: Dispersal of alien snails and other aquatic invertebrates by gulls and storks ...

• Main Authors: Mart??N-V??Lez, V??Ctor, S??Nchez, Marta I., Lovas-Kiss, ??D??M, Hortas, Francisco, Green, Andy J.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Digital.CSIC 2021
• Subjects: Artemia; Cladocera; Endozoochory; Gastropoda; Waterbirds; Lesser black-backed gull
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.20350/digitalcsic/13984; https://digital.csic.es/handle/10261/250117

: Waterbirds can transport aquatic invertebrates internally, contributing to metapopulation dynamics between aquatic habitats in a terrestrial matrix. However, research into this dispersal process to date has focused on individual field sites, or laboratory studies. We investigated the invertebrates dispersed by endozoochory by the lesser black-backed gull Larus fuscus wintering in Andalusia, south-west Spain in 2016-2017, comparing seven sites interconnected by their movements, with different degrees of anthropogenization (three landfills, two saltpan complexes, a lake and a ricefield area). In the ricefields, we also compared gulls with the larger white stork Ciconia ciconia. A total of 642 intact invertebrates and their propagules (mainly plumatellid bryozoans, cladocerans and other branchiopods) were recorded in excreta (faeces and pellets) from gulls and storks. A greater diversity and abundance of invertebrates were recorded in ricefields, notably 43 individuals of the alien snail Physa acuta. One ...