Spatio-temporal variation in nesting success of colonial waterbirds under the impact of a non-native invasive predator.

ABSTRACT: Colonial breeding in birds provides protection from predators and may be particularly important when birds have to cope with an invasive predator. The probability of nest predation in a colony can vary depending on several factors, such as the nest's location in the colony and the level of aggregation of nests. We studied the nesting success of colonial great crested grebes and monitored the occurrence of the non-native invasive American mink in the colony. From among 92 grebe nests, 54.3% were successful. The daily survival rate (DSR) of grebe nests was positively affected by the increasing distance between the nest and lake shoreline, and negatively affected by the increasing distance between the nest and the five nearest grebe nests. The probability of mink occurrence in the colony incr

SUBMITTER: Brzezinski M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6244866 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature