Summary
The main ecological difference between the Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus arundinaceus) and Eastern Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus acrocephalus orientalis) lies in the density of breeding population, which in the Eastern subspecies studied in Japan is on average 10 times higher than that of European populations of the Western subspecies. In this study it is shown that potential food resources of the Great Reed Warbler in Japan are more than ten times more abundant than those in Poland, with respect both to the number of potential prey items (invertebrates) and to their total biomass. This strongly suggests that such high densities of Great Reed Warbler in Japan are at least partly due to more plentiful food supply. Other factors which could explain the difference between breeding densities in Japan and Poland are the predation by Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) in Poland and lack of competition with Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) in Japan. The abundance of food on the sample plot in Japan resulted primarily from outbreaks of dipterans of the suborder Nematocera, the most common of which were Chironomidae. Although Chironomidae were not the preferred prey, they made up a substantial proportion of the diet of nestlings. In both studied areas, apart from dipterans, the greatest proportion of nestlings' diet constituted arachnids. Differences in nestlings' diet between study sites resulted mainly from a greater proportion of Nematocera and lower proportion of Coleoptera and Odonata in Japan.
Zusammenfassung
Die unterschiedliche Dichte der Brutpopulationen ist ein wichtiger ökologischer Unterschied zwischen den beiden Unterarten des Drosselrohrsängers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus). Im Durchschnitt ist die Abundanz bei der östlichen Unterart in Japan 10mal so hoch wie bei der europäischen Population der westlichen Unterart. Diese Untersuchung macht deutlich, dass das potentielle Nahrungsangebot in Japan mehr als 10mal so groß ist wie in Polen. Das gilt sowohl für die Anzahl der Beutetiere (Invertebraten) wie für die Biomasse. Es legt die Vermutung nahe, dass die große Populationsdichte des Drosselrohrsängers in Japan primär auf die enorme Nahrungsmenge zurückzuführen ist. Weitere Gründe könnten das Fehlen der Rohrweihe (Circus aeruginosus) sowie die fehlende Konkurrenz durch eine weitere Rohrsängerart sein. In Polen tritt neben dem Drosselrohrsänger in größerer Dichte der Teichrohrsänger (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) auf. Die hohe Abundanz von Nahrungstieren in Japan ergab sich in erster Linie durch das Massenschlüpfen von Mücken (Nematocera), besonders von Zuckmücken (Chironomidae). Obwohl sie nicht bevorzugt gefressen wurden, machten sie doch einen erheblichen Anteil an der Nestlingsnahrung aus. Neben den Fliegen (Diptera) stellten in beiden Untersuchungsgebieten die Spinnen (Araneae) den größten Anteil. Im Vergleich zu Polen fanden sich in Japan die größten Unterschiede in der Nestlingsnahrung bei einem höheren Anteil an Mücken und einem geringeren an Käfern (Coleoptera) und Libellen (Odonata).
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Dyrcz, A., Flinks, H. Potential food resources and nestling food in the Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus arundinaceus) and Eastern Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus orientalis). J Ornithol 141, 351–360 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02462245
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02462245