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Invertebrate food sources for waterbirds provided by the reconstructed wetland of Nyirkai-Hany, northwestern Hungary

  • LIMNOLOGY AND AQUATIC BIRDS
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Abstract

The Nyirkai-Hany wetland reconstruction area in northwestern Hungary is now designated as a Ramsar and a Natura 2000 site. It was created in 2001–2002 by the Fertő-Hanság National Park Directorate to restore a part of the formerly drained large wetland called Hanság and to offer waterbirds a suitable habitat for feeding and breeding. We focused on this aim of the restoration project and studied the temporal and spatial variation in abundance of birds and their invertebrate prey in this newly created wetland. From April 2007 until May 2008, we sampled plankton, nekton and benthos of different habitats monthly and monitored waterbirds weekly on the three different areas of the Nyirkai-Hany. During our investigations, 135 invertebrate and 53 waterbird species were recorded. Benthos and macrophyte decomposition accelerating guilds were the most abundant waterbird guilds—besides the dominant grazing importer material transporter guild, represented primarily by geese—in the Nyirkai-Hany. Zooplankton assemblages primarily consisted of small species not easily used as a food by planktivorous waterbirds. The low density of zoobenthic biomass and the small extent of shallow water mudflats probably accounted for the scarcity of the bioturbing guild group of birds. Nektonic biomass varied greatly among locations having different vegetation types, was greatest in the shallow water areas dominated by Typha, Carex and Phragmites species and lowest at offshore vegetation-free sites. Chironomids, mayflies and odonates were especially abundant and their biomass significantly correlated with several waterbird species, mainly belonging to the macrophyte decomposition accelerating guild (e.g. Anas platyrynchos, Fulica atra). This guild itself, which has increased in abundance in recent years, showed an exceptionally strong correlation with odonate abundance. These results indicate the growing importance of the Nyirkai-Hany wetland area as a foraging site for waterbirds.

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Acknowledgments

We would thank Klára Dózsa-Farkas, Zoltán Péter Erőss, Katalin Kovács, Tibor Kovács, Ákos Molnár, Dávid Murányi and Dávid Rédei for their help with identification, János Podani for his suggestions on statistical analysis, Gábor Takács for letting us use his unpublished data on vegetation cover, David Kosky and Gergely Horváth for the English corrections and Dávid Józsvai, Árpád Németh, Gabriella Pásti, Attila Pellinger, Attila Péntek, as well as István Horváth, Béla Horváth, Tibor Horváth and their families for their valuable help during field work. We would also like to thank the very useful and constructive comments of the anonymous reviewers and Stuart H. Hurlbert. The study was supported by the Pro Renovanda Cultura Hungariae Student Science Research Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117, Budapest, Hungary

    Zsófia Horváth, Csaba Ferenc Vad & Gergely Szövényi

  2. Institute of Wildlife Management and Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Forestry, University of West Hungary, Ady Endre u. 5, 9400, Sopron, Hungary

    Márta Ferenczi

  3. Balaton Limnological Institute, Centre for Ecological Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Klebelsberg Kuno u. 3, 8237, Tihany, Hungary

    Arnold Móra

  4. Danube Research Institute, Centre for Ecological Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Jávorka S. u. 14, 2131, Göd, Hungary

    Csaba Ferenc Vad

  5. Fertő-Hanság National Park Directorate, Rév-Kócsagvár, 9435, Sarród, Hungary

    András Ambrus

  6. Department of Zoology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Baross u. 13, 1088, Budapest, Hungary

    László Forró

  7. Department of Zoology, Eszterházy Károly College, Leányka u. 6, 3330, Eger, Hungary

    Sándor Andrikovics

  8. Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus, VIC, 3217, Australia

    Márta Ferenczi

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  1. Zsófia Horváth
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  8. Sándor Andrikovics
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Correspondence to Zsófia Horváth.

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Dedicated to the memory of Sándor Andrikovics

S. Andrikovics—deceased

Guest editors: F. A. Comín & S. H. Hurlbert / Limnology and Aquatic Birds: Monitoring, Modelling and Management

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Horváth, Z., Ferenczi, M., Móra, A. et al. Invertebrate food sources for waterbirds provided by the reconstructed wetland of Nyirkai-Hany, northwestern Hungary. Hydrobiologia 697, 59–72 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1170-5

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