Impact on bird fauna of a non-native oyster expanding into blue mussel beds in the Dutch Wadden Sea
Intertidal mussel beds are important for intertidal ecosystems, because they feature a high taxonomic diversity and abundance of benthic organisms and are important foraging grounds for many avian species. After the introduction of the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) into the European Wadden Sea,...
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Online Access: | https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/impact-on-bird-fauna-of-a-non-native-oyster-expanding-into-blue-m https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.08.007 |
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ftunivwagenin:oai:library.wur.nl:wurpubs/507485 2024-01-14T10:06:18+01:00 Impact on bird fauna of a non-native oyster expanding into blue mussel beds in the Dutch Wadden Sea Waser, Andreas M. Deuzeman, Symen Kangeri, Arno K.W. van Winden, Erik Postma, Jelle de Boer, Peter van der Meer, Jaap Ens, Bruno J. 2016 application/pdf https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/impact-on-bird-fauna-of-a-non-native-oyster-expanding-into-blue-m https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.08.007 en eng https://edepot.wur.nl/390519 https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/impact-on-bird-fauna-of-a-non-native-oyster-expanding-into-blue-m doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2016.08.007 info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Wageningen University & Research Biological Conservation 202 (2016) ISSN: 0006-3207 Crassotrea gigas Habitat complexity Mytilus edulis Oyster reef Shorebirds Species distribution info:eu-repo/semantics/article Article/Letter to editor info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2016 ftunivwagenin https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.08.007 2023-12-20T23:17:40Z Intertidal mussel beds are important for intertidal ecosystems, because they feature a high taxonomic diversity and abundance of benthic organisms and are important foraging grounds for many avian species. After the introduction of the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) into the European Wadden Sea, many mussel beds developed into oyster dominated bivalve beds. Despite the fact that oysters have been colonizing many European intertidal areas for about two decades, their impact on the ecosystem is still poorly understood. Here, we investigated the impact of oysters on the condition of mussels and on the spatial distribution of birds on 18 bivalve beds with different grades of oyster occurrence throughout the Dutch Wadden Sea. Moreover, in comparing bird densities on bivalve beds with densities expected on the total intertidal area, we could detect which species exhibit a preference for the structured habitat. Overall, 50 different bird species were observed on the beds, of which about half regularly frequent intertidal flats. Most of these species showed a preference for bivalve beds. The condition of mussels decreased with the oyster dominance, whereas the majority of bird species was not affected by the oyster occurrence. However, three of the four species that were negatively affected depend on intertidal mussels as food source. Even though the Pacific oyster is a nonnative species, attempts to fight it may do more harm to avian biodiversity than good. Article in Journal/Newspaper Crassostrea gigas Pacific oyster Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library Pacific Biological Conservation 202 39 49 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library |
op_collection_id |
ftunivwagenin |
language |
English |
topic |
Crassotrea gigas Habitat complexity Mytilus edulis Oyster reef Shorebirds Species distribution |
spellingShingle |
Crassotrea gigas Habitat complexity Mytilus edulis Oyster reef Shorebirds Species distribution Waser, Andreas M. Deuzeman, Symen Kangeri, Arno K.W. van Winden, Erik Postma, Jelle de Boer, Peter van der Meer, Jaap Ens, Bruno J. Impact on bird fauna of a non-native oyster expanding into blue mussel beds in the Dutch Wadden Sea |
topic_facet |
Crassotrea gigas Habitat complexity Mytilus edulis Oyster reef Shorebirds Species distribution |
description |
Intertidal mussel beds are important for intertidal ecosystems, because they feature a high taxonomic diversity and abundance of benthic organisms and are important foraging grounds for many avian species. After the introduction of the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) into the European Wadden Sea, many mussel beds developed into oyster dominated bivalve beds. Despite the fact that oysters have been colonizing many European intertidal areas for about two decades, their impact on the ecosystem is still poorly understood. Here, we investigated the impact of oysters on the condition of mussels and on the spatial distribution of birds on 18 bivalve beds with different grades of oyster occurrence throughout the Dutch Wadden Sea. Moreover, in comparing bird densities on bivalve beds with densities expected on the total intertidal area, we could detect which species exhibit a preference for the structured habitat. Overall, 50 different bird species were observed on the beds, of which about half regularly frequent intertidal flats. Most of these species showed a preference for bivalve beds. The condition of mussels decreased with the oyster dominance, whereas the majority of bird species was not affected by the oyster occurrence. However, three of the four species that were negatively affected depend on intertidal mussels as food source. Even though the Pacific oyster is a nonnative species, attempts to fight it may do more harm to avian biodiversity than good. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Waser, Andreas M. Deuzeman, Symen Kangeri, Arno K.W. van Winden, Erik Postma, Jelle de Boer, Peter van der Meer, Jaap Ens, Bruno J. |
author_facet |
Waser, Andreas M. Deuzeman, Symen Kangeri, Arno K.W. van Winden, Erik Postma, Jelle de Boer, Peter van der Meer, Jaap Ens, Bruno J. |
author_sort |
Waser, Andreas M. |
title |
Impact on bird fauna of a non-native oyster expanding into blue mussel beds in the Dutch Wadden Sea |
title_short |
Impact on bird fauna of a non-native oyster expanding into blue mussel beds in the Dutch Wadden Sea |
title_full |
Impact on bird fauna of a non-native oyster expanding into blue mussel beds in the Dutch Wadden Sea |
title_fullStr |
Impact on bird fauna of a non-native oyster expanding into blue mussel beds in the Dutch Wadden Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impact on bird fauna of a non-native oyster expanding into blue mussel beds in the Dutch Wadden Sea |
title_sort |
impact on bird fauna of a non-native oyster expanding into blue mussel beds in the dutch wadden sea |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/impact-on-bird-fauna-of-a-non-native-oyster-expanding-into-blue-m https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.08.007 |
geographic |
Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Pacific |
genre |
Crassostrea gigas Pacific oyster |
genre_facet |
Crassostrea gigas Pacific oyster |
op_source |
Biological Conservation 202 (2016) ISSN: 0006-3207 |
op_relation |
https://edepot.wur.nl/390519 https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/impact-on-bird-fauna-of-a-non-native-oyster-expanding-into-blue-m doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2016.08.007 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Wageningen University & Research |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.08.007 |
container_title |
Biological Conservation |
container_volume |
202 |
container_start_page |
39 |
op_container_end_page |
49 |
_version_ |
1788060615466549248 |