Morphological characteristics influence the spatial mixing patterns of shorebirds at Shengjin Lake.

ABSTRACT: The coexistence of species with similar ecological niches is one of the core interests of community ecology research. However, how functional feeding traits, including bill size and leg length, determine the niche of mixed flocks of shorebird species has seldomly been studied, as well as, microhabitat variables affect the spatial patterns of availability and the quality of patches for wintering. From October 2016 to March 2017 at Shengjin Lake, Anhui Province, China, we recorded 226 scan samples from the different microhabitats and 93 focal animal videos of four common shorebird species: common greenshank, spotted redshank, Kentish plover, and little ringed plover. We found that the species participating in the mixed groups were different in each microhabitat. The results of the overlap in

SUBMITTER: Yu C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10171990 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature