474-919x.2003.00154.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1046%2Fj.1474-919X.2003.00154.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1474-919X.2003.00154.x |
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crwiley:10.1046/j.1474-919x.2003.00154.x 2024-06-23T07:52:35+00:00 Variation in the use of pasture by breeding European Golden Plovers Pluvialis apricaria in relation to prey availability Pearce‐Higgins, J. W. Yalden, D. W. 2003 http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1474-919x.2003.00154.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1046%2Fj.1474-919X.2003.00154.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1474-919X.2003.00154.x en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Ibis volume 145, issue 3, page 365-381 ISSN 0019-1019 1474-919X journal-article 2003 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1474-919x.2003.00154.x 2024-06-04T06:42:32Z European Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria populations have declined across Western Europe. Changes to upland grasslands that are utilized by foraging off‐duty birds may have contributed to this decline. The use of enclosed agricultural land by a stable breeding population of Golden Plovers in the South Pennines is described to examine this hypothesis. Fields contained foraging plovers from the end of February to the end of July. Off‐duty incubating birds commuted to feed on fields, females during the day and males at night. During the day, adults flew from 6.6 to 7.2 km from the nest to feed, whilst at night birds commuted from 2.4 to 2.7 km. The length of time spent foraging by males was inversely dependent upon daylength. Following hatching, the use of pasture declined, although not as much as in other studies. Arable and improved fields received most use by 15 radiotagged birds, whilst the use of pasture throughout the breeding season was negatively correlated with sward height. Adult diet consisted largely of subsurface prey, particularly larval tipulids, although earthworms were an important component in March and April. The biomass of larval tipulids was strongly correlated with an index of the use of fields. The selection of fields by Golden Plovers is therefore dependent upon prey abundance and availability, and, consequently, is likely to be enhanced by summer grazing and poor drainage. These findings are discussed in the light of recent trends in pastoral management. Article in Journal/Newspaper European Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria Wiley Online Library Ibis 145 3 365 381 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
European Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria populations have declined across Western Europe. Changes to upland grasslands that are utilized by foraging off‐duty birds may have contributed to this decline. The use of enclosed agricultural land by a stable breeding population of Golden Plovers in the South Pennines is described to examine this hypothesis. Fields contained foraging plovers from the end of February to the end of July. Off‐duty incubating birds commuted to feed on fields, females during the day and males at night. During the day, adults flew from 6.6 to 7.2 km from the nest to feed, whilst at night birds commuted from 2.4 to 2.7 km. The length of time spent foraging by males was inversely dependent upon daylength. Following hatching, the use of pasture declined, although not as much as in other studies. Arable and improved fields received most use by 15 radiotagged birds, whilst the use of pasture throughout the breeding season was negatively correlated with sward height. Adult diet consisted largely of subsurface prey, particularly larval tipulids, although earthworms were an important component in March and April. The biomass of larval tipulids was strongly correlated with an index of the use of fields. The selection of fields by Golden Plovers is therefore dependent upon prey abundance and availability, and, consequently, is likely to be enhanced by summer grazing and poor drainage. These findings are discussed in the light of recent trends in pastoral management. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pearce‐Higgins, J. W. Yalden, D. W. |
spellingShingle |
Pearce‐Higgins, J. W. Yalden, D. W. Variation in the use of pasture by breeding European Golden Plovers Pluvialis apricaria in relation to prey availability |
author_facet |
Pearce‐Higgins, J. W. Yalden, D. W. |
author_sort |
Pearce‐Higgins, J. W. |
title |
Variation in the use of pasture by breeding European Golden Plovers Pluvialis apricaria in relation to prey availability |
title_short |
Variation in the use of pasture by breeding European Golden Plovers Pluvialis apricaria in relation to prey availability |
title_full |
Variation in the use of pasture by breeding European Golden Plovers Pluvialis apricaria in relation to prey availability |
title_fullStr |
Variation in the use of pasture by breeding European Golden Plovers Pluvialis apricaria in relation to prey availability |
title_full_unstemmed |
Variation in the use of pasture by breeding European Golden Plovers Pluvialis apricaria in relation to prey availability |
title_sort |
variation in the use of pasture by breeding european golden plovers pluvialis apricaria in relation to prey availability |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2003 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1474-919x.2003.00154.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1046%2Fj.1474-919X.2003.00154.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1474-919X.2003.00154.x |
genre |
European Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria |
genre_facet |
European Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria |
op_source |
Ibis volume 145, issue 3, page 365-381 ISSN 0019-1019 1474-919X |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1474-919x.2003.00154.x |
container_title |
Ibis |
container_volume |
145 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
365 |
op_container_end_page |
381 |
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1802643924084326400 |