Influence of tree cover on carcass detection and consumption by facultative vertebrate scavengers.

ABSTRACT: Scavenging mammals and vultures can exploit and deplete carcasses much faster than other birds and invertebrates. Vultures are strongly influenced by habitat type, e.g. tree cover, since they rely on their eyesight to detect carcasses. It remains unclear whether and how facultative scavengers - both other birds and mammals - are influenced by tree cover and how that affect carcass decomposition time, which in turn affects biodiversity and ecological processes, including the cycle of energy and nutrients. We studied whether the carcass detection and consumption, hence carcass decomposition speed, by facultative avian and mammalian scavengers varies with tree cover in areas without vultures. Fresh mammal carcasses were placed in different landscapes across the Netherlands at locations that w

SUBMITTER: Wenting E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10985364 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature